Face-to-face communication also commonly called F2F has undergone a steady decline over the last few years. The introduction of technology-based communication is the biggest contributor, and with the introduction of 5G and its supporting communication technology, F2F may see a steeper decline.

Research by a children’s media advocacy group stated that 35% teens prefer texting as of 2018 compared to 16% from 2012. This is a 118% increase in a non-face-to-face format of communication in just six years.

Most of this is attributed to advancement in technology. However, with the current situation where keeping safe distances and social distancing are the new norms, the decline in face-to-face will only increase.

This Article Will Attempt To Cover The Following Points:

There is a definite doubt that the COVID-19 epidemic has made trainers reconsider how they conduct their training. As a result, it has left face-to-face interactions on the back burner. Even if the concept makes a comeback, chances are it will forever be a fringe practice that may even draw negative reactions from people owing to the possible safety violations. As a result, non-face-to-face practices have already cemented itself as the new normal.

According to a report by ON24, a webinar and remote conferencing tool provider, the percentage increase in webinars conducted has increased by 441% on Mondays, 222% on Fridays, and 271% on Tuesdays. These numbers are expected to grow and the coming periods will definitely mark the normalization of indirect training over face-to-face.

Traditional training and its allied concepts like classroom training and on-the-job training greatly relied on face-to-face communication to fulfill their purpose. But with the overall decline in F2F human interactions, these traditional formats of training are disappearing as well.

This decline in traditional training may appear as a worrying trend. However, it is the result of advancing technology and one can only adapt to the changing circumstances instead of resisting.

In reality, the decline of face-to-face communication has given rise to instant-communication, faster idea transfer, quicker decision making, remote group discussions, and instant knowledge transfer. The last bit is what has changed the way training and development is now achieved.

With the phasing out of face-to-face communication, the phasing out of face-to-face training and its allied concepts were inevitable as well. This was accelerated by the rapid introductions and advances in eLearning technology, which has quickly evolved from simple slide-based training conducted over a computer to AR-VR training conducted over multi-thousand-dollar devices. Not to mention rapid and precise training delivered on smartphones with limited need for data bandwidth. All these contributed to the steady rise in popularity of eLearning.

This only compounds the infamous Moore’s law which states that technology and its use doubles every 18 months.

eLearning’s market share rose from $176.12 billion in 2017 to $200 billion in 2019. It is expected to reach $398 billion by 2026 according to Global Market Insights.

Here is a quick comparison on eLearning technology and how it’s going to increase in the coming years.

Perpetual improvement fuels eLearning’s rapid increase in demand. It’s the result of learning technologies and their associated advantages.

At eNyota Learning, we have increased our offerings by ten-fold since 2007 (founding year) by including some of the most advanced eLearning offerings as a part of our services. Some of our latest offerings include:

• True Game-Based eLearning
• Immersive Scenario-Based Training
• VR-Based Training

As long as organizations continue to push the boundaries of eLearning offerings, the demand for the technology will only increase. This is because of the range of benefits that eLearning brings with it, such as:

• Reduced costs
• Lesser time consumption
• Increase in interest and engagement
• Increased knowledge retention
• Remote knowledge transfer from subject matter experts

There is no doubt that organizations are greatly benefiting from the advantages of eLearning. As a result, many top organizations are increasingly switching towards eLearning and steadily phasing out face-to-face training. Hence, It greatly contributes to the sharp rise in popularity of eLearning.

One of the biggest advantages that eLearning holds over face-to-face interaction is that people already spend more time online than interacting with other people in a face-to-face format. A report by Hootsuite and We Are Social indicates that humans are spending on an average of 6 hours and 42 minutes online–half of which is spent on mobile devices.  It is possible that increased indirect communication has over time reduced people’s need to engage in F2F communication. This decline in F2F communication has transpired into the training sector which traditionally relies on F2F communications. As a result, people now prefer indirect modes of communication from the comfort of their homes and may very well prefer eLearning as well.

A recent development, nevertheless, social distancing is here to stay. A global lockdown across all sectors of life and economy has halted traditional activities. This results in the inability to congregate in groups of three and more. Traditional classrooms-teacher settings are indefinitely on hold with no clear indications on the restrictions being eased.  Under such instances the demand for eLearning on major platforms such as Byju’s and Tencent Classroom has increased in excess of 100%.  Clearly, this increase in demand is the result of the many advantages eLearning presents during the ongoing pandemic. There is a clear possibility that the ongoing pandemic may continue for the foreseeable future even post the lockdown being lifted.At which point, eLearning will continue to fill the gap that F2F training leaves as a result of people’s reluctance to gather in traditional settings such as classrooms out of fear of contracting the virus.

