ILT vs eLearning

I’ve been wondering how ILT and elearning compare, from a business perspective. Obviously, the answer is going to depend in part on the specific training needs of the organization, but assuming that the topic is not particularly tactile, what does the research say?

A small scale, but carefully designed case study by Srichand Devarakonda (2019) found that elearning and classroom training were equally effective and that the elearning was slightly less expensive. I found this particularly interesting because of how detailed and granular this study was.  

If we go forward with the reasonable assumption that well-designed and executed training is effective whether it is in person or online, then we can start to think about what else distinguishes these training modalities. Does the organization need to build cohesive teams? That could push the decision to ILT. Do the learners have complex schedules? That could push the decision to elearning.

Since both types of training can work and can solve business problems, it’s important to think about the big picture when deciding how to deliver corporate training.

Source: Devarakonda, S. (2019). Calculating the Economic Viability of Corporate Trainings (Traditional & eLearning) using Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) and Return On Investment (ROI). International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (iJAC), 12(1), 41. doi:10.3991/ijac.v12i1.9735