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Stephanie Neusser
Marketing Lead
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Learning in companies is changing. Staff development is more important than ever due to constantly changing markets, technological progress, specialization, increasing recruitment difficulties and increased competitive pressure. This is also reflected in the budgets for personnel development and technology. However, despite increased investments in new e-learning solutions, most companies have not made any significant progress. But what is the reason for that? In this blog, you will learn the basics of corporate e-learning, what you should pay attention to when introducing e-learning and how to successfully implement digital forms of learning in your company right from the start.
You've probably heard of it by now. Simply put, electronic learning, or e-learning for short, is any type of training, learning, or education on electronic devices. In e-learning, educational materials can be delivered and consumed on electronic devices such as computers, tablets, and sometimes even smartphones. Examples of e-learning include watching a video tutorial, reading an interesting article on the Internet, or taking an online quiz — it's basically any form of providing learning and training material through digital resources.
We use e-learning every day to develop as individuals. Universities and companies, from small start-ups to large companies, use e-learning to train their employees or students and optimize their internal processes.
An e-learning platform is an information system that organizations and institutions use to provide their users with learning material. A learning management system (LMS) is, for example, an e-learning platform. Most courses you'll find on these platforms are often filled with pre-recorded videos, texts, or academic work, and sometimes even interactive online services such as quizzes and games.
Most online learning platforms offer various types of programs, here are 3 examples:
This is the smallest type of program available. Individual courses can be one-off courses, regular courses, or courses that are always available. If you opt for individual courses, you often learn alone and are largely on your own. And if you have any questions, in most cases there is a discussion forum for the group. The typical duration of these courses ranges from a few weeks to a few months.
Course bundles are, as the name suggests, a collection of courses on a specific topic, such as data science, product management. On many online learning platforms, they are referred to as Learning Paths or Nanodegrees, for which you can obtain a certificate.
On some e-learning platforms, you can even earn a traditional bachelor's degree from renowned companies and partner universities around the world. But be careful! Most online degrees start at a total of $22,000. Although this is cheaper than studying on campus, it is still expensive for many people.
When you compare different e-learning platforms, the main shortcoming is immediately apparent: There is no personalization of learning content. This means that the content that you or your employees learn is the same for all learners, regardless of their current level of knowledge.
Of course, it makes sense to focus primarily on digital learning as remote work is becoming the new normal. Most companies are increasing their spending on technology to support a better complement of digital learning activities. The learning provider landscape is fragmented and can be confusing if you're not familiar with that area. To choose the right solution for your business, use this overview.
Learning management systems (LMS) are software applications that enable you to manage, track, report, and deliver educational courses, training programs, or learning and development programs.
A Learning Experience Platform (LXP) is learner-centered software that is intended to create personalized learning experiences. It uses a combination of learning content and uses artificial intelligence to personalize it for all learners.
Microlearning platforms provide learning content in the form of short and entertaining “snacks” and thus make it possible to integrate continuing education into everyday life. Your content can be accessed via mobile devices, making it ideal for employees who travel frequently.
Virtual reality (VR) offers computer-generated worlds and simulations that immerse users in a virtual scenario and/or situation. Training using VR is now primarily used in manufacturing, as processes can be realistically mapped and employees can be efficiently continued or retrained.
Learning Record Store (LRS) are data stores that expand the reporting and analysis capabilities of a learning management system by recording a wide range of learning experiences and activities.
Learning content management systems are the place where learning content is created, edited and then stored for reuse and evaluation.
Virtual classrooms are an online learning environment where mentors and learners can present course materials, collaborate with, and interact with other members of the virtual class.
Digital learning libraries offer ready-made content, courses, videos, and books that you can license for use in your organization.
As mentioned above, e-learning offers a large amount of learning materials that are easily accessible via the Internet. One of the main reasons people use e-learning is because they want to develop new skills and expand or update their knowledge about a specific topic. They can draw on a wide variety of types of content for this purpose — I bet you've used more than just one of them before. The most commonly used include:
Getting started: e-learning guide in 10 steps
There are many good reasons to invest in a new (or better) e-learning solution. Regardless of whether you are just getting started with e-learning or want to upgrade your existing solution, the success of your e-learning depends heavily on the acceptance and motivation of your company and learners. Because learning can only be successful if “having to learn” becomes “wanting to learn.” But how can you increase the acceptance of e-learning in your company and the motivation of your learners? You can find more information about this in our 10-step guide.