Unsurprisingly, the lockdown has directly resulted in people spending more time at home. This especially holds true for students and children who spend close to 6 hours away from home on an average. These average hours increase as the students and children engage in higher studies.  Parents have reported that the lockdown has allowed them to spend more time with children which was not possible before. Indeed, cutting down the travel time and time spent in classrooms has left students with more free time. However, having more free time does not equate to a decrease in time spent to study and develop. eLearning cuts the time needed to travel and time needed to gather in traditional settings which requires a lot of planning and patience. Hence, the time spent training and developing is the same, only the time spent facilitating travel and other supporting activities is cut out leaving students with more time.

Traditional training relies heavily on travelling students, trainers, renting venues and other supporting factors. All of which are expensive and cost intensive. On the other hand, data is inexpensive and freely available as well in certain regions. Moreover, 5G as a technology is here and is very capable of supporting bandwidth intensive training. As a result, training like AR and VR and virtual classroom settings is a reality. Even with such advances and innovations in technology, it will continue to stay much affordable as compared to traditional training.  The prices of data will continue to decline as more people switch over to smartphones and internet becomes even more accessible.All internet dependent activities will flourish among which eLearning is one of the bigger and prominent activities.

eLearning is anenvironmentally friendly concept as compared to traditional training for a couple of reasons. eLearning poses minimal dependence on paper for assessments, training material, or record keeping. Implementing a full-blown modern learning management system is perfect for all of these. Automatically, the reliance on paper-based products is minimized, drastically cutting costs as well.  eLearning also successfully cuts down the need to travel which is a big factor. Travelling learners and trainers can be a huge logistics task and also considered as detrimental to the environment if planned for a large organization with an employee-base of 3000+.  Finally, large training events generate waste like paper, plastic bottles, use-and-throw plates and cups, and food. Wastage is minimal and almost negligible with eLearning in the picture.

Learners have traditionally trained and developedin classroom training environmentsor via direct interactions like on the-job-training (OJT). To many learners, F2F presents a safe environment where interactions between learners and trainers are instant and direct. Hence, nudging some of these learners to embrace a digital format by replacing face-to-face training could be unnerving if not done right.

Transitioning from traditional face-to-face environments to eLearning is possible in two ways. Those two methods are:

• Replacing traditional training activities with digital activities
• Introducing learners to replaced activities

This article will stress on initially replacing face-to-face training, starting with replacing current activities with eLearning and its allied components.

The biggest transition to make is switching from classroom to virtual classroom, also called VILT. The advantages for doing so are many.Here is a link to our detailed article outlining the benefits of VILT.  In short, the advantages of switching to virtual classrooms range from saving costs of time, efforts, money, and resources to being much simpler to manage and conduct. Undoubtedly, the first step to phasing out face-to-face training is by phasing out traditional training concepts like the classroom and teacher.  Allowing learners to access a virtual classroom from anywhere in the world and inviting expert trainers to conduct virtual sessions is the way to move forward.

The traditional education system has always relied on curriculum-based training where students are presented with a curriculum outlining their learning journey through the year. In the corporate scenario, these curriculums are missing altogether. The presence of a curriculum is very important in ensuring the success and effectiveness of training. However, curriculum in the traditional sense is a part of a face-to-face training environment. When considering the phasing out of face-to-face training, the phasing out of its allied concepts are important as well.  The modern response to curriculum-based approach is a learning-path. As a result, it is a learning management feature that automates a learner’s journey from start to finish. L&D teams and trainers automate these learning paths based on the training outcome they desire, and the learning path automatically enrolls learners as well. As learners start and complete courses and modules, the learning path unveils itself by introducing new topics and advanced assessments. This process repeats itself till the learners reach a definite end where they are presented with a certificate to mark successful completion. In theory, a learning path is a curriculum.However, its automation abilities and digital tracking prowess make it much more advanced.

Face-to-face training relies on paper-based assessments because it is conducted in a classroom environment with no reliance on digital platforms. Hence, paper-based assessments are the only option. These assessments are cumbersome to manage when the number of learners increases. Assessors spend immense efforts and time to manually work through all the responses. Thisadds to the possibility of errors in assessing and recording results. Also, processing these responses into meaningful reports that learners can use to take corrective actions is difficult.  On the other hand, online assessments are straightforward. They offer a range of assessment answering abilities like MCQ, open-ended anddescriptiveanswers. Most of these responses are processed by the platform on which they are conducted, and meaningful reports are derived through in-depth analysis and suggestion on corrective actions to take. Most importantly, these results are securely stored for future access and the chances of manual errors or loss of results due to negligence or unforeseeable situations is greatly reduced.

