Has
e-learning truly arrived in Europe?
 Is
there any evidence to suggest the success and size
of the e-learning market in Europe? And how does this
compare with the USA? Patrick Dunn seeks out answers
to this and other questions regarding the current
state of play, in this article published in the October
2001 edition of Training Journal.
Although
it's as much a victim of hype as the rest of the New
Economy, it can't be denied that e-learning is being
widely and successfully used in organisations throughout
the United States of America. There is an increasing
amount of data available that demonstrates its success,
and not just in cutting cost. Some early adopters
in the USA are attributing real and significant business
results to having taken the plunge with e-learning.
But conditions for the growth of e-learning are, at
least in the short term, more favourable in the USA
than in Europe. In the USA, a strong and rapidly expanding
technology infrastructure, a single education system
and a relatively homogeneous culture have provided
the environment for e-learning to flourish and to
continue to do so even while the mainstream New Economy
bubble burst.
That's not to say Europe has nothing going for it.
The strength of some European Commission (EC) and
government commitments to new educational technologies
is something the Americans can only dream of. The
EC has just announced that it will commit 10 per cent
of all funds available in its education and training
programmes to e-learning: around 300 million euros.
Just as significantly, many European providers of
e-learning services would argue that our tradition
of educational innovation puts us in a stronger position
in the medium to long term.
So
is e-learning taking hold in Europe? If not, then
when? Are we simply 'behind' the USA? If so by how
much, or are we following a different path? Behind
all the hype and the predictions of massive growth
what's really happening?
What
are we talking about?
Technology-supported
learning (CBT, CMS, TBT, WBT - call it what you will)
has a long history in Europe, particularly in the
UK and Scandinavia. In the UK, well-established providers
like Xebec and EPIC, and large organisations such
as the banks and building societies, are well into
their second decade of producing or using high quality
technology-supported learning programmes. So the short
answer to the question at the beginning of this article
is: 'Of course it's arrived; and it's been here for
quite a while.'
However,
this answer isn't quite accurate, because genuine,
industry strength e-learning has two characteristics
that mark it out from the many buzzwords that came
before it in the training technology field.
-
E-learning builds on existing delivery methods to
incorporate connectivity, whether through internal
networks or the Internet. It removes the isolation
that limited its predecessors to a market of enthusiasts
and innovators.
- E-learning
is used to drive strategic organisational goals.
Unlike so much training in the past, it is tightly
integrated into what the organisation must achieve,
not what individuals feel is good for them.
In
short, e-learning is becoming as much an enterprise
software solution as Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Its aim
is to transform organisations, not just provide a
wider and more flexible palette of training options.
The
days of the TBT cottage industry are gone. So has
true e-learning arrived in Europe? Are organisations
connecting their learning resources to their people
and using this connection to drive the business forward?
Currently, the picture isn't clear.
Evidence?
There's
no shortage of research data projecting the size of
the European e-learning market. For example, IDC
predicts that the European market will be US$4 billion
by 2004(1).
According
to Gartner Group,
the market for e-learning in Italy was US$66 million
in 2000, while in the same period it was US$185 million
in Sweden, US$162 million in Finland and US$147 million
in the UK. The market in Italy in 2001 is expected
to reach US$182 million, growing to US$371 million
in 2002, US$640 million in 2003 and US$990 million
in 2004(2).
The total market for e-learning in Scandinavia, with
its advanced technology infrastructure, will grow
to US$890 million by 2005(3).
And there's an increasing amount of survey data showing
real evidence of growth: in the UK, purchasers of
e-learning have spent on average 25 per cent more
each year between 1999 and 2001(4).
Today,
40 per cent of all training materials revenue in the
UK will be from e-learning, up from 23 per cent in
19995. Most
significant of all, according to TrainingZone/Hemmings,
85 per cent of UK companies will use some form of
online learning in 2001 - although what companies
mean by 'online learning' is, at best, open to question.
This
is all good news. But beware. Some claims made on
behalf of e-learning are less believable. For example,
if an organisation with 10,000 staff installs a Learning
Management System (LMS), do all those staff now count
as part of the e-learning revolution? What about the
content? There are increasing examples of organisations
establishing an e-learning infrastructure with few
or no courses available, and very many where the system
is simply being used to launch legacy content, disconnected
CD-ROMs and an unchanged, classroom curriculum. That's
not true e-learning. So however many LMSs are being
deployed throughout Europe, if they don't deliver
better learning, they don't count. And, given the
complexities of installation and support, they may
not even herald the coming of the e-learning revolution
at all.
What
about all the off-the-shelf content that's available?
The market for packaged online technical courses is
close to saturation and the soft skills market is
starting to mature. Sales from catalogues of such
courses are growing well throughout Europe. But the
great majority of providers of such catalogue offerings
are legacy CD-ROM companies, the products of which
offer no detailed tracking of learner performance,
patchy or non-existent tutor and community facilities
and outdated interfaces from the CD-ROM days.
There
are some good catalogues and some excellent content,
of course, but buyers must be careful to identify
providers who have simply pasted an e-learning badge
over their CBT origins. I'm sorry - that's not e-learning
either.
