Why the Interest in Online Learning?

Online education is here, and it is growing in popularity, either as part of a blended-learning experience, with classroom instruction as part of the training, or as a stand-alone activity.

According to International Data Corporation, an IT research company based in Framingham, Massachusettes, by the year 2004, 4,000,000 employees will have signed up for online training, almost double the number who took computer-based training in 1999.

There are three major reasons for the popularity of online learning—it’s convenient, it’s less expensive and it’s flexible.

It’s convenient. Managers and employees opt for it because they have too busy a schedule to participate in classroom instruction. They don’t have to travel to a classroom. Actually, they don’t even have to leave their office. They can sit at their computer and learn.

It’s less expensive. Prices may vary, but generally online courses are less expensive than traditional classroom learning.

It’s flexible. It can deliver a complete learning experience or it can augment traditional instructor-led training. And interactive online training can be accessed at anytime from any computer connected to the Internet, anywhere in the world.

Certainly, some subjects are more effective if delivered online than other content that is more suitable for classroom instruction. The courses and content offered by AMA have been designed for e-learning.