E-LEARNING
When e-learning is a positive choice
Online courses can help reduce training budgets but there are other big advantages to this type of training too, says Kevin Young
T
he substitution of e- learning courses for traditional classroom training has become a well- trodden path for those needing to make significant budget savings. But those who made this move a few years ago through expediency may not realise how far e-learning has evolved recently.
Although the cost savings remain significant. New features, new methods of delivery and new high quality content mean e-learning is no longer just a question of cost but a method of choice for management and staff alike.
For instance, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) made its first foray into e- learning 15 years ago. However, at this time, it was used only by a small group rather than being part of a mainstream strategy.
More recently it has implemented a SkillSoft e- learning platform and is now discovering that staff enjoy the benefits of flexibility, immediacy and having information at their fingertips whenever it is needed.
To complement the computer, business and management skills, project management and other courses in the extensive SkillSoft range, NHSGGC has also invested in SkillSoft’s Books24x7, offering instant access to the complete text of tens of thousands of relevant books and reports.
It’s easy to see how e-learning lends itself to the diverse but rigorous needs of the NHS. For instance, NHSGGC employs over 44,000 staff and includes 35 hospitals, 50 health centres, over 300 pharmacies and more than 300 GP practices. Its need to comply with the Agenda for Change means a personal development plan for each of these staff members.
E-learning manager Alex Mowat says: “The sheer economics of everybody going on a course would be impossible. It’s not even appropriate for everyone.
“But e-learning is undoubtedly a big part of the programme, whether standing on its own or blended as part of a tutor-led course.”
The need for personal choice runs right throughout the entire project and employees are given the option to learn at their desks, in one of the numerous NHS learning centres or even in their own homes.
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This flexibility has really appealed to staff and is partly responsible for the shift in culture which is moving e- learning into the mainstream for NHSGGC employees.
Also valuable – and important with regards to the Agenda for Change - is the way e-learning creates “equity of access” by helping to reach a cohort of learners who have traditionally been hard to attract.
“We have a sizeable group you would not automatically expect to take up this kind of learning, but are doing precisely that. People who are not professionally qualified, those from support services, for example, would probably not have taken an interest in training before. Now they start by making a casual enquiry and end up taking it forward.
“Also, night shift staff and weekend workers can be offered identical learning opportunities to everyone else,” says Mowat.
Nov/Dec 10
Perhaps the most the most telling indication of the success of e-learning is the way employees are actually making time to do the courses.
“People will come in early in the morning to do their training or stay an hour later in the evening. It’s completely their choice but their conscientiousness and their willingness is certainly minimising disruption during normal working hours,” says Mowat.
It seems that NHSGGC has found a way to deliver high quality courses which will help create the skills and talent it needs to care for patients now and in the future.
But, perhaps just as importantly, it has also found a way to motivate staff so that they are enthusiastic and diligent about learning.
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