Benefits of Training Online

Personally I believe that training online gives the trainer and trainee more flexibility. It is hard to get everyone in one place. Busy schedules and workloads provide for little extra time for training. Being online allows everyone involved the opportunity to do it on their own best time. With that being said, online training and learning also requires self-motivation and the will do get it done!

Blackboard.com provides a tip sheet for the educational benefits for online learning. One of the benefits mentioned is "providing 24/7 access to course materials". I like this because the best time for someone to log in and get involved may not be a great time for someone else.

I know as a teacher myself the last thing I want to do when I get off work is to have to and sit through a 2 hour training session. I believe the same goes for a college students. So an added benefit, according to Blackboard.com, is the "removal of reliance on physical attendance".

Another benefit, according to Blackboard.com, is "accommodating different learning styles". Through online training one can "go back" if they have missed something. For visual learners there is video tutorials and power point slides. For audio learners there is voice overs and guided messages over video. Where one student may take everything in at once, another student may prefer to absorb information in small chunks. Online learning provides for all different types of learning styles.

So the benefits of online learning appear to be (1.) flexibility for everyone involoved (2.) no need for physical attendance and (3.) accommodating of different learning styles. This wasn't mentioned in the articles but I personally believe accommodating for different teaching styles can also be a benefit for the instructors as well.