Don’t Overlook e-Learning

It is a fact of life, with as much certainty as death and taxes, that flight department managers will always struggle with pilot training costs. For the most part, the FAA gives guidance in the subject matter to be taught and the minimum number of required training hours. What is not specifically stated is the method of delivery. With FAA approval, ground training can take place using a variety of delivery methods including the familiar classroom setting, where the instructor is present to lecture, to give immediate feedback to student questions, and to facilitate group learning. Alternatively, computer based training or CBT, is a delivery method. Computer based training refers to computers as the key component of the learning environment, and this where pilot training managers can streamline the training process to get a handle on training costs.

When discussing CBT, you will hear a variety of terms such as e-Learning, online training, and web-based training. Traditionally, CBT was delivered using CD’s or DVD’s and are traditionally self-paced courses, where the learner decides how quickly they desire to progress through the course and what time of day or night to take the course.

Online training or web-based training refers to learners taking courses through the Internet using a web browser, unlike CBT however, web-based training (WBT) web-based training allows for the inclusion of interactive methods, such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, instant messaging, videoconferencing, and discussion threads if desired. The “e” in e-Learning means electronic, so e-Learning refers to learning using computer technology, whether it be CBT or WBT.

When e-Learning is mentioned in a room full of people, there are undoubtedly a few naysayers who are dead set against e-Learning. I am first to admit that e-Learning cannot accommodate every training situation, nor should it. However, I would argue that e-Learning compliments instructor-led training and was never intended to replace all instructor-led training, although there are those that have gone to extremes. As a matter of fact, a recent study concluded that in classroom instruction half the attendees are either asleep or not paying attention after 30 minutes.

So, where does the cost savings come from, simply, employee productivity. Flight departments are doing more with less, and with e-Learning and the proliferation of web-based productivity tools, your flight department can real in the cost of training. Pilots are learning and working, the administrative work is greatly reduced through automation-there's no more spending countless hours determining compliance issues, and then there's rapid e-Learning development. As an example, your flight department is implementing a new flight plan format and flight planning procedures. A course can be designed, developed and delivered very quickly-travel time and missed days of work due to training is eliminated.


Other advantages of e-Learning include:

• Faster Learning Curve: Technology-based solutions allow more room for individual differences in learning styles.
• Increased retention and application to the job according to an independent study by J.D. Fletcher (Multimedia Review, Spring 1991, pp.33-42) an average increase of 25 percent over traditional methods is realized.
• Learning times are reduced by an average of 40 to 60 percent, as found by Brandon Hall (Web- based Training Cookbook, 1997, p. 108). In 2005, The U.S. Navy Air Wing instituted an e-learning program for 4,000 chief petty officers and found that there was a 44 percent higher skills improvement and retention and a substantial time savings. The online courses took less than one-tenth of the time required for classroom courses.
• Delivering a consistent message. The subject matter is not affected by instructor biases or delivery. The content is delivered the same way, every time, to every learner. In your years of training, you have come across great and not so great instructors. Even though the material was the same, it is delivered differently depending on the individual instructor, whether he/she is well rested, or what they believe is important to emphasize or de-emphasize.

As the cost of training is increasing training managers are finding that e-leaning is helping to reduce training costs. Using e-Learning for those subjects that make sense, many flight departments are reducing the number of days, but not hours, required for pilots and mechanics to attend classroom training, thus keeping the workforce productive. If your training philosophy dictates, you may actually increase the required hours at no extra cost to the organization.