Can online training preserve the quality of in-person training?

Today, we have access to high-speed internet in most parts of the world. Resultantly, we are seeing mainstream adoption of various trends, including the adoption of online training for students and employees around the globe. While text portals were popular for information consumption online in the past, there is increasingly a shift towards other forms of media consumption on the internet. The education sector is thus ripe for disruption through initiatives that invest in online learning.

The innovations in bringing education online have been picking up speed over the last few years. Online courses offer various benefits over in-person training - let’s analyze whether these advantages of online training can preserve the quality of education offered in the classroom.

One of the biggest advantages offered by online lessons is the massive flexibility of geography that it allows. For instance, a student in New Delhi can now sign up for a course taught by an instructor in New York City - allowing ideas to flow between diverse portions of the population - which was tremendously difficult in the era before the internet.

The MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) education model is gaining a lot of popularity and investment nowadays. The most popular and in-demand courses offered by leading experts and instructors in the world’s best universities are now available online for anyone to enroll in, which means people in all parts of the globe now have access to a world-class education.

Another aspect of online courses is that they are accessible by a larger number of people due to the widespread availability of high-speed internet. As opposed to courses that are offered to a handful of students in-person, online courses equip millions of students to enroll and receive training over the internet. This large number of participants gives instructors to receive feedback about their courses from many more people. This allows new versions of courses to incorporate features based on large-scale direct student feedback - ensuring that the quality of online courses improves significantly over time.

Another significant advantage of online training is the reduced cost of enrollment. Since a lot more people can sign up to learn online, the fees associated per student can be reduced in favor of distributing the courses at a higher scale. The same course offered by an in-person instructor is sure to be more expensive because of the logistical costs that come with setting up a classroom environment.

Online training requires a one-time compilation of instructional material that can be reused for a significant amount of time. For example- according to many companies, the Agile methodology and Scrum model are here to stay. So, creating a course that teaches Agile and Scrum allows the learning material to be reused over a longer period of time as opposed to in-person training, where the teachers repeat the same material to different batches of students.

An argument against online training involves the amount of individual attention each student can receive in a classroom environment as opposed to a course offered online. This is being tackled by online courses where students get the opportunity to clarify concepts they have problems with and other questions and concerns they have.

With a rise in online training initiatives and an increasing demand for these offerings due to the multitude of advantages it brings, it’s no surprise that these trends are catching on around the world. Let’s look at some upcoming trends in the online learning space that are picking up steam.

A large number of companies are investing in online training for their employees- this corporate training takes the form of orientation videos for new employees or instructional videos where executives get to learn things that benefit them in their day-to-day tasks. For instance, some companies place a strong emphasis on their employees’ communication skills and team-building skills. KnowledgeHut offers courses that teach these crucial skills and covers a host of other topics including digital marketing, testing, IT, big data and risk management.

More and more students are supplementing their school and college education with online courses that teach them skills not available in their classes. This is beneficial because job applicants now have well-rounded skills that they gain outside the classroom.

With all the benefits of online learning, it’s not surprising that we are seeing a boom in the number of course offerings in recent years - this trend is expected to continue over coming years. Hopefully, this article was successful in highlighting the numerous advantages of online training as compared to the traditional method of learning in a classroom. Take a look at KnowledgeHut’s catalog of courses to see how you can learn new skills online today!