The issue is whether a classroom program should be converted to self-study or e-learning.
In Part One, we identified the unique benefits of a classroom program. In Part Two, we considered the difficulties involved in such a conversion. In this Tip, we present additional difficulties.
Additional Drawbacks
Additional drawbacks to self-study or e-learning as opposed to a classroom program:
- Participants would learn in isolation from their peers.
- Participants might work at their own pace, but if the training methods were not suited to their learning needs, there would be no other options for learning,
- While participants are in a classroom, they must be present and focused on the learning. Few individuals, whether owners, managers or staff, have the ability to work through a self-study program during work time without multiple interruptions. This assumes that work time is allowed for such activities.
- The likelihood of participants completing the courses at home would probably not be very great, given their family obligations and other business interests- as well as the possible lack of computer access at home.
- Self-directed learning, either online or in a correspondence course, often gets deferred and frequently set aside, due to other time demands.
The Option I Chose
The best option that I could offer in order to make the training accessible was to house the training program on the web and make that available to any organization with onsite training capabilities. The complete program package would include: the participant materials, PowerPoint slides, and very detailed facilitator guides. It might possibly be augmented with brief training videos that explained participatory learning and modeled how to facilitate the various activities.
Question: What do you think? Was I thinking like a dinosaur unwilling to move from my comfort zone of classroom training, or were my arguments sound?
May your learning be sweet.
Deborah
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