The e-learning revolution

The effects of e-learning on the training profession are revolutionary, cha llenging most of its basic tenants. The change comes from outside influence s: new players in other disciplines, forces in the supplier market, and the kind of learning that technology is increasingly making possible. According to Peter Drucker-who might be associated more with traditional ap proaches-it's ail about e-learning these days. He says that traditional ski lls training will still exist in this new world, but the growth sector is i n concept learning, in which "the trainer is built into the teaching (or le arning) device." Roger Shank, director of the Institute for Learning Sciences at Northwester n University, says that technology has given training "the possibility of o ne-on-one for every learner, the ability to stimulate, and the chance to tr y stuff out and fail in private." The Gartner Group predicts that by 2003, less than 30 percent of formal cor porate learning programs will employ the traditional classroom model. Clark Aldrich, an analyst with GartnerGroup, urges companies to "reexamine their core processes, including customer service and employee management, though the lens of an e-learning strategy." As CEOs restructure their businesses around the Internet and require employ ees to gain new knowledge rapidly, e-learning becomes even more crucial. Bu t Jeff Schwartz, a partner at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, sees many training e xecutives trying to complement instructor-led approaches with technology, i nstead of determining first how things could be done differently by using e -learning. Galagan goes on to discuss trends in training brought on by the e-learning revolution,