The opportunities and challenges of digital learning

Published by Nick Murphy on December 13, 2021December 13, 2021

The opportunities and challenges of digital learning

As more of the world moves online, so has education. The newest technologies have allowed access to hoards of information. This makes online and digital learning an exciting prospect for companies looking to grow.

During the pandemic, businesses, universities and schools were pushed to move their work online. This uncovered some challenges posed by remote or classroom-less learning.

In order to develop, businesses are keen to take advantage of the resulting improved digital learning experience. However, it’s important to note the pros and cons of online courses and digital education before spending.

Opportunities of digital learning

For a lot of companies, it is more convenient for learning to take place digitally. It requires limited input from other members of staff and allows progression for all employees. Here are some more ways that digital learning could benefit your workforce:

On-demand access: Digital learning is extremely flexible. Courses are accessible at all times of the day. This means lessons can suit multiple working lifestyles within a business.

Recorded lessons: Lessons are recorded ahead of time. This means that each lesson can be revisited, as often as necessary. This is ideal if a learner has any questions, or needs to revise certain topics. Ultimately, this results in a more valuable experience for an employee.

Digital experiences: Digital experiences are a mix of videos, content, questions and even games. This type of training is engaging and captivates the users to ensure that the training is successful and fun for the user.

Self-directed: Digital learning is driven by the learner. This means that the experience is more tailored. The learner can spend as much time as they need on their specific weaknesses. They can also move on from a topic that they feel confident with.

Personalised: Digital courses can mix and match to suit a specific learner. It isn’t productive to send learners on courses en masse. Digital learning allows you to focus on specific areas of development for each individual.

Value: The costs per head of training delivery are much lower
Blend: It’s possible to mix different types of training to be more useful to a wider group
More specific: training can be focussed on specific skills development
Culture and behaviour change: Training can be tailored to specific organisational and cultural objectives

Challenges of digital learning

As promising as digital learning is for modern businesses, there are some difficulties. Digital learning requires commitment from your learners, and drive for development. Here are some challenges that you may face when implementing digital learning:

Company culture: Does your company promote a culture of self-improvement and development?
Perceptions: Off the shelf training has a history of being low quality which can affect perceptions of the quality of online training in an organisation. How do you make yours stand out?
Access: No matter how good the digital experiences you develop your learners need to be able to find it quickly and easily, do your existing technologies support that approach?
Technology: Whilst each learner is different, they all need to have access to the necessary technologies. It is key to ensure that your learners have all the tools that they need to complete their course.

Progress your business

Learning on the job is part of the progression of all employees. However, simply watching how something is done isn’t a scalable way to onboard and train employees. Different people learn differently, and relying on shadowing employees could result in top-notch people failing to learn, not because they weren’t invested but because they didn’t get on with the person who they were shadowing.

At the same time, the world is moving fast. New technologies, new business models and new regulations mean that there is more to learn than ever before.

We provide digital learning tools to drive your workforce for business development. Get in touch with BAD today.