Only recently I attended my first virtual international seminar and was pleasantly surprised to find top educators and trainers along with well-known academicians sharing one forum to express their joys on how online learning platforms offer new vistas and new opportunities in learning. Whether it is university students or young professionals, the lockdown following COVID 19 has suddenly opened up new skills and courses for youngsters to become updated with global practices and then apply them locally, to solve problems. And surprisingly, many of them are for free forcing even online learning sites like Udemy to further cut down on prices.
Harvard University has recently launched 67 free online courses to ensure that learning doesn’t take a backseat for aspirants during COVID19 lockdown. This novel initiative offers a ray of hope for those wanting to learn/acquire new skills for long. And with online free courses picking their pace in the market, it has become accessible for every learner to enroll for a program of his or her choice without having to pay any enrolment fee. The courses have been so designed that they are bound to add value to your resume so that when you step out in the job market post-quarantine, you will be able to enhance your value from the existing skillset. While maintaining social distance, you can apply for online courses that range for the duration of 1 week to 6 weeks depending upon your interests.
In the Indian corporate arena too, a large number of employers are turning to online employee training for a hands-on, interactive way to learn. Following the pandemic, this form of training has become more and more popular as Internet technology has improved and Web access has become near ubiquitous.
Falling under the umbrella of E-learning, online employee training is also known as web-based training. The advantages are many. Every employee can learn at his or her own speed. Because all the trainees will use the same program, training materials are standardized. The materials are also easy to update. Online employee training also makes tracking results easier. In other words, an employer is better able to see who has completed training and review their scores.
According to Learning Simplified, one needs to ask the following questions if you want to opt for online training:
- Is it easy to use?
- Does it have built-in interactivity?
- Does the content keep employees engaged in the training?
- Do materials cover all the pertinent regulations and do they align with your organization’s goals?
- Is the information up to date?
- Are relevant illustrations to the subject and industry included?
- Do quizzes adequately engage employees’ knowledge of the subject?