These days, traditional degrees are not enough to reach the career height of your dream. You need additional training to address your skills gaps. There are different approaches, like instructor-led training and self-paced learning for upskilling. Both of them offer you training on your favorite topic.
If you want to choose a training method for yourself or your employees, these are the things you need to know about the two common learning methods.
What Is Instructor-Led Training?
Instructor-led training (ILT) refers to the training process that involves a person as your trainer. Though these courses usually happen in person, they can take place online in real-time, where learners can participate through virtual modes.
It has a strong similarity with the traditional teacher-student learning process. Participants experience a combination of lecture and applied coursework. Training on practical topics requires this technique as it offers a live interaction facility with the teacher.
Advantages of Instructor-Led Training
There are many advantages of enrolling in an instructor-led training (ILT) program, and a few of these are:
1. Detailed Learning Material: The course content of this training solution is highly detailed. For in-depth training on any topic, this technique is more than ideal.
2. Human Engagement: ILT method involves a lot of engagement with the instructor or the co-trainees. Participants can get immediate answers to their questions or get clarified by the other learners on any topic. These motivate them to complete the training properly.
3. Practical Lab Experience: In instructor-led training, students can often come across a virtual lab environment where they can practice implementing their knowledge into practical use. They can also engage with the trainer and ask them related questions.
4. Availability of Support Material: Besides the main course manual, such courses also offer a quick reference guide. You can also ask the trainer for additional material if you find the existing ones difficult to understand.
Drawbacks of Instructor-Led Training
This approach of training also suffers from some disadvantages, and they are:
1. Time Limitation: No instruction will teach you a topic for an indefinite time. Such courses have a fixed routine, and you need to make the best efforts to learn things within the time frame. Also, there’s no scope for revisiting a topic time and again, like self-paced courses.
2. Expensive: Hiring qualified and high-end instructors will cost you a lot, depending on the course duration, complexity, and participant count. Contrary to the self-paced method, you need to pay for every batch of trainees.
3. Inconsistent Teaching Styles: Some instructor-led courses have multiple trainers who teach in rotation. Due to the variation in teaching styles of various instructors, some participants may not understand a topic in the same way.
4. Interruption in Daily Work: If the trainees are part of a fast-paced working environment, getting time out of their fixed office schedule for the live training will make them inefficient. It’ll also stop them from having an uninterrupted focus on a project.
What Is Self-Paced Learning?
As the name suggests, self-paced learning allows learners to consume learning material at their convenient time. There is no teacher or instructor involved in this method, and you can take your time to learn the topic.
These pre-recorded courses are available online, and you can access them using the internet. The course material of this learning solution involves images, videos, games, and other activities. Usually, you can take up these courses and evaluation tests multiple times.
Advantages of Self-Paced Learning
In recent years, self-paced learning is gaining popularity, and that's due to the following benefits:
1. Flexible Timing and Speed: The biggest benefit of this method is the absence of any time restraints. Especially, members of the IT industry find this useful as they can participate in the training at their convenient time.
You can participate in such learning sessions from any location using an Internet connection. If you find any topic difficult, you can revisit the training material to understand it completely.
2. Affordable Cost: Most of the self-paced learning courses are less expensive than instructor-led training. Organizations can purchase the training material once and use it for multiple batches of employees.
3. Accessibility: Unlike the ILT method, this training is more accessible to general learners. Since you can go through the course material multiple times to consume it properly, understanding a topic with this method becomes easier.
4. Organized Learning Material: In this approach, you’ll get concise training material, divided into small but to-the-point chunks. There is no need for skimming as the learning content includes visuals and activities.
Drawbacks of Self-Paced Learning
The following are a few disadvantages of self-paced learning:
1. Zero Interaction With Trainers: This method usually includes PowerPoint presentations and short videos without any live instructors. Lack of in-person trainers can demotivate the learners. Also, the absence of co-trainees takes away the competitive mood of the training.
2. Technical Issues: Self-paced courses are accessible through online modes, which require you to have a gadget like a smartphone, tablet, or computer. If any of these are not compatible with the training platform or material, you’ll have a hard time accessing the material.
3. Take More Time to Complete: As this method does not have any fixed time frame to complete, participants might feel reluctant to regularly participate in the course. Also, with no trainer to clarify doubts, understanding a topic using external material will take time.
Which Method Should You Choose?
If you are unsure about the method you should opt for, go through the following questions and see where you stand:
- Are you in need of quickly finishing a certification course?
- Do you find the concept of learning alone demotivating?
- Are you too busy to find a window for a self-paced class?
- Are you unwilling to find answers to your questions online?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then an instructor-led training class is the right solution for you. Otherwise, self-paced learning is the option you should choose.
However, if you did not get an absolute answer or want to enjoy the benefits of both methods, you should try the blended learning method. This learning method consists of ILT and self-learning.
While self-paced classes teach straightforward topics, instructor-led courses focus on subjects that need collaboration and face-to-face discussion with the instructor.
Choose Your Method Wisely
Training is an essential part of upskilling yourself that will help you get promoted in your current job or switch careers. This article shared an inside-out view of both learning methods.
After going through it, you can easily choose the right approach depending on participant count, available resources, time, and budget.