eLearning Business - Pay as you learn.

09/05/2000
Accountancy
Copyright (C) 2000 Accountancy; Source: World Reporter (TM)

No one should really be surprised at the well-publicised dot.com failures. The real surprise is that there haven't been many more of them.

The internet is growing up. In place of a host of companies marketed mainly by their catchy names, we are now ready to analyse the added value of the worldwide web. Companies that genuinely add value will prosper and the rest will fade away.

So what is the internet good for? It is an almost immediate, potentially interactive communication medium with global reach, easy to amend and update - which is why there is so much interest in its use for training.

The arrival of what is called 'eLearning' comes when traditional training is proving inadequate. We are used to thinking that training happens in a classroom, but on this basis IBM has calculated that it would take 13 years to train their 20,000 production people in advanced manufacturing skills. No one in their right mind would predict that the skills IBM needs today will be the same ones needed in five years, let alone 13. Traditional training methods simply cannot cope with that rate of change.

Big spenders

How is this relevant to the accountancy profession? In two ways. First, the profession is one of the biggest investors in training. If you read the literature, you will find that the two big spenders (said to devote 10% of their revenue to training) are GE (no surprise there) and Deloitte & Touche. Second, while the market for training in the US is worth billions, a substantial amount of this spend is on the so-called soft skills - selling, people management, customer (client) relationships and project management in particular. Such soft skills are as relevant to the professional firm as they are to any other organisation. In fact, articles in Accountancy have argued that since technical skills are more or less common to all firms, soft skills represent the main opportunity for differentiation.

The cost of training is as enormous as it is necessary - and this is where eLearning comes in. It overcomes the problems of distance (travel and accommodation can easily double the cost of training), and reduces the time people are away from their families. Material can be really up to date - not delayed by the printing process. Learning can be monitored 'online', so as to keep track of who has learned what by when. Its interactivity means that it can find out what people already know, what they need to learn and how they like to go about it, creating a learning path specific to the individual. Interactivity also makes 'virtual' discussion classes possible, bringing together communities of learners, tutors and experts.

eLearning has many benefits and PricewaterhouseCoopers is already investing in it.

The human touch

60% of the average training programme is about giving information, and we know that lecturing is the least effective way of transferring knowledge.

eLearning has been shown to do this far better. But - and there is a 'but' - learning is not just about giving and receiving information, and the 40% not about facts is still the human trainer's province. Part motivator, part counsellor, the trainer or mentor remains vital in the world of eLearning to avoid the loneliness of the long distance learner, to help people 'see' an answer, by trying out different forms of explanation, using analogies, referring to experiences the learner may have had. Even more importantly, and indeed uniquely, the live trainer can observe performance and give feedback. As the musician replied when asked how to get to Carnegie Hall, 'Practice, practice, practice!' - and the most effective form of practice is in the presence of a skilled observer.

There is more to eLearning than a website, just as there is more to selling flowers than pretty digital pictures. Some of the early attempts at eLearning are little more than 'electronic page-turners.' Successful eLearning will be based on the psychology of learning and the technology must facilitate this. Excitement about new technology is one thing. Using it to help people learn is a bit more than this.

Gitte Helms works for PrimeLearning Ltd, the Limerick-based eLearning company.

Visit primelearning.com for more information.