By Benjie Garcia and Eduardo Reyes *
A select group of HR and L&D professionals were treated to a high impact, 3- hour learning session by PowerInU Training and Coaching Philippines, Inc. and Cegos Asia Pacific last August 16, 2016. The resource person was Ms. Patricia Santos, Head of eLearning of Cegos Group, who visited Manila for the first time. Taking off from the highly successful 2020 Learning Future held last April 26, 2016, “Achieving Business Success Through Digital Learning” aimed to provide participants with answers to questions commonly raised by business and HR leaders embarking on a journey towards digital learning.
These questions include:
How should we prepare the business case for eLearning?
What should companies consider in deciding to pursue digital learning?
What are the common reasons by digital learning initiatives fail?
What are the latest trends in digital learning?
Given her 20 years of experience in technology assisted learning, Ms. Santos shared key concepts in instructional design, technology and change management. Her passion for digital learning was very evident as she narrated her lessons learned from working with various organizations including the 90-year old Cegos’ own transformation into now a multi-modal training organization.
The journey towards digital learning requires significant planning and resources. Organizations embarking on this journey on their own must a have clear business case in order to justify the investment. They also need committed team not only to plan, produce the modules and deliver the programs but also to keep it updated in terms of content and technology advancement. The familiar triple constraint of Cost, Quality and Time applies as with most undertakings.
A great eLearning program must be driven by a business goal and a learning engagement. It must be relevant, fun and attractive to keep the learner active all throughout the session. In general, it is advisable to start with the blended learning format.
Recent technological developments such as virtual and augmented reality are already opening new avenues for digital learning. Micro-learning and adaptive learning are viewed as part of the next wave of innovation. Clearly, the journey towards digital learning is very much underway and will definitely play a vital role in achieving business success.
* About the Authors: Benjie Garcia and Eduardo Reyes are directors of POWERinU Training & Coaching Philippines, Inc. Benjie currently serves as president.