8 Disadvantages of e-Learning

E-Learning - that's online learning - is an incredibly powerful tool that many businesses have embraced over the last decade. But are some businesses relying on it too much, to their detriment?

Training is an essential activity for any business that's serious about its future. While e-learning is a valuable component, relying solely on it can make learning less personal, less engaging, and, in the process, less effective. This is where diverse corporate training solutions come into play, offering a balanced approach that combines online learning with more interactive and personalized methods.
Let's take a look at some of the disadvantages of e-learning, and why "going online" may not always be the best option for you.



In summary, the disadvantages are:

1. No self-discipline online
2. Compromised face-to-face interaction
3. Less flexibility
4. Lack of feedback from trainers
5. Slow evolution
6. Good e-learning is difficult to do
7. Lack of transformational power
8. No peripheral benefits

So let's take a proper look at each of them.

Disadvantage 1: No Self-Discipline Online

Proponents of e-learning say that its main advantage is that it is self-paced. Which is true. If you need to watch a video again, you can. If you want to take a break from the material, you can stop and come back to it when you're feeling refreshed.

However, it's also said that because of this inherent freedom, "e-learning" often translates to "no learning". People are able to switch off from fully engaging in the material, and see the activity as a tick box exercise – just another item in an ever-growing "to do" list.

In an online environment, an e-learning task can easily fall to the bottom of the list, where it can languish for days, weeks ... or even indefinitely.

The fact is, many people find it easier to internalize new skills and knowledge through active training sessions with other people, than through an impersonal online learning module.  So be careful to safeguard against this.

Disadvantage 2: Compromised Face-to-Face Interaction

While e-learning can be quite interactive these days, through the use of video conferences, webinars, and face-to-face video chat, it still isn't the same as sitting in a room with a real person. Simply put, there is no substitute for interacting with, and learning from, a fellow human!

Disadvantage 3: Less Flexibility

E-learning can be great for learning specific skills and for knowledge that needs to be transferred. But where more complex skills and competencies are concerned, it's more difficult to put together an effective online learning program. And don't forget that in a business context, these complex skills are often the most important.

It's these skills, which can often only be discovered when you actually engage in an activity or topic, that can make a big difference to an organization. The best learning happens when students discover the solutions on their own – by asking questions and obtaining clarification – and with e-learning this is more difficult to achieve.

Disadvantage 4: Lack of Feedback From Trainers

E-learning is structured. When a program is developed, it's based on what the course developers think is the right curriculum at the time. However, online learning materials (especially with software apps like Microsoft Office) can become outdated – and may contain errors even from the beginning.

Face-to-face trainers are able to sit and talk to people.  They will engage with them to find out what they need to know, and how they need to learn it. This is highly valuable, but it's less possible with an e-learning course.



Skilled trainers and subject matter experts are at their very best when they are being grilled by - and interacting with - their students. This interaction results in a better training process and better trainers. In e-learning, it's largely not present; even with real-time lectures, the remote nature of the communication just isn't the same as in-person sessions.

Disadvantage 5: Slower Evolution of Content

After an e-learning course is developed, it can take an inordinately long time for any subsequent changes to be worked in. If a business model changes, or market conditions are disrupted, this problem is intensified ... which is a waste of the time and money that were invested to get the course up and running.

However, with in-person training – conducted in the training room, with live trainers – the course can be changed rapidly and even on the fly. Live training remains fluid, and will be more in tune with the specific needs of the business.

Disadvantage 6: Good E-Learning is Difficult to Do

Developing truly effective e-learning takes time, money, and a great amount of expertise! A good e-learning course involves multimedia, custom web development, technical support, and strong User Interaction (UI) design.

Although the market is improving, many of the first e-learning courses were clunky and unwieldy, and the technical and design problems negatively impacted the learning process, creating an adverse "first impression" that persisted even as standards improved.  There's still a lot of it out there - both from old content that's just hanging around, and from newer courses that have been developed on a low budget using old structures.



With live training, the standard systems, processes, and best practices are more established and well understood. Best practices for e-learning courses are still evolving, and although there's lots of good content out there, it's easy to inadvertently buy into something that's not what you want.

Disadvantage 7: Lack of Transformational Power

Of course, e-learning is effective for training in many areas. But advanced learning – game changing learning – is much easier through live connection with an experienced practitioner.

It's through this kind of engagement that true transformation occurs and the learner becomes more effective as an individual, moving to their next level of performance. Such change is more difficult with e-learning.

Disadvantage 8: No Peripheral Benefits

When you bring together a team of people to be trained with subject matter experts, you set the stage for something more than just basic learning. If structured right, the dynamics of personality, intelligence, vision, and creativity all interact to create a group that is more than the sum of its parts.

Group situations can produce solutions to core business problems and bring about massive transformations - largely because of the sheer energy produced by a team that has come together for a single purpose.

Similarly, live training can be a catalyst for team-building and create an environment where individuals deepen their relationships, get know each other better and learn in an environment where they all have the same goal. Done right, training is about much more than just pushing new information into employees' heads.

E-learning certainly has its benefits, but HR professionals need to understand the limitations and disadvantages that are inherent with online training schemes. These factors should be carefully considered when developing any training plan to determine the right solution for your business.

Of course, this is a deliberately one-sided view. For the response in favor of e-learning, see our article on advantages of e-learning that presents the other side of the argument!