E-Learning in 2009: Are We Winning the Battle but Losing the War?

First, we may finally have reached the do-or-die moment for those classroom trainers who have resisted alternative approaches to delivering instruction. While there are myriad reasons for the resistance (need for control; need to be seen as "expert;" need to cling to instructor-focused practices; lack of trust in and respect for learners, their time, and their needs), the continued resistance is, ultimately, a management failure. Now managers may be forced to help the resistant trainers move along, either toward the light or away from their jobs.

Second, the intensified focus on money will increasingly lead to training decisions made on cost rather than quality. I have already seen instances where cost is forcing the shift in training delivery methods, with HR and training departments left behind as other decision makers (IT, the C-suite) make decisions for them, based only on economics. I know of two recent instances, for example, in which senior management, influenced by IT, purchased and launched commercial catalogs of e-learning courses without involving HR or training, with the business going to the cheapest bidder. Training departments, take note: If the trend continues, you may find yourselves under the purview of your IT departments. Training will become another product, amounting to little more than the distribution of software.

While I welcome the move to increased use of e-learning (as I never did understand how the traditional classroom came to be held in such exalted esteem), this shift isn't necessarily good. It reinforces the belief that any presentation of content equals "training." It breeds the "convert-a-classroom-course-to-online" mentality, rather than focus on transforming instruction. The trend toward buying or building whatever is the cheapest instruction is a move away from thoughtful instructional design, with meaningful intent ignored in favor of easier, crank 'em out approaches. Alas, though, it may be the best push forward e-learning will get.

So, it may be that those of us who are advocates of alternative methods for delivering instruction are winning the battle but losing the war. The point was never to "do e-learning" but to provide alternative, at least equally effective means of providing instruction, maximizing learner time, and delivering just-in-time, just-for-me solutions. E-learning was supposed to make training better, not just cheaper.

But there's another, concurrent trend, and I offer it as much a hope as a prediction: The increasing use of social media may create the perfect storm for learners to start taking charge of training offerings and let-me-get-it-myself content. One of my young Twitter followers recently said, "I've been online a long time. I really don't know what the traditional classroom looks like anymore." She and her friends will be coming to a training session of yours soon, and their needs may finally take the steering wheel away from simple economics or the politics of the HR-Training-IT-C-suite players.

About the Author
Jane Bozarth, Ed.D., is the e-learning coordinator for the State of North Carolina's Office of State Personnel. She is the author of Better than Bullet Points: Creating Engaging E-Learning with PowerPoint; E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring, and From Analysis to Evaluation: Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Trainers. She lives in Durham, NC, and can be reached via her website www.bozarthzone.com.

©2009 ACM

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