Is Online Training Effective Or A Big Scam?

Mouses, meeses, mouses, mice. A pile of non-optical paperweights.

Maybe it’s not true for the corporation you work in but for every corporate conglomerate that I’ve worked for so far, I’ve had required computer based training courses for at least the first couple of months of each year. And these are not the most exciting things in the world. To tell you the truth, at the end of the day, it really boils down to watching a video with poorly acted out scripts and clicking a button every couple of minutes to keep you awake.

So that brings up the question, is this type of online training effective or, is it just a big waste of time? If you can align your goals and put yourself into the position to focus on your growth, everything can be effective, including online training. Here are a couple things to help you believe that.

It’s True Because Science Says So

For most of the training that deals with hands off learning, for instance, communications skills, negotiation skills, or software skills; recent research has shown that online training is just as effective as classroom based training. Some of this research has even shown online training to be more effective.

I believe that’s because the online training can be done at the tester’s own pace, in their own environment, and in a way that works best for them. When you combine those three things you get the most effective level of learning, whereas, in a classroom it’s a generic approach to everyone in the room and it’s usually bound by time. Those are not great factors for learning.

Always Be Leverage Training Resources

What’s worse than an actual living / breathing human being having to get up and say the exact same boring class over and over again to a brand new set of people every week or month? Not much. If it’s something that doesn’t require a whole lot of explanation, or it’s something that’s relatively repetitive in nature, there is absolutely no reason to have someone stand up in front of a group of people and read some PowerPoint slides.

Don’t get me wrong, trainers and mentors are very useful when it comes to some type of information that isn’t simply rote memorization. However, when it is a subject that is easily repeatable like that, it’s great to make an online based computer training course that can be made one time and then replayed to all the people that need to take it over and over again without putting anymore labor into the effort. It’s called leverage, and it’s beautiful.

Know That Real Users Learn Best

Round and round we go – nope, I still don’t know what this diagram is saying.

By allowing people to take their own approach to learning through an online method they get to do what works best for them. This tailored approach uses their motivators, their own schedule, and their own methods of learning to best let this new information soak into their long-term memory.

This is a great way to set them up to actually retain the information that they learn, as opposed to just running through a class to get to their next module of temporary information.

Online Training is for Everyone

If you’re wondering if online training is effective I’m here to tell you, it can be. Because science says so, you’re able to leverage your training resources, and it works best to help users learn what works best for them. As a matter of fact you should now be convinced that it is effective. So go pick one that’s available at your work, go at it, take notes, and plan to review the notes you’ve taken in a week.