Traditional training relies on re-enactment and storytelling. As a result, it re-creates real-world situations for learners to train and learn in. eLearning takes this a step further. As a result, eLearning can recreate an environment and its elements to almost real-world like. This gives learners a more exact representation of the scenario they are learning about.Also, the engagement is greater than a simple story or re-enactment. More importantly, once an eLearning course simulation on a real-world situation is developed, it can be remotely deployed to global learners at scale, repeatedly.  Finally, assessing outcomes is much simpler as courses and their results are processed by intelligent platforms, and these results are presented to learners with greater depth. Achieving the same results with traditional re-enactment is difficult as re-enactment and roleplay do not even work on paper-based assessments, let alone digital recording and storing.

Today, eLearning is the only viable solution for corporate training. Introducing learners to eLearning is possible with a few measures and is not overly difficult.  As a result, most corporates must switch to modern eLearning to save costs of time, efforts, and money.

Switching to eLearning from face-to-face training brings with it a set of challenges that must be addressed for the switch to succeed. The biggest factor of which is employees accepting the new format of training.

When opting for a switch to eLearning, it is important to opt for a free trial of the platform which is the (learning management system – LMS) and the courses that run on them (like the eLearning modules).

A good LMS vendor allows organizations to test their platform for a minimum of 30 days. This trial period allows administrators to test all aspects of the product they are reviewing and accordingly make a purchase. However, LMS administrators are not the end users of an LMS.

As a result, learners must accept the LMS as well. Afterall, they are the end-users. Now, along with a thirty-day free trial period, a good vendor also allows administrators to add learners to the account.

Understanding how learners react to the new software is important. It presents administrators with a clear idea of what learners think of the platform and eLearning in general.

Reputed vendors like Abara offer administrators the ability to add up to 30 learner accounts during the free trial.

The real exercise here is to gauge the response of a small group of learners and assess how the majority will respond when the new platform is introduced. A simple-to-use LMS with engaging features will definitely reveal itself to the small group of test learners and in all likeliness repeat its ability to charm by impressing the masses.

The biggest drawback of traditional training is the inability to access training when most needed. Traditional training’s highly inaccessible nature is the biggest draw towards eLearning. Educating learners about the accessibility of eLearning is very important to gain their confidence. However, accessibility can be taken a step further by ensuring all eLearning content and the platform itself are accessible on smartphones even under low data bandwidth.

An increasing number of people are spending upwards of 6 hours and 43 minutes on their smartphones and it is carried on their person for almost 80% of the day.

Training content readily available on the phone encourages learners to access training during free time or whenever needed without much efforts.

Highlighting these factors to potential first-time adopters is a great way to get them interested.

When introducing eLearning to first-time learners, the biggest mistake an organization can make is to rollout-all eLearning in one go and overwhelm the audience. The best way to approach first-time learners is by introducing the concept to them in strategic bits and pieces.

First familiarize learners with the learning management system and a few introductory courses, followed by introducing assessments and polls is a good way to start. With time, the complete range of courses can be opened, with administrators assigning courses to learners. Eventually, learners can enroll in courses of their choice as well on their own.

The day learners start enrolling themselves into courses, you can positively say that your organization’s learners have matured. By introducing a step-wise plan to include new learners at their convenience, you’re allowing learners to familiarize with the concept of eLearning at their own pace without overwhelming them.

Another advantage that eLearning possesses over traditional face-to-face training is its ability to deliver training that is truly engaging. It is only the organization’s call as to how engaging their eLearning should be based on budgets and time constraints.

An organization can make their content engaging using images, videos, and audio.

This content when hosted on mobile-friendly platforms makes it even more attractive to first-time adopters. It is important to remember that eLearning content should not follow the blueprints of traditional training. Doing so, may take away from eLearning’s ability to truly make a difference.

The biggest fear that learners may have is that eLearning cuts out the ability to directly communicate with trainers. However, it is the complete opposite and learners must be intimated about the same. Not doing so will always leave learners apprehensive to a point where resistance to eLearning is also displayed.

eLearning when conducted over an LMS allows learners to send queries to trainers in a one-on-one format. Trainers can easily post a reply. The same may actually not be possible in a traditional classroom setting when the number of learners is more and the inflow of questions is large.

As a result, it would appear that asking questions over an LMS with a guaranteed response from trainers is much better than asking questions during events with the possibility that most may never be answered.

Do not ignore the advantages of eLearning over face-to-face training. eLearning’s advantages range from saving costs to battling a global crisis and even aiding with environment protection. Utilize a wide variety of eLearning solutions to reshape your training approach.

eNyota Learning has been engaged with eLearning development and technology enhancement for over 13 years. We have helped many organizations switch from traditional training to eLearning. We are also open to discuss your organization’s potential eLearning solutions. To contact us fill a contact form. We are eager to talk to you!