Classroom Training Positives:
- Face to face. The Instructor can see/recognize when a student is understanding the material or not, and offer a personal touch.
- Classroom training is the current comfort zone in many organizations. Students may be more accustomed to it, and may not feel comfortable with online training.
- Classroom training often comes with a manual that students can use to refer to after the class is over.
- Time away from the office.
- Travel expenses when necessary.
- Training is more generalized in order to reach a broader audience. A student may find it necessary to sit through half the class before the Instructor hits upon what they really came to learn.
- The cost involved in creating a classroom course can be absorbent. Time spent on development, cost of materials, etc.
- The cost involved in contracting an outside vendor to teach specific classes can have a large impact on a training budget.
- Deciding what courses to develop and train in-house is often limited due to budget constraints, which means you will need to choose wisely where/when to allocate resources.
- Typically these courses are offered anytime, anywhere, so scheduling is not a problem.
- The cost involved in contracting with an outside vendor for online courses is often volumetric driven. This means you can often offer hundreds of courses per user for often the same price you pay for one course offered via classroom taught by an outside vendor.
- Broader selection also means that you can use online courses to supplement classroom training.
- Online courses often allow the student to take an assessment, which enables them to hone in on the specific lessons they really need to learn while by-passing the lessons they already have sufficient knowledge within.
- Online learning sometimes means learning a new technology. This can cause some to see it as a stumbling block rather than a building block.
- Students may feel online learning is not personal enough.
- Students may lack the discipline to work through online courses on a regular basis. Sometimes they are challenged to find the time to dedicate.
- What is your current budget?
- Can you afford classroom training?
- If yes, how many and which classes would you have resources to create and offer?
- For those classes you are not able to offer, what virtual or online courses can help supplement your classroom training?
- Are there any virtual or online courses that would complement your classroom training? For example, would they make good pre-requisites or post follow-up reference material?
- How many students do you support? Are they global?
- What initiatives will you need to consider in this training year/cycle? One-time (like an office upgrade), short-term (like leadership training for managers), or on-going (like those tied to job families). What courses would support those initiatives?
- What is your organizational culture and how do they currently "like to learn"?
- What is your vision for your training program?