Community Content

Appropriate delivery methods

MB
Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2019

I am looking to create a best practices guide for types of content that are appropriate for e-learning and those that are not. I am the director of education for a fitness company, in charge of education for our personal training teams.  There has been a push toward using more e-learning to save on the cost of live class instruction. Given that the role of a personal trainer is very technical and hands-on, I struggle to see how you can build a quality trainer without live class instruction and guidance. 

I would love to get some thoughts or resources on criteria for determining whether an online or live experience is best. We do actively use e-learning already to cover theory, I just want to avoid using it too much or in the wrong manner.

Thank you!

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Hi Matthew,
Blend the two approaches. In training, we talk about training for knowledge, skills and attitudes. E-learning is great for theory, knowledge sharing (definitions, concepts), procedural learning (step 1, step 2, step 3), technical skills (how to use a piece of equipment), sharing HR policies, etc...Face-to-face is needed if you are teaching people how to do something. You demonstrate the skill, the learner practices the skills, and the trainer provides feedback for improvement.
Hi Josh, thank you for this succinct breakdown of e-learning and live class. This is along the lines of what I was thinking but it was helpful to see how you have categorized everything. Thank you for your help!
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Hi Matthew, a couple different perspectives:
https://www.td.org/magazines/td-magazine/face-to-face-training-is-still-the-better-choice-over-digital-lessons
https://www.td.org/insights/blended-learning-is-better-than-instructor-led-or-online-learning-alone
https://www.td.org/insights/are-virtual-labs-as-good-as-hands-on
Hi Timothy, thank you for the links to these articles. I am going to take a look at them now to see what I can pull. Thank you again for your help!
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