What is eLearning? A complete guide

Businesses are evolving at a rapid pace, and your training must keep pace to stay competitive. Thankfully, learning is no longer confined to white-walled rooms and rigid schedules. eLearning is now a powerful tool for workplace training that offers flexibility, personalization, and scalability.

Whether it's improving technical skills, enhancing leadership abilities, or fostering team collaboration, eLearning gives businesses an innovative way to upskill their workforce. In this article, we’ll explore how eLearning is transforming workplace training and why it’s becoming a must-have in the modern workplace.

What is eLearning?

eLearning or electronic learning is the process of learning and gaining knowledge and skills through digital platforms. In the workplace, this veers away from traditional training methods as teams can access lessons, videos, and interactive materials anytime, anywhere.

Whether for learning a new language, gaining certification, or HR training topics, eLearning offers a wide variety of courses for almost any interest or industry. This web-based training incorporates a variety of learning methods, including multimedia and gamification. This flexibility makes it a convenient option that offers endless possibilities for training.

Why is eLearning important for business?

For most businesses, eLearning isn’t just a trend—it’s a necessity. Businesses must keep up with the evolving needs of a tech-savvy, globally distributed workforce. This makes the shift toward digital or remote methods of learning a natural transition, allowing businesses to support their teams with real-time, up-to-date knowledge and skills.

What’s more, compared to traditional methods, eLearning software systems offer a couple of advantages. It’s more cost-effective, flexible, and scalable, leading to improved efficiency and productivity that saves money in the long run.

How is eLearning different from online learning?

While often used interchangeably, eLearning and online learning have a subtle but important difference. eLearning refers to any learning that takes place through digital platforms. It is a broad term that encompasses all digital learning formats. But it also includes things like digital certifications, corporate training, and even self-paced learning programs.

Online learning, on the other hand, is a specific subset of eLearning that happens solely over the Internet. It typically involves structured courses or programs where students access lessons, assignments, and interactions with instructors and peers through learning management platforms.

While all online learning is a form of eLearning, eLearning can also include non-internet-based digital learning, like offline apps or downloadable content. In a nutshell, eLearning covers a wider range of digital learning experiences, while online learning is focused specifically on internet-based courses and training.

Benefits of eLearning

eLearning offers a range of benefits that make learning easier, more accessible, and more effective. Here are some of its top advantages:

Personalized learning

The reality is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to learning. Businesses that use eLearning gain a powerful advantage by offering personalized learning experiences tailored to each employee’s needs. 

With electronic learning, teams learn at their own pace so they can focus on the skills most relevant to their roles. Adaptive learning paths and AI-driven recommendations help employees get training that aligns with their strengths and growth areas, making learning more effective and enjoyable. 

You can deliver targeted content with SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s AI-powered eLearning authoring tool. Simply input a prompt or upload a training file and get a mobile-ready course in seconds using Create with AI.

For a seamless admin experience, SC Training also lets you group users with similar learning paths. Improve your team’s learning journey with the User Management feature. Invite new members, remove former ones, and send notifications with ease.

Start your eLearning journey in minutes with SC Training!

Higher engagement and interactivity

Forget sitting through long lectures and reading dense manuals. With eLearning, employees are more engaged as training is made more interactive and dynamic through quizzes, simulations, and gamified learning experiences.

It offers a hands-on approach that makes learning feel less like a chore and more like an interactive experience that keeps employees motivated to complete training. With higher engagement, teams perform better and are more productive. Interactive elements like virtual collaboration tools also keep them actively involved in the learning journey. 

SC Training’s Discussions is a space where your team can easily exchange information and insights with each other. Whether it's through text, images, or videos, this forum-style feature lets everyone learn from each other. This facilitates knowledge transfer that helps sustain long-term business success.

Real-time tracking and progress monitoring

Keep training effective and on schedule with electronic learning. It gives your business the ability to track employee progress in real time using digital dashboards and analytics. Your managers can see who’s excelling and who might need extra support as training happens.

This level of visibility will help you adjust training strategies and guarantee that learning is continuous. Real-time tracking leads to smarter decision-making, where companies can identify trends, letting them refine the training material for better outcomes. Ultimately, these insights help your organization achieve business goals by maximizing the return on training investment.

SC Training houses a powerful reporting and analytics dashboard where you can monitor and track each learner's course history for easy compliance. You can gain valuable insights into how they're progressing and identify any roadblocks in their learning pathways – all at the click of a button.

Global reach and scalability

For global businesses, training employees wherever they are in the world is a strategic advantage. Break down geographical barriers and keep your teams’ learning experience consistent with eLearning. This type of training makes it easy to deliver the same high-quality training whether your employees are from different cities or across continents.

Unlike its traditional counterparts, eLearning allows businesses to grow with no limitations. Its scalability allows you to easily onboard new employees and roll out training materials without increasing costs significantly. This makes it easier for your company to adapt to changing needs with training that grows as your business grows.

Improved knowledge retention

eLearning enhances knowledge retention by making training more engaging, interactive, and accessible. IBM found that by incorporating eLearning into training, teams were able to absorb almost five times more content, all without adding extra hours to their training sessions.

Teams can learn through videos, quizzes, simulations, and bite-sized lessons that reinforce key concepts. This hands-on approach helps learners absorb and remember information more effectively. Plus, with the ability to revisit lessons anytime, employees can refresh their knowledge whenever they need. 

Don’t let important skills and information fade over time. SC Training’s targeted microlearning lessons give you a shortcut to effective training. It’s not only faster and more cost-effective, but it's also built around how our brains actually work, making sure that information sticks.

Cost-efficient

Last but not least, eLearning helps businesses save money by reducing the costs associated with traditional training methods. There’s no need to book venues, pay for travel, or print materials—everything is accessible online. Employees can complete training from their own devices, eliminating the expenses of in-person workshops. 

Plus, companies can reuse digital courses for multiple employees, making training scalable without increasing costs. This cost-efficient approach allows businesses to invest in continuous learning without stretching their budgets.

Some eLearning solutions even offer free trials or are completely free for smaller groups. SC Training, for instance, is free for up to 10 users, making it the perfect fit for small teams or startups looking to minimize training costs.

Types of eLearning

Learning needs to be tailored to individual needs. eLearning offers multiple pathways and flexible solutions that can be customized to suit diverse learning styles and preferences. Explore this list of its different types to understand how to meet your team’s unique requirements:

Synchronous eLearning

Synchronous eLearning, also known as real-time learning, happens simultaneously. Here, learners and instructors engage in live sessions. This can be done through webinars, live chat, or discussion forums.

Whether it's a live training or a quick check-in, your team will never miss a beat, thanks to SC Training’s automatic alerts for upcoming sessions. Its Virtual Classroom feature allows you to integrate seamlessly with platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet, so you can keep everything in one place.

Asynchronous eLearning

This type of eLearning is self-paced, meaning teams can complete training on their own time, even without live interaction. It can come in the form of pre-recorded video lessons, eLearning modules, or discussion boards where learners engage in discussions at their convenience.

SC Training’s course library has hundreds of pre-built courses that can give you a headstart on self-paced training. These courses can be easily edited and rebranded to fit your company's specific standards and expertise without starting from scratch.

Blended learning

Blended learning combines online training with in-person learning. This can be done through hybrid training programs where teams engage in a mix of virtual and physical classes. There’s also in-person training that’s done in the workplace, but is supplemented by eLearning resources.

Use SC Training to blend hands-on and digital training to reinforce new skills among your team. Verify digital learning through in-person sessions and choose from group training, video conferencing, or practical assessments.

Invest in your team’s growth with eLearning. Join SC Training today!