eLearning in India

Overview
eLearning is fast growing in India. elearning is mostly delivered in two modes — Web Based Training (WBT) and Instructor Lead Training (ILT). Computer Based Trainings (CBTs) are used these days only when standalone learning is in demand, like training on your new mobile handset or a latest gadget that you have purchased. Wherever there is a need for training a large audience, it is more economical to have Web Based Training (WBT) over Instructor Led Training (ILT). There are advantages of one over the other and using one method doesn't eliminate the other one. Overall effective elearning solutions can save organizations a lot of money and increase their return on investment, besides the convenience and accessibility offered to the learners.

Roles in the elearning industry
eLearning demands a variety of roles like Instructional Designers, content editors, document reviewers, Subject Matter Experts (SME), Authoring personnel or content integrators, Graphic Designers, 3D modelers, animators, LMS (Learning Management System) administrators and programmers, etc.

Who needs elearning?
At a high level companies/industries who require elearning professionals can be categorized into two types — product and service companies. Product companies use elearning as a medium to create product training for their customers and internal staff that use and / or work on or develop the products. Service companies take the work outsourced to them from clients who prefer outsourcing over internal development. These service companies are equipped with the resources, skills sets, and infrastructure that are required to execute these projects.

Domains which elearning benefits

elearning serves as a viable solution for several different domains. The aviation industry was one of the first to identify a need for having online learning and thus many of the based standards and processes were laid down by the aviation industry. In general depending on the training demand in a particular domain companies require different types of elearning solutions. An airline company or manufacturer may require training in the field of aviation, whereas a technical products company may require training in the domain of ERP, Messaging, ESB, networking, databases etc.

To provide the requisite technical knowledge for a domain, Domain or Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are to work with an Instructional Designer to create the course structure, content outline and detailed design. Applying knowledge on Instructional Design Theories, Models, and strategies the Instructional Designer structure's and fleshes out a course which is finally and integrated by graphic designers and content integrators. Finally the course is deployed on an LMS and hosted from there.

The evolving industry

In my opinion, several companies in the industry aren't matured in to the levels in demand. By matured I mean having established processes and well documented and tested standards and guidelines for delivering effective training solutions. Abroad, this field is at a much higher and more professional level. One of the major reasons for this is that there aren't many graduate/postgraduate courses in this field in India while there are such opportunities abroad. There may be few very good companies, but the list of companies in this field in India is very huge. eLearning is India is gradually evolving due to the initiative taken by professionals to walk the extra mile by learning from other sources and developing processes and standards based on the business needs and the market demands. This has led to the evolution of more streamlined and process based approaches which have delivered high quality professional learning solutions.

Another facet of this is the out sourcing of course development from structured process driven companies who had already defined standard models due to their vast experience in the domain of creating elearning courses. An example of this is Microsoft learning who has been a leader in delivering training and certification for more than a decade. When Microsoft out sources their courses to a vendor they train and groom vendors to follow their standards and models, and in the long term this enables vendors to understand and create processes of their own. Besides this some leading elearning companies in India like NIIT and TIS have played a major role in training and grooming individuals aspiring to make a career in the elearning domain.

Whats next?
And thus the elearning industry in India continues to grow and mature. We need to keep watching out for how the trends change over time and what the next generation of elearning courses could be like!