What is e-learning and what are its advantages & disadvantages

What is e-learning?

The last 2 years have made e-learning a part and parcel of everyone’s daily life. The e-learning label covers all those structured contents for online learning that exploit the potential of multimedia and web technologies. Distance learning is a well-known method used by schools and universities for academic teaching, but also by companies for the training of staff and professionals, as well as for updating courses.

What tools are needed?

To access e-learning, you only need a device (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone) and an internet connection.

The advantages of e-learning

– The courses can be viewed indefinitely (scalable system that provides initial cost and effort, no additional costs and the ability to reach an indefinite number of people, without any restrictions)

– Ability to train independently, where and when you want (reduction of logistical costs related to maintaining classrooms and moving people)

– Possibility of performance monitoring (activities can be tracked in every detail)

– Ability to quickly update content

– Ability to adapt the pace of lessons to your learning ability

– User involvement through quizzes, tests, slides, gamification

– Greater ROI than traditional teaching

– Ability to collect feedback to improve the offer

– Ability to customize the training offer

The disadvantages of e-learning

– Lack of interpersonal relationships with teachers and other students

– Difficulty of the teacher in perceiving any difficulties in learning by the class / students

– Less competitiveness and motivation to learn (more social than didactic)

– Technical difficulties (poor quality connection, poor computer skills resulting in difficulties in using the necessary devices)

The types of e-learning

Based on the setting of the teaching method and the degree of user involvement, we have identified 2 types of distance learning:

– Webinars / tutorials and conferences

(the teacher / professional records a video in which the participants passively watch and learn concepts. In this case, we speak of receptive e-learning)

– Closed course through LMS (Learning Management System) platform

Participation reserved for students regularly enrolled in a course + possibility to interact with the teacher and classmates, take tests and obtain a final certificate (executive e-learning).

The present and the future of e-learning

Almost two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, distance learning and teaching have become an integral part of our daily life. Although the difficulties have been many and still not lacking, e-learning was necessary to ensure a minimum of continuity in school and business / professional training.

In this context, it is easy to understand that the digital training market is constantly growing. According to a survey carried out by Research and Markets, the market value of e-learning will reach 325 billion dollars in the next 5 years.

We can reasonably assume that efforts and investments will move towards the development of modular platforms that allow adding new features capable of adapting from time to time to emerging needs to reinvent and improve more and more the quality of the classes and content offered.