ace-to-face learning is on its way out the door. 

It’s out with the old and in with the new with digital learning taking the place of traditional training models. HowToo is here to explain what digital learning is and how and why it is so highly regarded by a variety of industries and organisations. 

FREE Download: 8 Steps to Creating Online Training Your Team Will Love

What is digital learning?

Digital learning is learning using electronic media. It has capabilities to integrate gamification, animation, images, videos and graphics which have been proven to have a brilliant effect on the knowledge retention rate of learners. It gives learners an element of control over time, place, path and/or pace. Implementing digital learning is integral in creating a culture of learning within a workplace.

Why is digital learning so great?

It's accessible

One of the major (and perhaps the most obvious) perks of digital learning is that it is significantly more accessible than training done face-to-face. By 2028 an expected 73% of companies will have distributed teams, so as the global workforce becomes more and more dispersed the need to ‘teach from a distance’ has increased dramatically. Online learning lends itself to a workplace with employees learning and growing from wherever they are, and allows them to consume material at their own pace. 

It increases productivity

Think back to your last large in-person corporate training seminar - it dragged on a bit, didn’t it? One of the benefits of digital learning is that the recipient can take their time with the training and move at their own pace. People learn at different speeds, and digital learning allows those speed-racers to finish and then pursue other tasks, while those who need more time can move through the course at their own pace.

It deepens engagement

The success of modern workplace training often boils down to the engagement of the learner, which ultimately leads to higher knowledge retention rates. Conventional workplace seminars hold a reputation for being quite dry and static as they are less able to incorporate interactive, gripping elements that hold the learner’s attention for longer. Digital learning techniques, however, allow the creators to incorporate engaging elements such as gamification, personalisation and other elements to make the user experience livelier and more relevant. This kind of deepened engagement leads to greater knowledge retention and comprehension which - in a nutshell - means more effective learning.

It increases ROI

Let’s be honest - live training can be expensive beyond belief. From venue hire, to transportation costs, with the addition of the price of potential time wastage, the dollars start to stack up. By using a digital training tool like How Too many of these costs can be radically reduced or eliminated entirely. Further to this, a digital format is far kinder to the environment as it uses a very limited amount of paper. 

It's flexible

Digital learning is highly flexible. When your workplace undergoes a period of change (*cough* COVID-19 *cough*) it is of the utmost importance for the business to shift and change quickly and effectively. Digital learning is a malleable and easy tool which is able to assist in keeping the skill sets and knowledge of employees sharp and up to date.

It's measurable

Digital learning often allows the creator of the course to analyse the progress of the learners. In-built assessment is a tool which can be beneficial in tracking development and knowledge growth. It also allows organisations to intervene early if learners are slow to grasp the material which is being presented, and gives them the ability to draw quantitative conclusions on the progress of their employees.