Elearning vs Traditional Classroom Instruction

There is a great deal of published material that describes the fundamental shift in the nation's education practices that is taking place as a result of the synergy and economies of scale inherent in web-based training.

Web Based Training is more convenient for students, administrators, and instructors.

Web-based training uses the internet for delivery of training content and allows students to access course materials, reference information, and exams anywhere and anytime their schedule permits.  The student uses her own computer at home or at work. Students often correspond and share ideas with other students taking the same course via e-mail and correspond with instructor/mentors for clarification of concepts. Group discussions can be mediated by the instructor and facilitated in real time via any of several chat services. online training allows instructors to concentrate on clarifying specific concepts one-on-one rather that delivering lecture to an audience. online training allows administrators to focus on delivering a broader range of educational products and consistently high-quality educational experiences for students rather than the burdens of scheduling and allocating resources.

Web Based Training is much more affordable than traditional instructor-led classroom training.

Classroom training is a very costly business venture particularly for IT training courses. It requires a staff of highly paid instructors, fully equipped labs, and full-time staff to co-ordinate scheduling of students, instructors, and lab facilities. No-shows (students that don't show up for class) are very common and create additional scheduling overhead and inefficient resource allocation. Printed course materials (textbooks, lab manuals, etc.) are very expensive, often representing 10-30% of the course cost. These costs must be passed along in the form of tuition or taxes depending on whether the training organization is privately or publicly funded.

What is the difference in cost between Web-based and traditional classroom training?   Generally, the more people interactive (student to student chats and email,  student to instructor chats and e-mail, whiteboard/application sharing) the greater the cost. However even the highly  interactive courses are generally only 25-40% of the cost of the same classroom course.  Highly motivated students that don't need a great deal of interaction can find courses for as little as 2 to 3% or less of the cost of classroom based counterparts. One example of this is our MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) program. The basic web based course of study costs less than $100 for a one year subscription. A comparable classroom program would involve four to six weeks in the classroom in 3-5 day chunks at a cost of $8,000 to $15,000.  If the training facility is out of town and you factor in student salary, travel, and lodging, the cost can be in excess of $25,000.  This is an example of the extreme ends of the spectrum, but it is accurate. I personally trained through Tech Data several years ago and the experience cost me close to 15k for an accelerated three week boot camp. If I had only known then what I know now!

Elearning is more effective than traditional classroom training.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the disparity of results achieved with online training vs classroom training.  First and foremost is; Learning is not a passive experience!  In many classroom environments, students walk in on the first day of class, open the textbook for the first time, and wait for the instructor to take out the magic key that unlocks the brain so that the course material can be poured in. This is not how learning happens. Instructors do not teach. They help people learn. The primary responsibility for the learning experience rests with the student who must be motivated (have a reason that is important to him/her) to be an effective learner. There are certainly exceptional dedicated dynamic teachers who work hard and are successful at inspiring unmotivated students, but they are few and far between and work in  junior high schools, not in information technology training centers.  IT instructors must, by business necessity, be dedicated to helping motivated students succeed and unmotivated students feel ok about not succeeding.

Its unfortunate, but the continuing education model implemented by most IT training institutions today often contributes to the problem outlined above.  It is a product tailored to the habits of the bureaucracies they serve.  In most cases students who sit thru a course receive a " certificate of completion" regardless of their level of involvement or skills acquired.  There is generally no pre or post course assessment to determine whether the student learned anything.  There is generally no accountability of students to employers/agencies except notification that the student attended the course.

Web-based training places most of the responsibility for learning squarely on the shoulders of the student. This is the primary reason that statistics are skewed in favor of online training.  Motivated learners do well with online training because it is a stimulating efficient alternative to classroom training which is often perceived as a waste of time.  Unmotivated students either never start or don't finish their online training course and the results are often never reported.

The classroom is not obsolete!

Classroom training under the right conditions is still one of the most effective training methods available.  The ideal classroom experience should be preceded by successful completion of a web-based course of study to introduce the material so that everyone will be prepared for full participation and no one slows down the rest of the class. The traditional classroom protocols should be abandoned in favor of activities that provide practical application of concepts learned thru self-study. There should be very little or no lecture.  Classroom time should be dedicated to organized case study, team problem solving, and labs that re-enforce concepts learned thru self-study.  The classroom training experience should be enjoyable and productive.