Emerging Trends in Training & Development

Training and development are essential for any organization to remain relevant and competitive in the marketplace. As the social and business environments shift over the years, firms need to become learning organizations. By investing in their employees, they ensure skills are up to date to meet the challenges of a changing environment. Putta,H. (2014).

Higher education is badly hit by increasing education cost; cut to education budget and an increasing demand for distance learning are forcing educational stakeholders to re-visit the way education is delivered. To cater for the shifting environment, E-learning is mainly focusing on higher education which has created a new dimension in it and has given an opportunity to educational institutions as well as to students.

E- Learning can be implemented totally at a distance where students can learn from anywhere and at any time using information and communication technologies. Educators and trainers need to design learning materials for delivery on these emerging technologies so that students can learn from anywhere and at any time. For an example in year 2009 over 5.6 million students were taking at least one online course in USA. (Allen & Seaman, 2010).

The rapid growth of E-learning in education is because of the many benefits to both the students and educational organizations. The most important benefit is that the upcoming generations of students are comfortable using information and communication technology. These students can use their existing technologies to access E-learning materials from anywhere and at any time. They also use emerging technologies that will allow them to learn in a virtual environment. Another benefit of E-learning is for students who have limitations for travel because of disability, family obligations, affordability, and the remoteness of their communities. E-learning also provides equal educational opportunity for all since students and citizens can access learning materials from anywhere and anytime. With the recent development of mobile technologies, students can access learning materials on mobile technologies as well (Ally, M 2009 ).The main drawbacks are the need for learners to be self-motivated, the time and effort required to develop and update E-learning programs and, sometimes the availability of computers.

Since the use of E-learning in education and training continues to grow there must be standards established so that the E-learning programs can be successfully implemented In E-learning systems, the role of the teacher will change to facilitator.  As a result, we will need a new generation of teachers who are comfortable using the technology.

Finally the impact of E –Learning is strongly influenced by the quality of the support provided to learners. It is the effectiveness of this support rather than the sophistication of the technology that counts.

 Conclusion:

To become and remain competitive in the 21^st century countries and organizations must use delivery methods such as E-learning. The delivery systems must follow good practises and use standards. It is important to establish standards and best practises for the design and delivery of E-learning materials.

References

Ally, M. (2009).  Mobile Learning, Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training.
Athabasca University Press, Athabasca.
Armstrong, M and Taylor, S. (2014)  A hand Book of Human Resource Management Practice.
Kogan Page, UK.
Allen, I. E and Seaman, J. (2010). Class differences,  Online education in the United States.
Babson Survey Research Group, MA
Putta,H. (2014) .Impact of recession on training .Journal of business and management,3.