Learner Efficiency and Convenience

E-learners generally absorb the same instructional material in less time. By enabling learners to navigate through material at their own pace, e-learning minimizes the time that knowledgeable learners must spend in such training activity. And, for all learners, graphical presentation of material leads to faster comprehension. These two factors help to explain the results of several studies showing significant time saved per course.

• Brandon-Hall, an e-learning market research company, reports that e-learning typically requires from 40% to 60% less employee time than the same material delivered in a traditional classroom setting.¹⁶
  
  
• The Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative cited two other studies indicating that, on average, "reduced time to achieve given instructional objectives (30%) — or increased student skills and knowledge (30%) — depending on whether achievement or time was held constant."¹⁷

In practice, more rapid learning translates to millions of dollars saved for a large organization. For instance, reducing by 30% the time to train just 40% of all Department of Defense (DoD) students in specialized skills training—which excludes other categories such as recruit training, pilot training, unit training, and field exercises-could potentially save the DoD over $500 million annually.¹⁸

E-learning is more convenient. Unlike traditional classroom training, which is sometimes scheduled at a time inconvenient to the learner, in a location requiring travel, e-learning offers the learner more flexibility with respect to time and place.