Asynchronous learning is centered on the employee and features substantial interaction among participants. Employees themselves have the choice of where, how, and when their learning happens and rely on technology to access learning content at their own discretion.
While asynchronous learning should never overshadow or completely replace real-time, instructor-led learning, it does offer many benefits. Here are five of them.
Convenience
With asynchronous learning methods, employees can access learning content whenever it’s convenient for them. They can access videos and modules on their mobile devices while they’re in between tasks. They can complete a training assessment while they’re working from home 1 day a week before they pick up their kids from school, and so on. Because they don’t have to be in a particular place at a particular time to access learning content, they can access it whenever it’s most convenient for them to do so.
Autonomy
Employees will be able to learn more about what interests them the most and what’s most applicable to their career trajectories with asynchronous learning. They won’t have to take courses they find boring or irrelevant simply because they’re mandated to or required by their employer. This level of autonomy will encourage them to be more actively engaged with their own learning and will even lead to them being more engaged and productive while they’re on the job.
Less Stressful
When employees are in control of what they learn and when they learn, they’ll be less stressed out when accessing learning content. They’ll be able to learn at their own paces and won’t have to worry about other commitments as they’re engaged in learning. They’ll also be able to incorporate their learning into their usual workflow so that it doesn’t become disruptive to their everyday workloads.
Scalable
With asynchronous learning, you’ll be able to reach multiple learners at various times in various places very quickly. You won’t have to worry about getting everyone in the same place at the same time for a training session or meetings. And you’ll be able to get new training material out to vast numbers of learners very quickly, too.
Cost-Effective
When you can use one system to disseminate learning content to a lot of employees who won’t need to travel or take time off work to attend a training session, your organization will save a lot of money. In addition, with asynchronous learning techniques and methods, your learning and development staff and trainers will be able to spend more time on creating valuable content for learners, as they won’t have to conduct multiple in-person or live training sessions.
As you’re developing your training and development programs, consider the benefits of asynchronous learning outlined above.