To most people, eLearning conjures images of staff learning at their desks, as a cost-cutting replacement for what was once classroom instruction. Many organisations are yet to take the next step in eLearning’s acceptance by adopting it at both the operational and strategic levels.

Although operational eLearning is good for showing an early return on investment and building a business case, the law of diminishing returns means the cost of delivery will come to exceed the benefits.

Strategic eLearning has an extended enterprise and value-adding focus because you can embed `just in time’ performance support tools in business processes, increase sales through partner certification, re-engineer and educate supply chains, and differentiate your brand through customer education.

The key to solid first-generation eLearning is to mix short-term operational and medium-term  strategic activity. Go for high-leverage induction and compliance programs for `quick wins’ that encourage continued interest at board level. Identify how eLearning can deliver performance improvements that link to strategic goals, for example, with sales-force product training or simulations for a software rollout.

Aim to use your first couple of projects to develop an eLearning-friendly culture, educate managers and developan  enterprise eLearning governance model . Importantly, avoid making major IT infrastructure investments early on that will kill your return on investment and prematurely lock you into a technology solution.

OPERATIONAL ELEARNING delivers outcomes such as reduced training time and costs, and compliance with legislation. Typical examples include slashing a three-week induction process in half, training 10,000 staff in 100 locations across the country or capturing completion and competence evidence for compliance-based training.

Operational eLearning `events’ are generally commissioned by individual departments with little or no enterprise governance of style and brand guides, quality (IS02000, Six sigma, etc). instructional effectiveness, metadata (AGLS, Dublin Core), integration (SCORM, AICC), delivery (W3C) or knowledge hierarchy. Typically, a department manager engages a vendor on a transactional basis to develop a piece of eLearning content blending interactivity, simulation and perhaps instructor-led training (ILT).

The courses are delivered through existing IT Infrastructure such as intranets and websites, or through an isolated first- generation learning or content management system (LCMS) hosted inside the organisation’s firewall. The eLearning’s results are often expressed through the balance sheet as reduced travel, accommodation, venue hire, development and delivery costs; or in vague qualitative terms as accelerated time to competence.

IN CONTRAST, strategic eLearning supports the extended enterprise, which includes the workforce, suppliers and customers, in achieving the organisation’s vision. The goal is often based on individual performance (‘improve sales conversion rates by eight per cent’), organisational performance (`implement a new ERP with zero business interruption’), differentiation (`our mobile phones come with three hours of free training’) and market positioning (‘train our sales and support staff on new products more quickly than our competitors’).

Strategic eLearning expressly links and aligns role, business process and value-based learning with strategic goals. It is strictly governed by guides, standards, policies and procedures within an enterprise framework for managing knowledge.

Typically, the organisation has at least a preferred supplier panel, and often an alliance with a vendor and/or a specialist eLearning consultant. Content is usually developed as learning `objects’, often aggregated for various purposes and blending ILT, mentoring, online collaboration and simulation-based learning.

Learning is often delivered through second or third-generation enterprise systems integrating performance, learning, content, information and processes based on either an internally hosted or SaaS model.

Results may be expressed as contributions to strategic plans related to increased sales and/or market share, reduced time to market for new products, reduced risks, improved quality and better retention of top staff.