5 reasons why traditional e-learning often fails. And 6 tips on what do to instead!
The staggering growth of e-learning in the corporate sector comes as no surprise to any of us.
In today’s ever-connected society, e-learning offers oodles of benefits for both learners and organizations alike. E-learning eliminates the need for pricey printed course materials and onsite instructors, which greatly reduces overhead expenses and lowers organizations’ environmental impact. Plus, employees can learn at their own pace, which maximizes learning retention and increases productivity.
So, if e-learning is so beneficial, why aren’t more companies having success with it?
Every business has its own view as to what an e-learning project failure looks like. In general, we consider a project as a failure when it does not go according to expectations or doesn’t deliver what was required. In order to make more e-learning projects successful, companies need to identify these reasons behind failure first, and then find a cure.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin
5 reasons why brands’ traditional e-learning often fails
- Tedious – The laptop lights may be on, but nobody’s home. Traditional e-learning is often tedious and just plain boring. It can create zombie-learners who are dead behind the eyes, mindlessly clicking through content. With the endless slides and sleep-inducing delivery, no wonder it turns people off!
- Isolating and lonesome – Traditional e-learning is often geared toward solitary study and lacks opportunities for social interaction between learners. If we can’t share our discoveries, ask questions, and celebrate our achievements together, we tend to lose interest.
- Not mobile-friendly – An e-learning course should be meaningful and engaging, but it needs to be easily accessible as well.
- Low knowledge retention rates – Traditional e-learning fails to overcome a common pitfall in learning – all the info simply doesn’t stick. Cramming our heads full of facts is fine if we only need to retain information for a short time – long enough to ace the family Trivial Pursuit battle, or pass an exam. But short-term learning is rarely the goal of employer training. To create true brand ambassadors, your staff should know the material by heart.
- Too passive – Even if you maintain your audience’s interest, without involving them, you will fail to create lasting behavioral change. As Benjamin Franklin famously said: “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” This is where traditional e-learning falls down. It’s all about the telling and showing, but not enough involving. In contrast, successful e-learning is interactive. Transform the monologue into a dialogue!
Create lasting change
Employers want training to create lasting behavioral change that boosts performance, employee engagement, and profits. Traditional e-learning can be effective at getting short-term results. However, if we don’t use and apply what we learn, human nature says we will forget 90% of it within a month. Once the course is finished, it’s over and forgotten – box-ticked.
Here at Mevo, we know that everyone learns from a great sales contest – even the ones who are not eligible for prizes. So why not make e-learning more fun and effective by combining it with a great sales contest?
We are here to show you how!
- Personal, live training by our competent staff on how to use the app as both a user and as an administrator – depending on your assigned status. We will be happy to set up a free workshop at your convenience to show the administrators how to use Mevo. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have along the way.
- Gamification makes work seem less like, well, work. A little friendly competition keeps staff motivated, excited to learn, and become better in their craft. In addition, our game analysis dashboard helps you see who might need a little more motivation, and where you should focus your time on making improvements.
- Exciting and dynamic educational content that captures the users’ attention and keeps them coming back for more competitive fun (+ more product and sales knowledge!). By making the material memorable, you ensure they remember the material.
- Assistance with design and quiz content. Our expert staff is available to answer any questions you may have regarding design and content creation. We will be happy to guide you along the right aesthetic path and can teach you the secret to making a great quiz. Or, if you’d rather, we could do all the hard work for you. It’s completely up to you.
- Mevo app is personalized and branded according to your company’s specifications. We want you to love the app as much as we do, and will make sure you are happy with the final design and content before launching your campaign.
- You’re in control. Nobody knows your staff quite like you do. You know what’s important for your sales staff to learn, and what prizes will motivate them. You’re in control of everything: when campaigns will start, what the rules will be, and what content will be published, – right down to the very look and feel of the app itself.
And, most importantly, we love what we do, and we are passionate about helping you succeed.
It’s a very informative article about e-learning.