Do We Really Have to Choose Between Instructor-Led Training and eLearning?

ELearning has truly taken the L&D industry by storm. The convenience and cost savings of scaled learning programs has been a total game changer for corporate training programs. But many still hold that the traditional instructor-led training format will always be more engaging and more impactful for students. But perhaps there is a middle ground. Here’s why.

Disruption Takes Time

In many sectors of the market, Instructor-Led Training will continue to dominate overall training hours available. Despite steadily losing market share to more flexible, entertaining, and innovative digital mixes, ILT is still the boss and will be for at least a few more years. Many industries simply are slower to adapt than others, and some material is better communicated in person than through video. However, change will come. Instructor Lead-Training programs that are more likely to survive and succeed in the digital age will need to adapt their delivery to include a pre-and post-digital blend of training formats that reduce cognitive load, incorporates discovery, enables practice, supports reinforcement, and establishes accountability for trainees.

Blended Formats Perform Well

Video-based learning development, delivery, and consumption has grown in leaps and bounds in the consumer sector and will continue to grow in business communication. YouTube and video-based learning products have truly paved the way for the growing demand for short, entertaining, video-based learning alternatives. Videos are easy to consume, easy to scale, and easy enough to produce. In fact, more instructor lead training courses are turning to video to widen the depth of content which a single course can cover. Video provides great opportunities for engaging storytelling, case studies, and examples or context relevant to a training program. The world, including the L&D industry, is straining to keep up with the pace of technological advancement. While L&D continues to react with new innovative models, technology, and tools, there is real reason to hang on to some of the more traditional formats as well, at least in part. There’s nothing quite like the relationship and rapport a strong trainer can create with a group of trainees. Trust and retention increase through that face to face interaction. However, it’s becoming increasingly harder to capture learner behavior and sentiment in the latest learning programs. The need to stay ahead of the mercurial advances in digital technology and consumer demand has a direct influence on that behavior. The best-case scenario is one in which the L&D industry finds a way to balance the traditional learning methods with the latest and greatest technological advances. Scalable education with a human touch. We too must reinvent how we identify what works and how to stay ahead of the curve or risk falling behind in both investment and education.

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