We live in a different world now. The hustle-bustle, the rumbling of automobiles has been replaced by silence, occasionally disrupted by the chirping of birds, the chatter on Zoom calls, and the steady rhythm of tapping on keyboards across homes, cities, and countries. Everything that we hitherto were used to having become things that need to be avoided. And with the decreasing face-to-face interactions, there has been an unprecedented rise in e-interactions, data consumption, and self-driven learning.
Reports cite that in the past few months, “Millions of users are signing up for free courses taught by professors from Harvard and other top universities. Coursera has seen an eightfold increase in enrolments for social science, personal development, arts, and humanities courses since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.” Learning has always been a prominent way of utilizing the downtime, and the stats definitely point at this very fact that manifests itself at the time of this pandemic. Globally, a number of universities and schools have already switched to eLearning, showcasing an increase in the use of platforms like Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, and even various Video conferencing tools.
Organizations across the globe the pandemic have embraced the concept of flexible working hours and shown a newfound openness towards the concept of work-from-home. In the past few months, organizations with a well-equipped training/learning management system in place have witnessed a significant rise in the number of users undertaking training voluntarily. The Cornerstone Institute for People Development revealed that in March 2020, learners spent 27.5 million hours on Cornerstone Learning. So, what about organizations that have yet not explored the realms of eLearning or online training.
While some may say that there is a huge wealth of information available online, which makes curated eLearning in organizations important is content relevance. While there may be free content that can be utilized as guidance videos, DIY assist or provide a basic outline, organization-specific eLearning integrates the generic information with the necessary specific (what we could call the trade secrets) and purely objective inputs all aligned with the organization’s values and mode of functioning. The best thing is that in the current times better internet connectivity, rise in numbers of smartphone users, adoption of digital payment options, etc. makes eLearning much easier to curate and deliver than ever before.
So, what is the importance of eLearning Post-Covid19 (and even during it)?
Citing from the Cornerstone press release, “Johnny Lee, Learning & Development Platform Lead of the largest technology manufacturer in South Korea, talks about curating position-based career paths to help them learn the skills they need to continue growing well into the future.” This is one of the biggest plus of introducing corporate eLearning training. To collate, curate, and deliver relevant, personalized, and skill-based learning that can empower the learners without hampering the workflow. In addition, eLearning offers benefits like:
- Freedom to direct the Learning Schedule
- Flexibility to Access, Learn and Re-learn
- Structured Assessment
- Non-intrusive Feedback
- Voluntary Up-skilling
PwC Canada asked 22,000 workers from across the globe to share their hopes and fears, and found that “77% of adults would learn new skills now or completely retrain to improve their future employability—of these, 35% "strongly agree".”
Nicolas Marcoux, CEO, PwC Canada emphasizes that “Upskilling is a complex journey that requires a significant shift in mindset for any organization.”
While a global pandemic surely hits the global economy in many ways, it also provides a better opportunity to ponder upon the possibilities. Going digital and increasing flexibility in terms of employee access, device usage, etc. has already taken precedence, the fact that lack of infrastructure, as well as digital capabilities in many sectors, stands as a major setback cannot be overlooked.
The workforce of the future necessarily needs the wide opportunities that eLearning provides hence making it a priority for many organizations post-COVID-19 or even during it.
Is your organization eLearning equipped? If not, let’s have a quick discussion and find out how we can assist you in getting started.