E-learning Avoids Cookie-Cutter Training

E-learning and online training are on a roll, driving profound changes in how employees are being prepared to do their jobs and how organizations can offer learning opportunities to staff. Consider these five top trends in this space:

1. Microlearning presents convenient, bite-sized online training sessions that prevent cognitive overload. Replacing lengthy lectures, role plays and printed manuals with five-minute elearning scenarios or interactive tutorials gives employees instant, quick, engaging and immersive access to information when and how they need it. This improves their likelihood of learning and retaining knowledge. Many companies are looking to replace classroom training with digital learning, and microlearning is much easier in terms of engaging employees. Additionally, microlearning can be timed to serve content when it’s really needed—for instance, immediately before an employee is about to change job function or perform a certain task for the first time.
2. In fact, microlearning supports just-in-time learning, which enables on-the-job training by giving employees access to what they need to learn at the time they need it most. Just-in-time learning can be tied to certain tasks or actual employee behavior or knowledge levels.
3. Personalized online training paths make it possible for modern corporate learners to build skills and practice tasks that are adapted to their goals, needs, plans, performance and knowledge levels. Gone are the days of cookie-cutter online training courses!
4. Multiplatform-friendly online training content means employees can learn from wherever they are, anytime they want and on any device. This is helpful, since today’s workforce needs to make the most of every minute. This also allows for self-paced learning at the time of need.
5. Serious games and gamification are elearning trends that are often mixed up. Serious games are similar to traditional online games, but with professional education value. Gamification uses game mechanics in online course design (e.g earning badges and passing levels when completing learning assignments or using leaderboards and points to recognize positive performance).

Both game-based options focus on intrinsic motivation and help motivate and incent employees, making them perfect for certification and compliance online training courses. Various elearning authoring tools available today feature serious game templates and mechanics that make creating interactive online training courses simple and do not require any graphic or game designing experience. Bottom line, successful corporate elearning courses put the employee first. Why? Because happy and self-confident employees—who are given the opportunity to customize their online training experience—are the lifeblood of your company and your success hinges on their expertise—both today and well into the future!

Gal Rimon founded GamEffective, Charlotte, N.C., in 2012, with the vision of bringing next-generation gamification to enterprise applications. He holds an MBA in marketing and information technologies from the Tel Aviv University.