e-Learning influences marketplace learning

By TJ MacDonald |

It’s time to start talking about e-learning and its value to marketplace learning. So far I have been hammering the importance of doing things that help put a positive skew on marketplace learning. The emphasis has been on the concept of taking action to influence what is known, thought and done by people in your marketplace that will be of benefit to your business.

Traditionally, in commercial situations this has been done directly between people in good old face-to-face mode. Then sending messages through the post broadened market territories, as did other print and broadcast media that followed.

The Internet arrived and marketplaces started learning from new sources. A very informal form of e-learning was starting to develop. Many businesses were content with passive information on their websites. More aggressive businesses mastered email sales letters and persuasive calls-to-action from visitors to their website landing pages.

The electronic era has more than arrived - its entrenched.

So its not surprising that e-learning is booming. Yet still, many people think of e-learning as structured online training programs delivered by educational institutes and corporate training departments. That’s part of it - but only PART of it. E-learning is much broader than that. And, unrealised by many smaller business operators, it can play a profitable role in any businesses marketing and business development activities.

E-learning is not limited to formal, online courses. Certainly, there is more than one definition of e-learning although most are influenced by the field of focus of the definer. I guess I am being no different - I see a broad application that includes commercial applications so I tend to favour a definition that suits this context.

But I’m not going to get bogged down in semantic argument about the ‘best’ definition (oh what a subjective, and endless job that would be.) Instead I’ll explicitly state what I am meaning when I say “e-learning”. Quite simply:

E-learning is the process of gaining new knowledge skills and attitudes from (or with the help of) electronically distributed material or activities.

The Internet plays the leading role but by no means excludes other channels. There is a lot of activity on Intranets (internal networks), phone networks, portable devices and physically-distributed e-media like CDs and DVDs.

When used with the intent (or prospect) of developing what people know, think and can do, many everyday communication and entertainment devices can become effective e-learning tools.

The key is not so much what is used but how! Is it being used effectively?

Its sometimes said “Time will tell!” Well, stick around and I’ll do my bit to give it a helping hand. Untl then…

Learn well, Lead well, and Thrive!

TJ MacDonald