There was a time when Instructor-Led training or ILT, also called classroom training, used to be the only mode of training. However, with the advent of technology, the virtual model of learning, known as eLearning, has become popular and has now become the preferred mode of training.

Benefits Of Converting ILT To eLearning

Although ILTs carry the innate advantage of being facilitated by a human trainer and expert, ILTs come with many disadvantages:

• Time
  Every participant must be physically present at the venue during the ILT session. If anyone misses any session, they have no option but to wait for the repeat session whenever that is planned.
• Cost
  For any organization having multiple locations, people have to be either moved to one single place or repeat sessions have to be conducted across locations to train all employees. This results in a huge transport and logistics cost in addition to the loss of productivity.
• Scalability
  Scalability is the biggest issue for ILT. A single session can accommodate only a small number of employees unless of course, one books an auditorium! For large organizations with a huge number of employees, it becomes a nightmare for the Learning and Development team to conduct training for all employees.
• Repeatability
  Repeating the ILT session carries a huge cost in terms of infrastructure, movement, etc.
• Infrastructure
  ILT needs a dedicated infrastructure. This is especially a big cost for a large organization that has to maintain several big training rooms, which otherwise could have been used for some other revenue-generating purpose.
• Person dependence
  Perhaps the biggest challenge with ILTs is the dependence on the individual trainer for the effectiveness of the training program. Standardization and uniformity are a challenge when deploying a large number of trainers.

So, What Is The Solution?

Most of the organizations are now moving to adapt eLearning which is flexible, Just-In-Time, scalable, repeatable, and has no additional infrastructure cost. But, what do you do with existing ILT content? Simple! Convert it to eLearning.

Converting ILTs to eLearning is probably the best solution to upgrade the existing content from classroom mode to online mode. eLearning service providers testify that there is a huge demand for the conversion of ILT into eLearning. Organizations are ready to take the advantage of technology in learning.

Experts from the eLearning industry opine that conversion of ILT to eLearning should be done carefully so that the essence of the content does not fade out. It is not just changing the format of the content from either a PPT or Doc to an eLearning package. It requires a careful learning strategy and Instructional Design. Here are a few key points to be considered:

• Activities
  ILTs are characterized by lots of activities, both individual and group activities. These cannot be directly replicated in an eLearning environment. Instructional Designers have to redesign activities that are suitable for an eLearning environment keeping in mind that there will be not a human guide, in general.
• Leveraging features of eLearning
  ILT content is usually plain information or text-based content. However, the eLearning format gives us the flexibility to use a lot of interactivities. Instructional Designers must leverage these interactivities to make the training effective and interesting. Simple format conversion is not the ideal solution.
• Filling the trainer gap
  ILTs are conducted by trainers. They add a lot of value to the content from their expertise, which is not captured in the actual presentation or handout they use in the sessions. An Instructional Designer needs to understand this gap that is created due to the non-availability of the trainer and must find ways to bridge the gap or else the training won’t be effective.

Advantages of ILT To eLearning Conversion

A carefully designed ILT to eLearning conversion offers many advantages.

• Cost
  eLearning modules have a one-time production cost. Once produced, they can be used any number of times.
• Repeatability
  eLearning modules can be attended any number of times. There is no limit.
• Anytime learning
  eLearning modules can be taken at any time. There is no dependency on session time.
• Anywhere learning
  eLearning modules can be attended from anywhere, no need for travel.
• Infrastructure
  No additional infrastructure is needed for eLearning.
• Scalability
  eLearning modules can be scaled to almost any extent.
• Delivery
  eLearning modules have a flexible delivery option and can be rolled out to all users across any location simultaneously.
• Trainer-independent
  eLearning modules are trainer-independent, thus more standard across locations and time.

In short, ILT to eLearning conversion gives you substantial advantages in terms of cost, training effectiveness, and training delivery. It is high time you consider upgrading to eLearning if you are still stuck with ILT.