The second wave: even if you wiped out on the first e-learning wave, a second one is coming. Catch the ride

T+D, Oct, 2002 by Craig R. Taylor

But only time will tell whether having all of the technology under one roof is what organizations really want and are willing to pay for. The prospects, though, are intriguing.

The technology of learning plays only a supporting role. What's most significant about technology in the second wave isn't the technology itself; it's that, as the technology improves and becomes easier to use, more people will give e-learning a try. And as the collective experience improves, ever-broader audiences will embrace e-learning. Broadening the acceptance of e-learning by a wider and more diverse group of learners is the real opportunity for technology in the second wave. Clearly, e-learning has broken out of its early niche of catering mostly to computer training, but e-learning needs to keep proving itself in broad applications for diverse populations.

Learning portals were a hot idea during e-learning's early years. Remember Headlight.com? The light went out. Early portals failed not because they didn't have good content, competitive pricing, or reliable technology. They failed primarily for one business reason: They had little or no paying traffic. No volume. Trouble was, nowhere near enough people visited the sites to justify the advertising fees. There just wasn't enough revenue to support the infrastructure. That could be changing.

Less than a year ago, MonsterLearning * monster learning.com was born out of Monster.com's vision to become more than a successful job board. "We wanted to deliver career and life management help," says Diana Henjes, vice president of MonsterLearning. "What gets people from point A to point B is learning. People need to tie learning to something tangible, which is why we believe learning is tied to careers"

A lot of people appear to agree. More than 350,000 "seekers"--as Monster terms them--visit MonsterLearning's Website each month to review courses offered by a wide variety of content suppliers. Of those seekers, 32 percent click through to the content supplier's information-request page, looking for more detail on the courses. MonsterLearning's big advantage is the ability to harvest traffic from the roughly 15 million visitors every month to Monster.com. But make no mistake: More than 110,000 people a month are requesting more information on e-learning programs, and MonsterLearning is doing its part to help visibility. Recall the John Kennedy quote: "A rising tide lifts all boats."

Amy Finn, chief learning officer at Centra * www.centra.com. shares the growing belief that the widespread adoption of e-learning is under way and that it will become a ubiquitous part of our lives.

"The technology is improving, and users will demand that it will be part of their world. It means 'today' to a lot of people," says Finn. She adds that people are realizing that "e-learning is applicable to so much more than learning." E-communication is part of the deal.

Wider acceptance is being fueled partly by he growth of the commercial market-using e-learning to train customers, distributors, and suppliers throughout the value chain. Michael Bleyhl, e-learning director, Global Training, for Invensys www.invensys. corn a production technology and energy management firm with nearly 76,000 employees, worked with SmartForce to launch programs to a wide audience throughout its value chain.