Did you know that more than 17% of all commercial training commissioned by industry is online? These statistics came from a survey carried out by CTS, a training consultancy that specializes in online programs and online courses for industry. This popularity is largely because clients find it easier to support training inhouse, and online packages are a good way of buying in expertise that can be used at the discretion of the company, rather than having to make several people available for training at the same time.
Of course there are other reasons why online programs work; different people have different attention spans, and take in material at different rates. Many people need to study material several times before they become entirely familiar with the content, and online programs allow people all the flexibility they need.
Living in an online educational environment can mean that you get out to see the world. For some weeks I've been dealing with an online program that has been designed and written by a commercial training materials producer. They write online program and online course materials but they do not offer them to the public, as they don't have the necessary tutor support to give to the students when they need help, and to help with assessment and other support activities.
When we look at materials that we want to deliver online we always examine them carefully. This is true for materials written in house and for materials that other bodies write. This package dealt with a specialist subject, and was full of great material, but it was not suitable as an online package - the presentation of material didn't allow the online learning process to be effective. We spent time and effort to try to put this right, but eventually we decided that the only way to get the process right was to meet face to face.
So I've just come back from Fiji - a great place to discuss online learning. Now not only do we have a world beating online package about managing science and technology, I also have a tan.
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