Industry-Wide Skill Development? Not Without Custom eLearning

Industry-Wide Skill Development?
Not Without Custom eLearning

Meghan Sulpher

October 25, 2023

Spoiler alert—the use of eLearning by government agencies, educational institutions, safety regulators, and organizations has been growing exponentially. Shocked? Of course not.

Most individuals have utilized some form of online training over the past few years, particularly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, recent data indicates that a full 90% of companies are now offering employees some form of digital learning. And, with the efficiencies and value derived from using eLearning, many regulators and industry groups are leveraging eLearning to help ensure workers are effectively trained and keeping up with a period of rapid technology and process changes.

But off-the-shelf eLearning solutions alone aren’t going to cut it in addressing this challenge. I’ll get into this shortly!

Staggering growth & focus on ‘microlearning’

First, let’s talk numbers. The growth of online or eLearning in both corporate and educational settings has been staggering. Between 2012 and 2019, the number of hybrid and distance-only students at traditional universities increased by 36 percent, while the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 accelerated that growth by a further (and whopping) 92 percent. The global eLearning market was valued at USD 210.1 billion in 2021 and is expected to surpass USD 848.12 billion by 2030—a projected growth of 303 percent!

In the corporate world, usage of eLearning and market growth is also growing fast and expected to at least double over the next four years. The expansion of top-down driven industry (and corporate) eLearning utilization has been fueled not only by the sheer necessity of the pandemic, but by a general reduction in training budgets. Industries across the board are trying to get more efficient with training, i.e., do more with less. In addition, the corporate eLearning market size is predicted to be further fueled by the adoption of ‘microlearning’ for employee training.

eLearning is not the future of effective industry training— it’s the now. eLearning cuts training times by 40% – 60% and greatly reduces staff downtime for in-class training.

Microlearning involves short blasts of information focused on a highly specific topic or task. Instead of sitting through lengthy lectures or presentations as part of a conventional online session or course, industry or business learners can complete the online training program in only a few hours or minutes. Relevance of content and efficient utilization of time through microlearning are clearly key variables, and the use of eLearning satisfies both.

Furthermore, the ease with which eLearning can be deployed and the consistency of the education provided offers immense value to industry and corporate users looking for quick results and impactful outcomes. Further, technical breakthroughs such as augmented and virtual reality, as well as the use of hybrid eLearning and online/in-class instructor-led training methodologies where required (e.g. Aviation, Trucking, etc.) give alternative and flexible options for delivering required content efficiently.

Off-the-shelf & custom solutions

There are many companies out there, including ours, that offer a library of valuable off-the-shelf eLearning solutions for specific training requirements. Off-the-shelf courses refer to pre-designed, ready-made online courses that are available to purchase or license by an organization from eLearning content providers.

These courses are typically developed by highly skilled instructional designers and subject matter experts to cover a wide range of topics and skills that are applicable to a broad audience. They are designed to be used largely “as-is” without significant customization. And, there’s a role and value in these offerings.

However, for industry or organizational-specific training requirements in a rapidly changing environment, custom is key. Collaboratively built custom solutions, whether ground-up or translated from an existing virtual or in-class training program, can offer even more customization and allow trainees to acquire behavioural changes and knowledge that directly align with the industry or organization’s unique needs.

This tailored approach ensures that your workforce gains skills that are specifically relevant to your organization, leading to increased productivity and improved overall performance.

Getting to the custom core

Custom eLearning solutions offer immense value to regulators, industry groups and organizations grappling with rapid operational or regulatory changes. Beyond the customization of core content, these solutions offer the ability to tailor the look and feel (i.e., branding), increase access through mobile and off-line usage, simplify administration and updating, deliver advanced reporting and analytics, and much more.

Effective, efficient, and impactful eLearning solutions are created when the vendor works collaboratively with client and industry subject matter experts to produce custom solutions that meet specific industry and skill requirements.

