According to ASTD, US companies spent $156 billion on employee learning in 2011, almost $1200 per employee. No matter how you look at it, $156 billion is a lot of money.
Most of this money was spent on the training events themselves – the classroom sessions and e-learning courses.
But learning is an activity, not an event.
The learning process begins when an individual realizes that a new skill or talent is needed, and concludes when an individual has mastered that skill or talent. The training event is only part of the process, and it may not even be the most critical part of the process.
Effective learning, whether in a traditional classroom or in an e-learning environment, requires a series of pre-course activities to prepare the learner for the class, and post-course activities to allow the learner to practice and apply the material from the course.