Cases
of Success
Evidence
that true e-learning is being used in Europe is not
easy to find, as it's typical at this stage of an
embryonic technology market for organisations to work
through a series of internal pilots - and to keep
their cards close to their chest while they do so.
The examples I give here are just a few of those I
have come across in trying to assess what stage Europe
has reached in the journey towards adoption of genuine
e-learning. I've focused on those that demonstrate
the two key qualifying criteria of connectivity and
business transformation.
Corporate
universities, particularly those in the high tech
and telecoms sectors, provide an ideal basis on which
to build e-learning. Motorola University, available
throughout Motorola's European operations, is typical
in that it is moving much of its training online and
aiming for 50 per cent of all training to be delivered
by 'alternative means' by 2006(6).
The
University for Lloyds TSB, PricewaterhouseCoopers'
e-cademie and The BT Internet College are all pushing
their respective organisations in the same direction.
BT has just announced a particularly bold Europe-wide
initiative designed to train 30,000 managers on the
capabilities of broadband communications, using a
highly immersive environment and, of course, broadband
technology(7).
In terms of adoption and effectiveness, results vary.
M&G's e-learning initiative, called The I,
claims a 100 per cent take-up plus an impressive number
of user sessions and page views(8).
Elsewhere - and I won't give names here - poor content,
lack of direct connection to business goals and poor
tracking of usage have led to e-learning initiatives
being sidelined or shelved.
Some
powerful examples of organisations transforming themselves
through highly networked e-learning are beginning
to turn up in major UK government agencies. DigitalThink
is working with one large agency to pilot e-business
awareness programmes as part of its drive to become
an integrated e-business. More than 10,000 staff in
over 100 locations will simultaneously work through
a series of courses that integrate tutorials, interactive
exercises and online discussions. The details of the
project won't be available until early next year,
but it isn't surprising that this kind of e-business
education, or e-skilling, is proving to be a rich
vein for providers of e-learning services. One of
the big five professional services firms worked with
DigitalThink to roll out a similar programme to 5,000
staff throughout Europe last year.
The technologically advanced Scandinavians have invested
heavily in e-learning. Companies such as Telia, KF,
Posten and Ericsson have all rolled out substantial
e-learning programs. Academedia, Enlight Interactive,
M2S and LUVIT have all been floated on the Stockholm
stock exchange - and so far are surviving well. A
particularly interesting hybrid application is Celemi's
Tango, which builds a simulated business environment
both online and off. Indeed, the Scandinavians appear
to be particularly advanced in the area of simulations
and games. For example, two learning games produced
for Ericsson were shortlisted in the recent British
Interactive Media Awards (BIMA).
European business schools are starting to follow the
US model and adopt e-learning for their MBA programmes.
Last year, Insead (Paris) offered its first online
course on e-commerce and wireless technology. Particularly
interesting here was the partnership with Nokia, which
provided Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones
to each student. In the UK, FT Knowledge has just
announced an alliance with Cambridge University to
create an E-MBA.
In southern Europe the picture is less clear, but
there are some highlights. Simulware is doing some
interesting work in Italy, including its current project
for Generali group, Italy's leading insurance company.
Simulware's product, Eprofessional, allows a degree
of high interactivity between class members, and emphasises
collaboration and group work. Elsewhere in Italy,
Banca Di Roma ran a successful programme training
its business customers in the new European currency.
Conclusion
Most European countries reveal good examples of genuine
e-learning if you look for them: Philips in Holland,
Siemens in Germany, a couple of the large banks in
France. It appears that throughout Europe e-learning
is arriving on the corporate agenda - but generally
without the fanfares that heralded its arrival in
the USA. So in answer to the title of this article
the answer is still 'Yes'. Is it making the significant
impact that the hype predicted? The jury is still
out. We'll have to wait for more hard data.
Another
key question: are we simply 'behind' the USA? In terms
of widespread access to technology and in terms of
real numbers of people using e-learning, probably
yes. But Europe can learn from the USA and avoid some
of the mistakes that were made there - for example:
- launching
large programs without detailed tracking of results
-
not defining business objectives clearly, and
- assuming
large technology infrastructures, in particular
intranets, are required before e-learning can be
widely deployed.
And
in some ways Europe is following a different path:
greater government involvement, more emphasis on creative
and immersive approaches to learning, more blending
of e-learning with other forms, a greater use of learning
communities (mainly by southern European users), and
(particularly in Scandinavia) a strong emphasis on
simulation and mobile communications.
E-learning has arrived, but its implementation is
patchy and understanding of what it is, let alone
what it can do for organisations, is limited by misunderstanding
and clouded by hype.
Patrick
can be contacted via email at: pdunn@digitalthink.com
References
1.
For further information visit http://emea.idc.com
2.
For further information visit http://www.gartner.com
3.
For further information visit http://emea.idec.com
4.
For further information visit http://www.cedefop.gr
5.
Ibid.
6. 'The Future of Corporate
Learning', DTI, May 2000.
7.
For further information visit http://www.bt.co.uk
8. 'The Future of Corporate
Learning', op. cit.
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