2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

4) Compliance courses can be outsourced and thus the organization does not have to shoulder
the financial burden of bringing in live experts such as attorneys to facilitate learning. The
cost of live experts is prohibitive for many companies.
5) E-learning saves the cost of hiring additional staff such as program designers and
facilitators.
With respect to learning effectiveness, human resource professionals listed the following
participant benefits of e-learning.
1) Younger employees (those who fall into the classification of Generation X or Generation Y)
feel comfortable with e-learning because it mirrors a learning style that they constantly use.
2) E-learning allows learners to choose their learning path.
3) E-learning offers privacy where participants can experiment.
4) Participants enjoy the scheduling flexibility of e-learning.
5) E-learning provides standard, consistent information.
The third question concerning problems with e-learning elicited the following responses.
These responses are ranked in order of most problematic to least problematic.
1) E-learning is not appropriate for dynamic content. These programs have a short shelf life
and require frequent updates.
2) E-learning does not work well for complex material. This type of training works most
effectively with an expert facilitator present to address questions.
3) E-training is time consuming to develop.
In summary, the literature review predicted that e-learning is effective for some types of
training, particularly compliance training. These respondents verified that prediction. The
literature review also cited examples of blended learning to convey more complex topics and
allow for question and answer sessions. This study confirms that finding.
Personal interviews
In general, respondents from both the United States and the United Kingdom agreed that e-
learning has become a vital part of organizational training programs. The human resource
professionals who participated in the study felt that e-learning was particularly important for
younger workers who weren’t daunted by spending long blocks of time online. However,
respondents indicated that the mature generation (workers 55 and older) were less comfortable
with e-learning.
According to HR managers, the BBC has adopted a considered approach to e-learning. As
an early adopter of e-learning, the BBC has developed a “learner centered” design. Rachel
Simmons of the BBC notes that training 16,000 employees (mostly compliance training) in a
tight timeframe with a small budget necessitates e-learning.
According to Charles Jennings, Head of Global Learning and Development at Reuters, e-
learning has been successful, but only accounts for 5-10% of all training there. He also notes the
problems of e-learning include user access and technology. Reuters uses virtual classroom
online seminars to update worldwide staff on changing applications.
And according to Marten Staps of Hilton International, Hilton has discovered a good
mechanism for delivering e-learning worldwide through its university—www.hiltonuniversity.com.
Most Hilton Hotels now have an e-learning champion or learning manager. Staps
feels that e-learning will continue to play an important role in training and development for
Hilton International.
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