What’s e-learning?

If you’ve ever taken web-based training, an online course, or completed a video lesson on your computer, you’ve experienced e-learning. While there are lots of different words to describe it, e-learning boils down to using technology, like computers, tablets, and mobile phones, to deliver educational or training content to people.

In this article, we’ll explore what makes e-learning different from classroom training and why it’s a smarter, more modern way to help your people learn. We’ll also talk about how e-learning is created, including how to choose technology to create e-learning that’s engaging and effective—without any technical skills. Let’s get to it!

What’s so special about e-learning?

E-learning offers you and your learners a faster, easier, and more modern way to learn than traditional classroom training. And to back up this statement, we’ve pulled together a few benefits of e-learning, below:

• E-learning is a self-paced learning experience. Unlike classroom training, there’s no fixed time for e-learning to take place. Learners can access their assigned courses online and complete them at their own pace when their schedule allows. That gives people time to learn, practice, and master what you’re teaching them.
  

• E-learning is scalable and more cost-effective than classroom training. With e-learning, you can develop a course that can be shared online with thousands of people in an instant.
  
  Meanwhile, classroom training is cumbersome, expensive, and resource-intensive. Think about it: At a minimum, you’ve got to schedule a trainer, book a location, pay to transport learners to that training location, and juggle staff to cover for those learners while they’re away. And what if you need to train hundreds or thousands of people in a short time? Two words: logistical nightmare.
  

• E-learning lets you deliver a more consistent learning experience. With classroom training, the learning experience can vary widely depending on the skill of the trainer, the classroom environment, and many other factors.
  
  However, with e-learning, you have more control over these factors. That means you can deliver a more consistent learning experience to everyone.
  

• E-learning is flexible. You don’t have to abandon classroom training completely just because you are bringing e-learning into the mix. Blending different types of learning experiences—like mixing e-learning with instructor-led classroom experiences—can give you the best of both worlds: self-paced study and targeted hands-on instruction. 

If all of these benefits make e-learning a good fit for you, that’s because it probably is! Most companies today use e-learning in one form or another to support their people and their business goals. 

How is e-learning created?

So, now that we’ve explained what e-learning is and how your organization can benefit from it, let’s talk about how to make e-learning.

Traditionally, e-learning involved two key pieces of technology: apps for creating it and separate apps for sharing it with learners. Here’s a closer look at both:

1. 1. Software apps for creating online courses. These apps, known as authoring apps or authoring tools, allow people to create a course that they can post online for learners to access. Most authoring apps are specialized software for creating custom e-learning. They vary widely in features, capabilities, and ease of use, which means they usually take some time to master. Some apps even require that you learn basic computer programming languages, as well.
   
   
2. 2. Hosting apps for making finished courses available online. These apps or systems, known as Learning Management Systems or LMSs, are used only for hosting finished e-learning courses. Learners usually access an LMS from their computer’s web browser. Along with hosting e-learning, LMSs also serve the function of tracking course completion status or quiz scores—commonly recorded for reporting and compliance purposes.
   
   Unfortunately, most LMSs are not well-loved by e-learning pros or learners. These systems are often dated, notoriously clunky, and expensive to implement and maintain. Most LMSs don’t even allow learners to access training from mobile or tablet devices, which dramatically undercuts one of the main benefits of e-learning: flexibility.

This multi-app approach isn’t the only option, however. Today, there are all-in-one training systems that give you a single, web-based solution for creating, hosting, and tracking your e-learning. That means no separate apps to buy, install, upgrade, and maintain—and no worries that the courses you create in your authoring app won’t play nicely with your LMS. In short, an all-in-one training system simplifies the traditional (and messy) multi-app approach for creating and sharing e-learning.

Rise is an industry-leading, all-in-one training system that hits this mark. It’s easy and fun to use, so even non-techie people can create e-learning. 

Rise is simple to use and can save busy professionals loads of time. With features like course templates on a variety of training topics, you’ll find that Rise courses come together in a matter of minutes—not days, weeks, or months. Just grab a template, replace the placeholder content with your own, and boom! You have a beautiful, effective e-learning course made in no time.

Gorgeous, customizable templates are another amazing time-saving feature included with Rise. These templates make it easy to build engaging, interactive lessons quickly. Follow the writing prompts, add in your own content and media, and you’re done.  

And because Rise is an all-in-one system, there’s no separate LMS to purchase and manage. Once you finish your e-learning course, share it with your learners in just a few clicks. You can even keep tabs on their progress with your courses and measure the impact of your e-learning with easy-to-understand reporting that’s right at your fingertips. 

Best of all, any e-learning you create with Rise adapts to every device—no technical support hassles for you or your learners. 

Clearly, all-in-one systems like Rise are way more efficient than juggling multiple apps and systems. Rise makes online training easy to create, enjoyable to take, and simple to manage, allowing you to focus on delivering business results—instead of delivering training. 

Let’s recap

E-learning and all the terminology and technology that go along with it can be a little confusing. Hopefully, the explanations we’ve shared here have helped you grasp why it’s the smartest, most cost-effective, and efficient way to help your team learn.

Most importantly, we want you to know that e-learning doesn’t have to be confusing or complicated. E-learning should be fun and easy to create, as well as enjoyable for your learners to take. That makes all-in-one training systems like Rise the obvious choice for simplifying the entire process. After all, e-learning is supposed to help you solve business problems—not create more of them!

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