Is there any evidence to suggest the success and size of the e-learning market in Europe? And how does this compare with the USA? Patrick Dunn seeks out answers to this and other questions regarding the current state of play, in this article published in the October 2001 edition of Training Journal.
Although it's as much a victim of hype as the rest of the New Economy, it can't be denied that e-learning is being widely and successfully used in organisations throughout the United States of America. There is an increasing amount of data available that demonstrates its success, and not just in cutting cost. Some early adopters in the USA are attributing real and significant business results to having taken the plunge with e-learning.
But conditions for the growth of e-learning are, at least in the short term, more favourable in the USA than in Europe. In the USA, a strong and rapidly expanding technology infrastructure, a single education system and a relatively homogeneous culture have provided the environment for e-learning to flourish and to continue to do so even while the mainstream New Economy bubble burst.
That's not to say Europe has nothing going for it. The strength of some European Commission (EC) and government commitments to new educational technologies is something the Americans can only dream of. The EC has just announced that it will commit 10 per cent of all funds available in its education and training programmes to e-learning: around 300 million euros.
Just as significantly, many European providers of e-learning services would argue that our tradition of educational innovation puts us in a stronger position in the medium to long term.
So is e-learning taking hold in Europe? If not, then when? Are we simply 'behind' the USA? If so by how much, or are we following a different path? Behind all the hype and the predictions of massive growth what's really happening?
What are we talking about?
Technology-supported learning (CBT, CMS, TBT, WBT - call it what you will) has a long history in Europe, particularly in the UK and Scandinavia. In the UK, well-established providers like Xebec and EPIC, and large organisations such as the banks and building societies, are well into their second decade of producing or using high quality technology-supported learning programmes. So the short answer to the question at the beginning of this article is: 'Of course it's arrived; and it's been here for quite a while.'
However, this answer isn't quite accurate, because genuine, industry strength e-learning has two characteristics that mark it out from the many buzzwords that came before it in the training technology field.
- E-learning builds on existing delivery methods to incorporate connectivity, whether through internal networks or the Internet. It removes the isolation that limited its predecessors to a market of enthusiasts and innovators.
- E-learning is used to drive strategic organisational goals. Unlike so much training in the past, it is tightly integrated into what the organisation must achieve, not what individuals feel is good for them.
In short, e-learning is becoming as much an enterprise software solution as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Its aim is to transform organisations, not just provide a wider and more flexible palette of training options.
The days of the TBT cottage industry are gone. So has true e-learning arrived in Europe? Are organisations connecting their learning resources to their people and using this connection to drive the business forward? Currently, the picture isn't clear.
Evidence?
There's no shortage of research data projecting the size of the European e-learning market. For example, IDC predicts that the European market will be US$4 billion by 2004(1).
According to Gartner Group, the market for e-learning in Italy was US$66 million in 2000, while in the same period it was US$185 million in Sweden, US$162 million in Finland and US$147 million in the UK. The market in Italy in 2001 is expected to reach US$182 million, growing to US$371 million in 2002, US$640 million in 2003 and US$990 million in 2004(2).
The total market for e-learning in Scandinavia, with its advanced technology infrastructure, will grow to US$890 million by 2005(3). And there's an increasing amount of survey data showing real evidence of growth: in the UK, purchasers of e-learning have spent on average 25 per cent more each year between 1999 and 2001(4).
Today, 40 per cent of all training materials revenue in the UK will be from e-learning, up from 23 per cent in 19995. Most significant of all, according to TrainingZone/Hemmings, 85 per cent of UK companies will use some form of online learning in 2001 - although what companies mean by 'online learning' is, at best, open to question.
This is all good news. But beware. Some claims made on behalf of e-learning are less believable. For example, if an organisation with 10,000 staff installs a Learning Management System (LMS), do all those staff now count as part of the e-learning revolution? What about the content? There are increasing examples of organisations establishing an e-learning infrastructure with few or no courses available, and very many where the system is simply being used to launch legacy content, disconnected CD-ROMs and an unchanged, classroom curriculum. That's not true e-learning. So however many LMSs are being deployed throughout Europe, if they don't deliver better learning, they don't count. And, given the complexities of installation and support, they may not even herald the coming of the e-learning revolution at all.
What about all the off-the-shelf content that's available? The market for packaged online technical courses is close to saturation and the soft skills market is starting to mature. Sales from catalogues of such courses are growing well throughout Europe. But the great majority of providers of such catalogue offerings are legacy CD-ROM companies, the products of which offer no detailed tracking of learner performance, patchy or non-existent tutor and community facilities and outdated interfaces from the CD-ROM days.
There are some good catalogues and some excellent content, of course, but buyers must be careful to identify providers who have simply pasted an e-learning badge over their CBT origins. I'm sorry - that's not e-learning either.
