Why e-Learning can fail

E-learning is a tool to deliver practical training interactively, to a learner, without the need for the learner to travel to a classroom and receive a lesson from a trainer. However, most e-learning courses fail to generate good results because supervisors expect their staff to 'fit it in' between their day-to-day duties. This means the phone will still ring, e-mails will still come in, and colleagues will still approach their desk while they are in the middle of a training package. This is a recipe for disaster.

'Protected Learning Time' (PLT) is the KEY to the success of any computer-based training course. The idea of PLT is that a computer is set-up in a quiet room or quiet area of the office where there are no distractions or telephones around. So it is like a miniture classroom. Then, the supervisor of a team can allocate each staff member some time to go to the quiet area and complete their e-learning without distraction. This is Protected Learning Time.

REMEMBER: The benefits of e-learning are that there are no abstraction costs... The business does not lose an employee for a whole day to attend a training course; the business does not have to pay for the employee's travel and expenses for attending a course; the busness does not have to pay for training venue hire and a professional instructor to deliver the course. Therefore, allowing an employee PLT is a tiny price to pay, and it ensures the employee can concentrate on learning without any 'office distractions', as they would be able to within a classroom. Most e-learning courses are fairly short as well, so the employee will only be away from the work environment for a short time.