In my last blog I spoke about Training vs. Enablement and which option best suits which delegate. This made me think about the pros and cons of Training online as opposed to the traditional method of Instructor Led Classroom Based training.
Personally I am a big fan of Online Training as this gives me the flexibility of completing the course as and when I wish. Being a bit of a morning person I am able to complete sections of a course before breakfast and then put the rest of the course on hold until the next morning.
With Instructor Led Training you need to learn at the same pace as the group and this has challenges for both the fast and the slow training delegate. The faster delegate will complain of boredom when having to wait for the slower delegates throughout the course and the slower delegate will experience frustration with having to learn at a faster pace that doesn’t suit his requirements.
Online Training does however lack that personal touch that every delegate needs at some point during the course, you can add as many tips to your training material as you like but there is nothing like an instructor explaining a concept in a face to face situation. This face to face interaction allows you to ask questions and maybe even ask for a re-run of a concept if you don’t understand the first time.
So Online vs Classroom – which one should you choose?
To be honest I don’t know, this is really a personal choice and I suppose also depends on the delegates learning mannerisms. If you like to work on your own and resolve each area of the course in your own manner and at your own speed then Online is definitely a perfect fit for you. More technical sessions are probably best learnt in a classroom environment to make sure that the concepts are well understood and that the experience of the instructor is gained face to face interaction.
