T+D Online - online learning versus traditional training methods - Brief Article - Panel Discussion

Training & Development, July, 2001

Community As with any new technology, there are always the early adapters who plunge right in and the more cautious toe dippers who prefer to wait 15 minutes while the hype settles. Of course, if the technological water is fine, they'll eventually meet in the middle. Until then, it can make for some interesting discussions.

Here's what ASTD Web-site visitors had to say when one member asked why everyone was talking about online learning so enthusiastically and forgetting the importance of human interaction when it comes to teaching, training, and learning.

Online learning has no more chance of replacing classroom training as television did of replacing radio. It simply represents another choice in the marketplace, and the reasons people make that choice are as varied as the people doing the choosing.

But to suggest that people can't learn without human interaction would suggest that people can't learn anything by reading a book in the quiet of a library.

Dennis

Advocates of online learning, e-learning, and Web-based training aren't expecting much from technology at all; they're simply expecting to use it to create better ways of communicating.

With exceptions, communication is something that happens less and less in the corporate classroom. Money and time are drivers that have turned four-day courses into one-day accelerated events and frequently force class sizes to over 30 students. How much communication of real value takes place in an environment where content is fire-hosed at audiences?

Online learners have the freedom to learn at a time and place that is convenient and to decide what to linger over or skip and what to challenge or explore.

In communication-rich environments, online learners share problems, solutions, applications, and war stories, not with 20 or 30 classmates but with hundreds or thousands. They can see every discussion that has taken place within the course or curriculum, all searchable by keyword, giving them access to a knowledge base that far exceeds the competence or experience of any one trainer.

Godfrey Parkin

This whole debate is a bit of a red herring. There's no conflict whatsoever between the two--not any more than there's a conflict between talking to someone in person or using a phone. We're merely extending something, not reinventing it. Furthermore, all considerations of relative value are completely subjective and cannot be proven one way or the other.

E-learning and previous forms of learning are complementary. Automation and network connectivity extend delivery parameters and ease administration, thereby decreasing cost and increasing access.

The true revolution in education is, and always has been, access not quality.

Stephen Lanhanas

T D Online is compiled by associate editor William Powell; wpowell@astd.org. Join the discussion by visiting ASTD's Learning Communities at www.astd.org.

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