For a successful corporate learning strategy, follow these 10 easy steps.
Determine your organization's needs and goals before you start your e-learning project. Experience shows that e-learning projects are only successful if they are part of a company's strategic plan and are tied to specific goals. It is therefore important to identify needs and involve decision makers from day one. When you know what problem you're trying to solve, you can define clear goals, link them to the company's strategy, and track your progress.
Ask yourself the following questions:
examples:
Don't forget the needs of learners. Put yourself in their shoes:
The best way to find out what your learners want is, of course, to ask them! An open-ended survey will produce many ideas.
Appoint a project manager or team to take responsibility for your e-learning project before it is carried out. He should have indicators for the success and acceptance of the solution. They should also have the appropriate skills and authority to bring people together and move them in the same direction. You may not need someone dedicated to the project full time, but you need someone who is accountable.
If possible, your project team should include stakeholders from all departments. Larger companies form multi-disciplinary project teams, while smaller companies may find it more difficult to allocate full resources to this type of project. Your project team can take on different sizes and formats, but the most important thing is that a wide range of views and requirements is represented and planned for.
Our most successful clients bring their directors or managers on board and ensure that they can also understand and articulate the purpose of the project. Learning is always successful when it is part of a larger corporate strategy and there is visible commitment from the very top.
Make sure your entire organization agrees with your plans and understands the benefits. Involve all departments and stakeholders from the planning stage to ensure that everyone feels heard and committed to directing your business. Changes often trigger concerns and resistance. Being open and listening to and addressing all concerns should ease the situation. Communicate long-term benefits and set common goals, and encourage employees to view learning as a continuous activity rather than one that takes place at specific intervals.
Creating your online training program is just the start — you also need to see how it works and whether it's actually effective. Set clear KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that align with your goals and strategy. Work with your project team to determine what success looks like for your company and which KPIs will be decisive for tracking and monitoring performance.
Think about what you expect from your e-learning solution and, more importantly, what your employees want. This is where you have to separate the “nice-to-haves” from the “must-haves.” In any case, consider the following points:
Pro tip: Manage your product requirements with job stories
Create a comprehensive e-learning requirements list with job stories or tasks to be completed (JTBD). JTBD is a clear way to define the various steps and paths that learners and administrators take on your platform. For example, if you want to keep learners engaged with a leaderboard, calendar integration, and custom learning paths, you'll need to create job stories for all of those paths. Once you've created your job stories, you should turn them into features.
The timeline of an e-learning project is difficult to predict. The two factors that most influence the start date are the decision-making process and the solution you choose. The decision-making process is often the reason why the implementation schedule is overstretched. To avoid delays, you should ensure that the people involved in your e-learning project have the power to make decisions.
Another important factor when it comes to scheduling is your e-learning provider. Some providers need to be filled with content and individual learning paths, which overwhelms your internal resources. Others offer ready-made courses and curated materials that are automatically updated. Consider this when choosing your solution provider.
How much does e-learning cost? There is no exact number or even a standard edition. Some basic platforms are free, while others cost thousands of euros. Regardless of what you choose, you should always consider your total cost of ownership (TCO). When planning your budget, consider not only platform costs, but also maintenance costs, i.e. the budget for updates, but also internal resources. Some platforms may require a team to manually select the right courses and assign them to learners, while AI-powered solutions automate this process, saving you resources and time.
Your learning provider has extensive experience with e-learning and working with various types of organizations. They also know what successful and unsuccessful projects look like and why. Benefit from this expertise!
After the pandemic, companies are facing much greater challenges than before. In the new market dominated by applicants, you must react decisively with measures to attract and retain talent and prepare your company for a shortage of skilled workers in the future. The question is how you can (effectively) attract, retain and develop talent. And how can e-learning help with that?
In our E-learning guide find all the answers!
edyoucated is funded by leading research institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
