Comparing eLearning and Classroom Learning through Real-Word Scenarios

This post is the last in a series about online training and traditional classroom learning. I hope you've enjoyed the previous posts - take a look at them if you havn't read them yet! This subject will hopefully be addressed again in the future.

So we’ve talked extensively about the pros and cons of online training and of traditional classroom learning. But these have been abstract subjects; I’d like to give some concrete examples.

The first is sports training. Online sports training. Seems pretty farfetched, doesn’t it? How can you train someone in a sport online? Well, the rules of many games are taught in classrooms through PowerPoint lectures. Why not make it interactive and do it online, where it’s much more accessible? Now, the problem with this is that there can be no substitute for on-field experience, especially if you’re training game officials or coaches. That’s why blended eLearning and face-to-face training can be extremely effective: the eLearning can save time and costs for students, while the blended learning allows them to gain the full educational experience.

How about a huge corporation that’s doing employee training over a specified period of time? It has hundreds, if not thousands, of employees to train in a specific subject matter. There needs to be tracking, course management, and reporting. So the corporation turns to a learning management system. The employees don’t have to travel, no classrooms need to be rented, and the corporation does not have to hire teaching professionals, saving it heaps of time and money. However, there is an incident in which an employee (or several) violate corporate rules or make a serious mistake, despite being taught against his/their actions. How does the corporation handle this? Does it totally cancel its eLearning program, or only punish the individuals responsible? How does it identify whether it was the irresponsibility of the employee(s), or ineffectiveness of the eLearning program? These are difficult questions, but important ones, for a large corporation trying to fulfill its training needs.

Finally, let’s take a college class that, experimentally, is going to be taught exclusively online (this has been done before!). The professor is going to conduct the class through various online sessions over a few weeks. Students log on to an e-classroom, and listen as the professor lectures through a microphone. Audio and video are streamed to the students, who can quickly type notes. There is a chat window to instant-message questions to the professor. This sounds like an effective learning environment, right? The professor gets the added bonus of being able to bring up certain videos or images to enrich his lecture. This is a definite advantage of eLearning. A problem arises, however, if the service is interrupted for either a student or the professor. Even if the session is being recorded, the student misses the opportunity of experiencing it live. Hopefully this highlights the importance of using a reliable service provider.

These examples should give you a clear example of some of the advantages and disadvantages of both online training and traditional classroom learning.

Is eLearning or in-person, classroom learning better? It’s subjective, and it’s completely up to the individual conducting the training. The clearest answer is that it is often a case-by-case basis. Certainly eLearning has been proven effective in many instances. But whether or not a company can make effective use of eLearning is completely up to it.