The e-Learning business is large business these days! I work in this area for more than 20 years now and, always, something new makes a different impact on how people can learn better and more effectively! I start with the multimedia technologies, trying to experiment with the new, then multimedia for delivering a short of vocational training experience (yes, there was a time when audio, video, images, etc. are not a standard in a computer)! Later come the Internet age and everything becomes internet-based. But the aim remained the same: find better ways to deliver training and more value to the people!
Modern analysis, forecast a rise in revenue of more than $100 billion in 2015! e-Learning is modern, is is founded on solid pedagogical and training principles and it is reachable by everyone having an internet connection. Everyone can use e-Learning for developing his/her business or him/herself!
e-Learning, though, is a lot of things. Most people believe that e-Learning is the systems support the learning process. But they are not. The Learning Management Systems (LMS) & the Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) are just the tip of the iceberg!
The main bulk of the effort is the underlying pedagogical and training principles, the design of a course, the strategy of the content, the means of distribution, the quality of the supporting material and of the support! The main thing in e-Learning is how you deliver more value to your audience and how to make them alter their previous behavior and attitude towards certain situations. And most of all, how to persuade them to use what have learned to their everyday life and work.
Behind this goal, there are at play many principles, methodologies, and approaches, targeting, all at making someone to do something, to gain some more knowledge and skills, to change his/her attitudes, to alter beliefs and behaviors, to remove bad habits and adopt new, more healthier, ones! And make someone to do, a lot more things in the process! To make him/her grow in a way he or she were not seen as possible before!
Yes, it is a kind of leadership and a cross-section of areas as the business development, the personal growth, the persuasion engineering, the instructional design, the storytelling, the content expertise, the social media, the training and digital strategy, the marketing, the gamification, and many more! It is also a strive for excellence not only to a business level but to a personal level as well!
e-Learning is about influence, of course, but a “benevolent” kind of influence. An influence intended and well directed towards specific results for specific people!
e-Learning is an invitation for a free negotiation among a person and a goal. And about what he or she can do it in order to achieve it! It is a “whisper” to the people want to do more and achieve more in their life, using their skills and capabilities! And the price usually is, a new level of control to yourself and to your environment!
What do you think?
