Insiders give e-learning positive outlook

The e-learning market has matured and is offering “a clear business case”, according to delegates at an e-learning roundtable debate held in London last week.

Peter McClintock, sales director at training specialist Global Knowledge, said: “We are seeing an uptake in e-learning. It is definitely increasing. E-learning took a major step backwards after all the hype a few years ago. Many companies are seeing the potential.” 

Janice Brown, managing director of Trainers IT Services, argued e-learning and traditional training methods created a blended learning stream.

“In an ideal environment, we would have small training workshops, but from a cost perspective that is not always possible. To me, [e-learning] has evolved. People are driving e-learning because the market has matured,” she claimed.

McClintock said the blended model was a vital part of Global Knowledge’s approach to business. German chemical giant Bayer claimed the training offerings put in place by the services company offered “clearly identifiable business benefits” and provided a £60,000 reduction in training costs in the UK.

Brown added that the training industry as a whole had gained experience from e-learning hype and was in a position to offer “significant benefits” from the market.

“As a value-added proposition, we have to identify key [business benefits] in a company. We are growing organically [as a result],” she claimed.

McClintock suggested there would be a shake-up in the industry: “The market is not big enough. I do not want to have several different products across the board and our customers do not want us to be changing our projects frequently.”