Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Training for Employees
Also known as the computer based training, distance learning and also e-learning, online training is a form of instruction that takes place fully on the internet set up. The online platform involves quite a variety of different multimedia elements which may include graphics, audio, video as well as weblinks. All these elements can all be accessed through an internet browser that is well compatible the device which you are using to access the internet. The online training has been so popular and is mostly used in the education setup as people do online training courses especially of the especially those offered by international universities.
Online training has many advantages which benefit mostly the employees by equipping them with relevant skills that they need in their working environment as well as boosting their qualifications in the workplace. Various media can be used to online training such as ezTalks which provides video and audio conferencing facilities through the internet and can, therefore, be used for the online training as well as meetings on the online platform.
Benefits of Online Training
1. Accessibility
Topping the list to the advantages of online training is its accessibility. Online training materials are made accessible by the workforce in the course of the day. It, therefore, makes it very possible for the employees to understand the subject which they intend to learn. Unlike the conventional learning methods where a classroom is provided, the online training platform ensures that the fast learners may be in a position to ensure that productivity is enhanced.
2. Improved pedagogy
Online training enhances retention as well as learner engagement. From the employer’s point of view, a trainee may now reliably use the learning tools to match the competencies with the learning goals being achieved by the employee. eLearning helps with the use of personalized study materials as well as interactive formats that are provided by the trainee. This is another one of the greatest benefits of online training for employees.
3. Enhancing collaboration
Medical institutions such as UBC medical school have confirmed that the use of video conferencing infrastructure has led to the doubling of the colleges graduates every year. It has therefore been used gaining an instant reach to the staff as well as the trainers from all the parts of the world. Teams from various geographies have been able to collaborate on the problem –solving challenges as they happen in the current time and also ensure instant connectivity.
4. Cost effective
Companies usually incur a lot of finances and have to put up a great to be able to train their employees through the conventional learning systems. Money is actually spent first on the trainer, for the trainee commutation to and from the training site as well as the classroom rentals and all other documentation costs. When using the online training platform, all these requirements for the training are all in the electronic format and therefore that means reduced costs from the paper reduction to the minimization of commute costs.
5. Suitable for idealistic workforce
Employees nowadays do not just learn for money but they work to get more experience each day as well working so that they learn. A classroom training platform offers a learning environment which has limited training programs. The online training, on the other hand, offers knowledge which is always available at the employee’s disposal. This, therefore, gives the employee a better access to subjects which they are interested in.
Disadvantages of Online Training
1. Less face to face interaction
A student will always have a tendency to underestimate the impact which comes by the virtue of them not meeting their instructor as well as other students in the class. The online training will, therefore, create a monologue and actually not a real dialogue taking place in the learning atmosphere.
2. Involves more work
In online work, the trainee requires a greater amount of reading as well as the assignment so as to prove that they have mastered the material which they were expected to learn thus ending up working a lot. It is one of the main disadvantages of online training for employees.
3. Low-quality programs and no accreditations
Most online courses and training are not accredited to offer the relevant training they claim to offer and thus end up offering very low-quality training which may not benefit the trainee. You can thus find yourself with a worthless degree and one that will leave you with a debt and not prepared for the workforce.
The advantages of online training thus show how the internet is buzzing with positive information with the low costs to the accessibility as well as the flexibility of the online training. Despite having some drawbacks, the online training still continues to pose unending advantages though one has to be very cautious while interacting on the genuinely of the course.Picture source from pnglot, netclipart, clipartwiki.