In many ways, taking an e-course can be much more demanding than a physical course. For example do you not have a facilitator or instructor to create a supportive learning atmosphere, you do not have other participants you can share thoughts with, and for some reason there is quite often an unspoken expectation from ourselves and managers that you can translate the knowledge into your job instantly upon finishing an e-course.
The benefits of e-learning like its self paced nature and the fact it is independent of time and location, can turn into cons if you are not conscious about the framework within which you are taking the e-course, and if you do not know the mechanisms behind the learning process.
The info-graphic below shows how important it is to prepare for a course before starting, and to work with it after you are finished. In other words, if you don't prepare and follow-up properly after taking a course, the effectiveness of the course itself will be poor.
In some ways you can say that e-learning demands more of you than attending a traditional physical course. That is because will take e-learning by almost entirely by yourself, which means that the most important ingredients in learning, like engaging in dialogues and to receiving feedback, can be hard to get.
The image above shows the importance of these dialogues when participating in e-learning. The whole image itself shows the phases in the learning journey from being a novice getting new knowledge to becoming - maybe but not necessarily - an expert.
Moving from being a "novice" to "experienced" is effected by your own dedication, expectations, and the framework itself. For some it will be a fast development, for others, simply getting to the "competent" phase is enough.
The three important takeaways in all this are:
