Assessment of Effectiveness of Web-based Training on Demand

Abstract

e-Learning is bringing training to the attention of upper management in a way that other learning technologies have never done. Web-based training will remain predominant to the design and delivery of workplace learning in the 21st century because of its advantages over traditional classroom-based training. A comprehensive framework that delineates the relationship between learner control and learning effectiveness in educational training is absent. This study therefore aims to fill this void. Unlike previous relevant research, this study compares learning effectiveness between two educational training delivery methodologies: traditional classroom-based training (TCT) and web-based training (WBT). Our framework focuses on learning effectiveness of web training in the context of the educational training programmes of two colleges' administration application systems. Based on the WBT literature, this study uses a model that investigates the relationship between learner control and learning effectiveness under five dimensions: learning performance, learner satisfaction, accumulation of learning experience, document navigation, and problem solving. To compare learning effectiveness between TCT and WBT we conducted a field experiment. Data were collected from two colleges that received training on their administration application systems. A total of 288 usable responses were analysed. The results allow five conclusions to be drawn: (1) learners receiving WBT achieved better learning performance than their counterparts receiving TCT; (2) learners receiving WBT reported higher levels of satisfaction than their counterparts with the traditional approach; (3) learners receiving WBT accumulated more learning experience than their counterparts with TCT; (4) WBT provided more integrated document navigation than the traditional format; (5) WBT offered faster problem solving mechanisms than TCT. The implications of this study are discussed and further research directions are proposed.