eLearning vs Face-to-Face delivery

After several discussions recently I came to the conclusion that too many people are confusing themselves with the differences (or lack of, in their mind) between e-delivery, e-assessment, and eLearning. So, I thought I’d start to outline my thoughts on them, the differences, and why so many keep getting it wrong!

In the article “Can e-learning compete with face-to-face (delivery)?” John Walls makes some very astute points about the differences between traditional face-to-face delivery and delivery methods needed for an eLearning Programme. Of note, and it must be said that this was writing in 2000, and is still very relevant today, are his points on;

“e-learning doesn’t prevent interaction from taking place. In fact, e-learning can actually increase interaction as it shifts the participant from a passive learning role to an active learning role. It also provides both the participant and the instructor with tools to measure real-time retention of information and allows for corrective measures to be made accordingly. E-learning can even include scheduled or randomized post-training assessments to measure the retention of information over time.

“At its best, e-learning is more than just interactive. It is collaborative. The participant is connected to learning peers through the virtual learning community. He also has access to mentors, experts, colleagues and professional peers, both inside and outside his organization for problem solving and decision-making.

“ … (students) can arrive at a training process that is more engaging and effective than traditional face-to-face learning at an economical cost. With the focus on the participant, e-learning can ensure (students) fully master the training content, ultimately leading to greater job performance and a stronger bottom line.”