The need for training in the healthcare world is constant. Healthcare professionals deal with an ever changing landscape of constantly-updated policies, methods, compliance standards, and certifications. On top of their demanding jobs, they are expected to stay current with learning new clinical information, procedure techniques and treatments to name a few.

Unfortunately, training isn’t always cost-effective, useful, or engaging, and given the busy lives that healthcare professionals lead, it can feel like a waste of time. However, the need for training is unavoidable. As the healthcare landscape evolves, professionals need to be able to keep up with solid, reliable forms of training.

This is where eLearning education portals come into play. They offer a number of advantages. Let’s take a look at some of them.

1. ELearning portals are flexible and time-conscious

This is of special concern to healthcare professionals. Long shifts and on-call hours can make finding classroom time a nightmare for an organization. Healthcare professionals are often pulled away from training by the demands of their job, and this can lead to poor morale and unfinished training as specialists struggle to balance their professional demands. For clinical schedules, it’s not uncommon to have to plan training at least 6-8 weeks in advance to account for these difficulties.

Luckily, eLearning portals are instantly accessible. A learner can access them at any time and at any location as long as there is an Internet connection. Oftentimes, if the portal has been created with the mobile approach in mind, it can even be accessed via smartphone or tablet. There is no need to get everyone’s schedule on the same page, and there’s no need to pull professionals away from their pressing tasks and responsibilities. With access to a reliable Learning Management System (LMS), learners get to take the course or access information on their own time and at their own pace, whenever they need it.

This will result in saved time and resources, and make the allied healthcare professionals feel that their time is being respected.

2. ELearning portals make it easy to update and reference training material

When information changes, as it often does, eLearning can be quickly updated to reflect new content. This means that compliance courses, for instance, can be rapidly adjusted to meet any new standards. This particularly applies to an eLearning platform, where courses can be quickly standardized. In classroom learning, updating the curriculum can be a much more involved process.

In addition, eLearning portals can be referenced. This means that the learners can return to content at any desired time to refresh themselves on what they’ve learned. Rather than rely on notes or memory, learners can go back to the source whenever they have a question or need to look at specific guidelines.

This makes learning easier to integrate into daily, on-the-job lives. This integration in turn means that the learners won’t dismiss eLearning as “just training.” In fact, they are more likely to see it as a tool they can use to find important and relevant information that will directly help them in their professional lives. Rather than competing with patient services, training will complement them.

3. ELearning portals have learning benefits

Good eLearning has some unique advantages over classroom training. Truly successful eLearning engages all of the senses, using audio and visual elements through media and interactivity. Tasks, puzzles, and visual layout can all be utilized to help learners work through the information in the portal. These strategies keep the learner’s attention – there’s no dry lecturing or blocks of information. Additionally, the methods used to deliver eLearning can help the learners retain the content they need to know by giving them the information they can absorb in multiple ways.

Case studies, simulations, and scenarios will help the learners understand how the information directly applies to on-the-job situations. Job aids can be included in eLearning resources and saved for later, providing material like step-by-step processes, terminology, or compliance standards for quick access. The learners can also be thoroughly tested using a variety of eLearning evaluation methods, and in an eLearning platform or LMS, the scores can be saved and viewed by supervisors and managers.

Furthermore, eLearning can use gamification strategies or game design elements that teach concepts and catch the learners’ attention. In addition to gamification, virtual realities can help learners understand the concepts presented in the eLearning portal and practice them in the safe environment. In a world full of mobile games, gamification is increasingly expected by learners and makes training seem less like a chore.

4. ELearning portals can leverage the community

Even though eLearning seems solitary, an eLearning platform is available to a large pool of learners, and the courses that can benefit from the community or peer interaction often allow learners to interact and collaborate. There are many opportunities for learners to learn from each other, just as there would be in the classroom.

Social learning is a great example of collaboration opportunities for eLearners. Facebook and LinkedIn groups, as well as forums, allow learners to have targeted discussions with other learners and colleagues, collaborate on assignments, and seek answers to various issues and uncertainties. Given how powerful the use of social media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can be in facilitating the dissemination and absorption of new and trending content, there is an amazing opportunity to integrate them into eLearning environments.

5. ELearning portals are cost-effective

Classroom training involves hiring instructors, creating materials, finding an adequate space, and using up valuable time. And, as we’ve already discussed, curriculum needs to be periodically reviewed and rewritten to reflect updated information. These costs add up. An eLearning platform does require an investment, but there’s no doubt that in the long run, you’ll save on infrastructure and personnel, since eLearning doesn’t take up as much time as classroom training and doesn’t require an instructor. That money can be reinvested in patient services – the real work that healthcare professionals are doing.

6. ELearning portals provide a continuous, trustworthy learning experience

While the quality of classroom teaching depends on the instructor, well-designed eLearning will have solid, consistent quality of instruction throughout. With an eLearning platform, you know the content will be written by experts, which means it will meet high standards and will most likely be constantly updated to reflect learners’ feedback and innovations in medicine. And, what’s also important, eLearning portals are created with eLearning best practices in mind. This makes the material easier to digest and retain.

With the platform format, there’s a continuity of learning experience, too. All information is meant to work with each other to give learners the building blocks they need to advance and continue learning. One-off eLearning or classroom instruction can feel fragmented, disjointed, or unreliable, while an eLearning platform will provide one continuous and dependable training experience. Overall, it can help your organization grow.

With one consolidated eLearning platform, you can continue to pursue professional development, both individually and as an organization. Training doesn’t have to just be a requirement – it can be an exciting opportunity to learn, grow, and develop.