Learning in organisations- does "online learning" help us to really "learn"?

I often wonder as I fill in e-learning questions, answers and information these days how I am learning this stuff.

Am I supposed to remember everything I read? Am I supposed to digest it all? Am I supposed to be really learning when I tick the right or wrong boxes?

How am I really learning from these online tools? Do the tools ensure that I am engaged? Do these e-tools help me to find meaningfulness, connectivity, understanding, enlightenment about what I am supposed to be learning? Can I go ahead after I have "e-learned" and easily apply the concepts to workplaces in reality? How does tick a box learning help me?

Are there other ways for organisations to assist their workers to be onboarded as well as through online ways? Are there other ways to teach safety and be health updated, to be security assessed and many other institutional imperative learning tasks?

What are the deeply held assumptions about the way we do a lot of things online nowadays? What human and educational learning principles and theories does online learning cover?

Are we sure that just by utilising e-learning mechanisms and tools that we are really teaching well...that our participants are really learning, retaining and able to apply these learnings into their real world practices?

I remember when I was a little boy walking through magical caves with cave paintings from long ago... pictures and messages from beyond our generations; I remember when I first went to school, we had slates and chalk to write on; then, we used ink wells and nib pens that we could use in all sorts of ways-these were the instruments, the vehicles and the implements for learning.

It is what I see as e-learning instruments these days. Learning instruments or vehicles or methodologies in another form. Online is just a methodology-an instrument- one of many methodologies dare I suggest, for organisations to utilise for retention, learning, understanding and inculcating all the objectives that organisations want their people to know. But reading online is just one way. It is not the only way. Is it because we don't know how education and learning works? These e-learning technologies are just that- methodological instruments to help us learn- not the outcomes of the goals and objectives of learning in themselves.

I wonder if we utilise modern day e-learning type "inkwells" as vehicles that we think are the learning...rather than vehicles for learning, for getting us to the point of greater knowledge retention, understandings, meaningfulness, skills and application to our practices. I guess it is easier and we often say we do not have time for the human engagement, face to face learning, alas! Or for follow up mentoring and coaching and support and conversation circles etc etc...other methodologies.

I remember flicking ink from those inkwells- I learnt a lot of unintended consequences when the teacher wasn't watching- I was good at utilising the learning instrument...but did I learn much??? Aah... and sometimes when she/he was watching...ouch!! I learnt other things that were not on the objectives list the teacher had in front of her/him I am certain of that.

So...my point is... Do we learn from online instruments in the best way possible for meaningfulness and depth?

I don't think so. I think it is great to have all sorts of apps and e-learning instruments. However, we fall short of our learning objectives in so many ways in organisations. Where are the L&D educators to direct sponsors and leaders and managers onto the right learning and teaching pathways?

We need to think deeply in organisations about how best to teach and learn and reach our organisational objectives- rather than turning almost automatically and blindly to just "do it online".