Blog by Ruben Timmerman, Springest
E-learning is popular. Recent research by Nidap and Springest shows that nearly 75 percent of employees like to follow part of their training or education via e-learning. Nevertheless, almost everyone still prefers to follow at least part of his training in class.
Employees want tailor-made training when attending a course or training and usually opt for private trainers. These institutes seem to fit best with wishes that make it easier to combine work, private and learning. For example, professionals like to learn in the evening, online, on weekends or during working hours. E-learning also meets these needs.
E-learning most popular with longer training
Of the 3,000 professionals surveyed, 71 percent said they wanted to follow short courses partly through e-learning. 43 percent want to follow an online self-study for this type of education and 67 percent would like to follow online lectures. When it comes to longer training, 75 percent are interested in doing this partly via e-learning. 47 per cent are interested in online self-study and 71 per cent like to follow online lectures at study programs.
Need for flexibility
E-learning is therefore regarded as a valuable addition for courses as well as for complete training, but with training just a bit more. The explanation for this may lie in the larger time investment required for training and a related need for more flexibility. A focus on knowledge versus skills can also explain this difference.
Online learning most popular in catering, education and care
In trade & hospitality, education and healthcare, the need for partial learning via e-learning for short training courses is greatest with 85, 80 and 78 percent respectively. For longer courses, e-learning is particularly interested in construction (91%).
The construction sector thinks that e-learning for the short training courses is proportionately the least suitable: only 57 percent want to follow short training courses online. Possibly this has to do with the nature of the training and a greater emphasis on skills than knowledge.
Personal guidance
Although the interest in e-learning is increasing, 91 per cent want his short training or course and 93 per cent prefer to follow his training partly in class. Personal contact is still very much appreciated when following a course or training.
We can also draw this final conclusion on the basis of the experiences at Springest. This site has grown into Europe’s largest training comparison site in a short time and has more than 250,000 visitors per month in the Netherlands. The training offer is becoming wider here, but the interest in classroom training does not decrease.
Moreover, e-learning does not have to be a substitute for existing learning methods, but can also be an addition to this. Especially now that the need for continuous learning increases. For e-learning, there are also initiatives that make personal contact possible. For example, via one-on-one video chat sessions with a coach.
Blended learning, a form of education in which traditional methods such as classroom lessons are combined with online lectures and digital assignments or tests, is also a clear answer to the need for both personal contact and flexible learning.