The advantages are big and can significantly enhance the productivity of employees and contribute to the overall success of an organization. Here are some key benefits of opting for custom eLearning:

Content: Custom eLearning is designed specifically for the industry or organization and related objectives and challenges. Course content can easily build on base (or in-class) materials and appeal to the needs of different learner-groups within in-course targeting. Modules within the same course can be built for different learners, enabling the learners to select content per their requirements. Similarly, custom assessments can be built for each module. This type of targeted learning not only helps in reaching out to the learner better, but allows them to perform better.

Time: While custom eLearning may have a higher initial time and cost investment, it almost always proves to be more cost AND time-effective in the long run. Custom training is designed to be efficient, focusing on essential learning outcomes and avoiding unnecessary content. The offset savings from industry or organization-wide in-class training and travel are also immense. The net result is an overall savings to training time to a tune of 40% – 60%.

Consistency in training: Custom eLearning ensures a consistent and standardized training experience. Full stop. This consistency is particularly crucial when the focus is on required WCB or industry regulated safety training (e.g., Mandatory Entry Level Training for trucking, working at heights, etc.) or for companies with multiple locations or diverse teams, as it ensures that everyone receives the same high-quality training. And new industry workers get access to the same consistent content as their more experienced peers.

Custom eLearning is designed for industry-wide and organizationally-specific requirements and ensures that the content aligns with defined goals, training gaps, or unique regulatory or operational challenges.

Flexibility: Custom eLearning allows for greater flexibility in content delivery and interactive elements to best meet the content or client needs. For example, our in-house team builds in animations, interactive activities, 2D/3D digital media, quizzes, simulations and more. You can also incorporate gamification and other interactive components tailored to your employees’ learning preferences. This relevance and interactivity fosters better engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention, leading to a more productive workforce.

Scalability: While off-the-shelf courses are designed for maximum reach and applicability, they don’t cover the unique nuances of a particular industry or organization. This limits the ‘value’ of their scalability. Custom solutions address this issue while still allowing for true scale to all relevant workers within the organization, the region, the industry- regardless of employer lines or geographical boundaries in the case of government, regulator, or industry-association deployment of the training.

Continuous updates and iterations: As organizations evolve, so do training requirements. With custom eLearning, you have the advantage of updating and iterating the content regularly, and in a cost effective manner. This flexibility allows you to keep the training material current and aligned with industry trends, ensuring that your employees stay up to date with the latest knowledge and practices.

We all know that engaged workers are more productive and motivated long-term. With custom eLearning, variables relevant to a particular industry or organization can be accommodated for, including regulations, terminology, values, culture, and branding.

Further, tailored training content drives relevance, empowers employees, and creates connections with their industry and business. When learners feel that training is specific to their needs, they’re more likely to feel valued, and be invested in the concept of life-long learning which benefits both the individual and the organization.

The final word(s)

The global landscape of training and development is likely to continue evolving in 2023 and beyond as organizations seek to meet the changing needs of their employees and the business. Response to this rapid change must be swift and include consistent and efficient (e.g., micro-skills) training for the employees that will help organizations maintain pace.

Leveraging timely, relevant, and focused content with custom eLearning helps prepare industries and organizations for rapid change, and not only surviving, but thriving into the future.

Progressive industry groups, Regulators, WCBs, etc., are getting ahead of the risk by embracing the value and power of custom eLearning for industry-wide skill development. They are investing in the development of tailored, relevant, engaging and efficient training content which can be deployed for the benefit of one OR many industry employers. And this training allows for alignment with industry and organizational goals, employee productivity, and long-term success.

Industry-wide skill development is not a nice to have, it’s a must. Doing so efficiently and effectively requires an industry-driven application of custom eLearning solutions to help get workers there faster, cheaper, and with relevant and repeatable outcomes.

Visit Bluedrop ISM for more information on our custom eLearning solutions, or SkillsPass training delivery platform. You can also hit follow on our LinkedIn and Twitter pages to stay up to date on a

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