eLearning and barriers to education
Due to COVID-19 online learning and working from home has become familiar to large numbers of people. One of the benefits of eLearning is that it can help break down barriers that might prevent some learners getting access to education.
Below are some of the barriers to education that can be reduced by using eLearning.
1. Don’t have to take it in person
Unlike classroom training which is done face-to-face with an instructor, eLearning can be taken anywhere, providing the learner has a computer and a network connection. In comparison classroom sessions have some barriers to entry, the learner must be at a specific place and at a specific time, this means that learners who live too far away or don’t have the time or money to travel can be excluded from getting education. With eLearning you can reach a much wider audience as people do no have to live in a close geographical location to be able to access your training.
2. Costs
Another benefit of using eLearning over traditional training is that it can be much cheaper for the learner and removes some cost barriers associated with getting education. When taking in person training you not only have to pay for the classroom session but also a variety of other costs including travel, accommodation and food expenses which can quickly add up. In comparison eLearning can be taken from your home, a restaurant, or a coffee shop. This gives the learners much more flexibility in terms of where and when they can take training, as a result it can greatly reduce the costs associated with taking training.
3. Outdated Training
When hosting classroom sessions and in person training it can take some time to update the curriculum, for subjects such as IT and technology this can be an issue, as due to the constantly changing nature of the subject learners need to know the most up to date information. As a result, this can create a barrier as lectures or instructors are not able to adapt quick enough. With eLearning it can be much quicker to update your courses, providing you have the source files used to build the eLearning course it can be as simple as updating the course and pushing it up to your Learning Management system. Learners will then be able to access the new information straight away.
