Most of us are testimony to the great .COM boom of late 90s and the sudden burst of 2000. In the midst of this was a silent growth of e Learning. As with many technology enabled process automations, Learning and Training industry had very high hopes from e Learning or On-line learning. However the burst in expectations was not completely related to the technology slide. There were more important reasons, reasons that were specific to Learning and Education. Let us take a step back and understand e Learning or On-line delivery. Have you ever thought of learning the finer nuances of English Language through a web site? Or for that matter learn to assemble or dis-assemble a computer through a multimedia CD? Both of the above are situations that we face every day. We know that English language has many qualitative aspects to it and the usage cannot be demonstrated remotely through pre-determined lesson plans. And for that matter assembly or dis-assembly may be systematic, but is assembly or dis-assembly all about just piecing a jig-saw puzzle? A first time learner will definitely need help of a demonstrator to effectively appreciate the process. We therefore realize that learning and education cannot be completely run on-line.

There is always a need of a trainer or a tutor, particularly while covering qualitative or demonstrable subjects. Does that mean that e Learning does not have a place? No! On the flip side, e Learning is a very good re-inforcement, testing and remote class management tool. Think of the number of hours that you can save by taking your mandatory certification course from the comfort of your living room. Large organizations save millions of dollars by managing remote conferences from respective locations and avoiding travel and saving executive time in unproductive exercises like travel. This therefore has lead us to Blended Learning: use of on-line and classroom learning in conjunction to deliver an effective learning module. Customization of a blended curriculum still remains a task best left to the specialist, but more importantly this shift has changed the way most e Learning development organizations work.

(Vinay Gupta; the author has 12 years experience in various e Learning delivery and management roles and is the founding CEO of Dimensions E Services, a custom e Learning development house).