eLearning Complements Practical Training

28 August 2019

Innovation | Human Resources

ELearning complements practical training; it’s not a substitution or replacement for it. Essentially, it’s an extra level of compliance training to help mitigate risk in the workplace.

ELearning is a significant element of compliance training in organisations throughout the globe.

By and large, it’s because eLearning is generally a simpler, more convenient, and cost-effective method for delivering workplace compliance training.

But that doesn’t mean practical training is just some costly and obsolete burden.

Actually…

Practical training is still incredibly effective, and often, it’s also quite essential. And eLearning complements practical training by building upon those lessons.

Overall, eLearning adds another layer of training to help prevent compliance issues and incidents from occurring. It enhances jobs and learning opportunities, it doesn’t compete with or remove them.

For Example…

Image you have just given your workers practical training for carrying out manual handling tasks.

Following which, you want to measure how well your people comprehended the training. You could provide an eLearning course that highlights the most significant aspects of the practical lesson.

This is an effective way to target potential holes or problem areas in training or your organisation. Thereupon is an excellent chance to fill those gaps and tend to those trouble areas.

Furthermore, you could administer refresher courses for relevant skills as eLearning modules. Or, likewise, implement eLearning periodically to emphasize significant policies and important practices.

There are so many possibilities.

However…

There are also some impossibilities.

For instance, it’s going to be hard, if not impossible, to administer a practical exam or physical test online. Similarly, eLearning likely isn’t going to suit training that relies on special equipment or tools.

That being said, eLearning is ideal for pre-education in preparation for practical tests, and likewise any further post-training study.

To Illustrate…

Forklift training is a great example.

You can’t properly learn to operate a forklift without practical training, and you certainly won’t get a licence without it.

There is a theoretical component to getting a forklift licence, and it’ll probably be administered as an eLearning course. However, no amount of online training can possibly qualify you to drive the vehicle.

But remember, eLearning complements practical training. You could use it to include specific company procedures such as where things go or who to address concerns to.

On The Other Hand…

A forklift licence really only comprises the operation of the vehicle.

It’s equivalent to obtaining an ordinary car driver’s licence. You get the necessary information from the book work, but you don’t get the practical skills or experience.

You only get that from the practical training and application.

Further…

Even the forklift eLearning given to contractors or new personnel depends on them already holding valid licences.

After all, those courses don’t train or authorise or licence workers to operate forklifts. Rather, they are refresher courses on expected practice for learners who already have the relevant skills.

They also serve to protect workplaces from compliance issues and potential safety incidents.

Furthermore, all workplaces are unique. For example, even safe parking areas or forklift charging stations will probably differ from workplace to workplace.

Don’t Forget…

These principles are exclusive to forklifts; they’re applicable to lots of training areas.

Therefore, unless you create your own eLearning specific to your organisation, unique practical training is probably necessary. For one thing, an outside developer’s eLearning courses can’t realistically address every workplace’s individual policies and procedures.

In short, use eLearning to emphasize and build upon the lessons of your practical training.

 

Find out more about how Business Training TV’s eLearning complements practical training. Discover our extensive library of video eLearning titles that will help to prevent compliance issues in your workplace. And learn how you can incorporate our platform into your workplace or training environment.

 

Discover how Business Training-TV can be used to improve your business onboarding and training with a Free Trial.

 

This content was created by Vocam and is intended to be used only as a guide and should not be relied on as formal training or legal advice.
As standards and regulations frequently change, all information should be considered by relevant local experts and authorities.

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