I recently read an article written by Alan Matthews of Transform your Training regarding the question of whether classroom training is now an old fashioned way of learning. His comments were very interesting & I tend to agree that the simple answer is – No!
However it’s a fair question that has been debated much over the last decade since the advent of e-learning and the various other blended learning solutions.
I remember well the time when e-learning was supposed to be the answer. The organisation that I worked in at the time invested heavily in e-learning as a blended learning solution, moving many of the ‘traditional’ face to face development interventions to this exciting, time and cost efficient method of learning.
This was the first time I heard the phrase “the days of traditional training are well and truly over”. As Alan rightly stated in his article, the advent of e-learning has enabled individuals to learn at their own pace, reduce time away from the office and eliminate the associated costs of trainer time, travel and accommodation. It has an impressive list of benefits that convinced many, both inside and outside of the L&D arena, that the future was already here!
But what many people forget is that human beings are fundamentally social creatures. The majority of us live in groups either in villages, towns or cities – huddled reasonably close together – ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’ anyone? As a society we are prone to consider people who lock themselves away and have little or no social interaction as a bit odd.
Blended learning utilising a variety of delivery methods is absolutely here to stay and rightly so, but as the title suggests, it is about making the most appropriate use of the options available, which includes face to face sessions. If you don’t consider all the options you may be one of the many who fall into the trap of picking the wrong solution, based solely on price. Let me give you an example.
Many organisations that I know use e-learning as a way of training compliance or regulatory requirements i.e. health & safety where, in order to remain compliant, employees need to complete annual online assessments and achieve a percentage pass. What often happens with these annual assessments is that they are completed as tasks, with the correct answers being passed around the office ensuring people pass & the compliance box can be ticked with little or no learning actually taking place.
There is also the added danger that rather than its intended outcome of developing learners’ skills, knowledge, competence and commitment, it turns other learning and development interventions into tick box exercises in the eyes of the participants.
In my experience e-learning is an excellent way of transferring knowledge but much less successful at transferring and embedding tools and techniques. Until there is a way of effectively measuring confidence without the benefit of human interaction, face to face training will always have its place.
As the “is classroom training out of date?” question has remained a relevant one over the last 10 years since it was first asked maybe we need to start looking at other factors that cause people to ask it?
Apart from the name, which I hate – I for one don’t have especially fond memories of the ‘classroom’ from my youth – the issue actually lies not in the environment e.g. the classroom, but in how the learning is being delivered. If you need an example of what I mean by the traditional classroom approach have a look at the classroom scene from ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’.
Today’s skilled facilitators and learning & development professionals deliver group learning sessions that engage people in challenging debate and discussion whilst exploring ideas and theory and most importantly translating the ideas and theory into practical tools and techniques. So in conclusion, if you do it right, face to face training will ALWAYS have its place!
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As trainers we subscribe to the adage that we never stop learning – but we can still find ourselves challenged by a new learning experience. Having been a full-time professional trainer for over 10 years I have developed a degree of confidence that whatever challenge I may come across during a workshop then I’ve probably seen it before!
