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Business Intelligence

Published July 2009

Cost and Availability Drive Modality Mix

  

  Cushing Anderson

CLOs are increasingly trying to apply the right delivery option for the content, audience and environment.

Content, audience and environment: Each plays a role in how learning is delivered. Meanwhile, the content being taught, to whom and with what available tools are factors that continue to evolve.

The economy and the need to conserve cash have trumped the advancement of some newer technologies, but survey results suggest organizations are getting more sophisticated in their choices of modality. Asynchronous e-learning increasingly is seen as the preferred delivery method when training a group with varied skill levels.

Every other month, IDC administers a Web-based survey to Chief Learning Officer magazine’s Business Intelligence Board (BIB) on a variety of topics to gauge the issues, opportunities and attitudes that make up the diverse role of a senior training executive.

This same survey last year predicted both synchronous and asynchronous delivery modalities to grow in portfolio share, and predicted information and learning technologies (ITL) would decline. Whether this was an uncanny insight into market forces or simply an understanding of the impending market collapse, the BIB CLOs accurately anticipated the changes confirmed in this latest survey.

This month, we examine our annual data on learning modalities and how they are evolving. Nearly 300 BIB respondents shared their thoughts on the appropriate mix of learning delivery.

The Current Mix: Economy Driving Small Shifts
The survey results show CLOs are using a variety of options as part of their current learning delivery mixes. As Figure 1 shows, classroom training represents the delivery option most used, even though the combination of synchronous and asynchronous e-learning represents the most rapidly growing modality. This is consistent with survey results of the past couple of years.

This year’s results show a decrease in classroom delivery more in line with 2007 results. A significant number of organizations also are utilizing formal, on-the-job (OJT) training as a key component of their overall education programs.
Individual organizations changed their use of various modalities for reasons ranging from availability to cost and convenience. Cost has driven classroom-based ILT down slightly. Both asynchronous and synchronous e-learning increased, also because of cost, and many organizations increased asynchronous eâ€'learning because of its convenience.

Portable learning technologies did not gain traction as much as we anticipated last year. CLOs attributed this to availability of content and a complete technology solution. Formal OJT training continues be considered an effective delivery option in specific situations.

During the coming year, CLOs expect classroom-based ILT to represent a slightly smaller portion of the delivery portfolio again, primarily because of cost. Both synchronous and asynchronous e-learning will gain portfolio share in most enterprises in reaction to the continued pressure on development budgets. Text-based training, while remaining a relatively modest proportion of most enterprise training programs, continues to be considered a cost-effective and therefore useful option for CLOs.