E-Learning is playing an increasingly important role in business training.  Ilva Pieterse looks closer.

The fast technologically-changing landscape demands companies to continually up-skill their employees to stay ahead of the competition. E-Learning and specifically self-paced e-learning have shown to be great methods for achieving this.

According to quantitative research firm Ambient Insight, the e-learning market will have fast and significant growth over the next few years, and is expected to reach $51.5 billion by 2016. In Africa, revenues reached $250.9 million in 2011 and will more than double to $512.7 million by 2016, with SA responsible for $124.63 million of this revenue. According to learning management system provider, Docebo’s E-Learning Market Trends & Forecast 2014-2016 Report, Africa is the most dynamic e-learning market on the planet. “The growth rates in Africa for four product types – custom content development services, cloud-based authoring tools and learning platforms, installed authoring tools, and installed learning platforms – are the highest in the world,” the report notes.

Sacha O’Reilly, business development manager at information security awareness training company Popcorn Training, believes that there is a shift away from classroom training, with an increasing trend towards self-paced computer-based training. She believes self-paced learning makes users more receptive to the content, since having control over how and when the information is consumed puts the learner in an optimal state for information retention. “We find today’s learners like being in control,” O’Reilly says. “

E-learning has changed quite drastically over the past few years, but in some ways, it hasn’t changed enough,” explains Marco Rosa, MD of Formula D interactive, learning concepts and products development specialists. He believes although many training methods are still antiquated, there are various interesting tools on the market that make learning more engaging. “E-learning is ideal, as it is not dependent on location, is self-paced, and is done in an unpressured manner,” he explains. “A classroom setting is a high-pressure environment and learners often do not participate because they are afraid of either getting an answer wrong or asking a ‘stupid’ question.”

E-learning drivers

General budget constraints, time constraints, and an effort to reduce travel costs are the main drivers towards the use of e-learning, according to performance improvement training services and products company, Novations Group. E-learning is not only an attractive solution in a financially unstable climate, but it provides a workforce with a fast and easy way to be brought up to speed on relevant knowledge and skills.

“Staff retention is a huge challenge in SA. E-learning helps make it easier to induct and train new staff,” explains O’Reilly. “Frequency of training is also increased as it can be rolled out more often, ensuring new staff training remains relevant. Corporates understand they can engage in training outside of work time, such as during tea or lunch breaks or even while standing in queues at the bank, for example, and this type of control empowers them,” explains Rosa.

Success factors

Popcorn Training delivers story-based training on information security awareness, addressing issues such as POPI compliance and web application security, which they have found to be very successful in the market. So much so, in fact, that the company has been included in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Awareness Training. According to O’Reilly, humorous content that is engaging works really well with learners. “With our story-based approach, we have found when key messages are tied together in one story, it is easier to assimilate into longer-term memory.”

“Information should be presented in small chunks, and include checkpoints in the form of feedback, questions, or exercises, to make sure the user understands,” explains Rosa. O’Reilly suggests video content to be between 3-5 minutes long and Rosa believes they should never be longer than 10 minutes. “Local relevance is also important,” says O’Reilly. “We have found learners respond better to the use of local accents and slang. It seems to drive the messages home in a more effective way.”

According to O’Reilly, using too many technical facts and statistics, heavy jargon, foreign accents, and lengthy training delivered via slides, simply does not work. “Neither does training programme devoid of interactive elements,” explains Rosa. “Without user engagement, the training will ultimately have the same effect as traditional classroom learning methods.”

Trends in training

Executives are continuing to use new methods of delivering training to employees. According to Accenture’s 2013 Skills and Employment Trends Survey, 42% use mobile delivery for training, 35% use social media, 27% use massive open online courses (MOOCs) and 13% use gamification. “Mobile is a massive trend in SA at the moment,” according to Rosa. “A large majority of people have access to mobile phones and tablets.” Gaming tools are also very effective, he says. “With games, if you fail, you go back and try again - and when you win, you feel great. This is very effective for learning.”

According to Docebo, however, the development of a mature e-learning market in Africa is still restricted by the lack of proper IT infrastructures and connectivity solutions. According to 2012 estimates, internet penetration in Africa has reached only 15.6%. Although there is a steady increase of people on whom the internet has an impact, these numbers show a significant infrastructural disparity between Africa and the other continents. Given the growth in local e-learning, however, this is just another challenge the local market is trying to work around.