Cases of Success
Evidence that true e-learning is being used in Europe is not easy to find, as it's typical at this stage of an embryonic technology market for organisations to work through a series of internal pilots - and to keep their cards close to their chest while they do so. The examples I give here are just a few of those I have come across in trying to assess what stage Europe has reached in the journey towards adoption of genuine e-learning. I've focused on those that demonstrate the two key qualifying criteria of connectivity and business transformation.
Corporate universities, particularly those in the high tech and telecoms sectors, provide an ideal basis on which to build e-learning. Motorola University, available throughout Motorola's European operations, is typical in that it is moving much of its training online and aiming for 50 per cent of all training to be delivered by 'alternative means' by 2006(6).
The University for Lloyds TSB, PricewaterhouseCoopers' e-cademie and The BT Internet College are all pushing their respective organisations in the same direction. BT has just announced a particularly bold Europe-wide initiative designed to train 30,000 managers on the capabilities of broadband communications, using a highly immersive environment and, of course, broadband technology(7).
In terms of adoption and effectiveness, results vary. M&G's e-learning initiative, called The I, claims a 100 per cent take-up plus an impressive number of user sessions and page views(8). Elsewhere - and I won't give names here - poor content, lack of direct connection to business goals and poor tracking of usage have led to e-learning initiatives being sidelined or shelved.
Some powerful examples of organisations transforming themselves through highly networked e-learning are beginning to turn up in major UK government agencies. DigitalThink is working with one large agency to pilot e-business awareness programmes as part of its drive to become an integrated e-business. More than 10,000 staff in over 100 locations will simultaneously work through a series of courses that integrate tutorials, interactive exercises and online discussions. The details of the project won't be available until early next year, but it isn't surprising that this kind of e-business education, or e-skilling, is proving to be a rich vein for providers of e-learning services. One of the big five professional services firms worked with DigitalThink to roll out a similar programme to 5,000 staff throughout Europe last year.
The technologically advanced Scandinavians have invested heavily in e-learning. Companies such as Telia, KF, Posten and Ericsson have all rolled out substantial e-learning programs. Academedia, Enlight Interactive, M2S and LUVIT have all been floated on the Stockholm stock exchange - and so far are surviving well. A particularly interesting hybrid application is Celemi's Tango, which builds a simulated business environment both online and off. Indeed, the Scandinavians appear to be particularly advanced in the area of simulations and games. For example, two learning games produced for Ericsson were shortlisted in the recent British Interactive Media Awards (BIMA).
European business schools are starting to follow the US model and adopt e-learning for their MBA programmes. Last year, Insead (Paris) offered its first online course on e-commerce and wireless technology. Particularly interesting here was the partnership with Nokia, which provided Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones to each student. In the UK, FT Knowledge has just announced an alliance with Cambridge University to create an E-MBA.
In southern Europe the picture is less clear, but there are some highlights. Simulware is doing some interesting work in Italy, including its current project for Generali group, Italy's leading insurance company. Simulware's product, Eprofessional, allows a degree of high interactivity between class members, and emphasises collaboration and group work. Elsewhere in Italy, Banca Di Roma ran a successful programme training its business customers in the new European currency.
Conclusion
Most European countries reveal good examples of genuine e-learning if you look for them: Philips in Holland, Siemens in Germany, a couple of the large banks in France. It appears that throughout Europe e-learning is arriving on the corporate agenda - but generally without the fanfares that heralded its arrival in the USA. So in answer to the title of this article the answer is still 'Yes'. Is it making the significant impact that the hype predicted? The jury is still out. We'll have to wait for more hard data.
Another key question: are we simply 'behind' the USA? In terms of widespread access to technology and in terms of real numbers of people using e-learning, probably yes. But Europe can learn from the USA and avoid some of the mistakes that were made there - for example:
- launching large programs without detailed tracking of results
- not defining business objectives clearly, and
- assuming large technology infrastructures, in particular intranets, are required before e-learning can be widely deployed.
And in some ways Europe is following a different path: greater government involvement, more emphasis on creative and immersive approaches to learning, more blending of e-learning with other forms, a greater use of learning communities (mainly by southern European users), and (particularly in Scandinavia) a strong emphasis on simulation and mobile communications.
E-learning has arrived, but its implementation is patchy and understanding of what it is, let alone what it can do for organisations, is limited by misunderstanding and clouded by hype.
Patrick can be contacted via email at: pdunn@digitalthink.com
References
1. For further information visit http://emea.idc.com
2. For further information visit http://www.gartner.com
3. For further information visit http://emea.idec.com
4. For further information visit http://www.cedefop.gr
5. Ibid.
6. 'The Future of Corporate Learning', DTI, May 2000.
7. For further information visit http://www.bt.co.uk
8. 'The Future of Corporate Learning', op. cit.
Comments