Can Experiential Learning be Delivered Online?

By: Karen Spencer, Area Vice President, OrasiLabs Product Manager

At the onset, the phrase ‘experiential learning done online’ may seem contradictory. Recreating the real-life work environments, which are required by experiential training, is difficult virtually, right? However, in today’s world, modern cloud-enabled technologies have solved this challenge and made it more than possible to conduct impactful experiential training effectively online.

Here are a few benefits of experiential learning:

• Breaks through barriers of distraction to allow for students to better absorb and retain knowledge
• Bridges the gap between theory and practice
• Allows students to explore creative solutions
• Gives learners a safe environment to make mistakes

With experiential learning, the student plays an active role in their learning journey with interactive hands-on training, rather than passively receiving information. An excellent cloud-based virtual training solution is proven to provide greater engagement and understanding of the application, so students are better prepared to face real-life situations.

A virtual training solution helps to drive:

1. Convenience and comfort of learning a solution virtually.
2. Simulation of real use case scenarios.
3. Flattening of learning curves through engagement tools and personalization.
4. Collaboration which spurs innovation and technological readiness – simplicity and scale without sacrificing either.
5. Ample opportunity to practice and reinforce learning.

The future of learning is experiential – and it’s here.

People of all age groups, skill areas, and professions have realized that experiential learning helps them preemptively fill any knowledge gaps during and after any training exercise through simulating relevant real-world scenarios for learners to navigate. Though, experiential training must be delivered in the right way. A recent McKinsey Survey showed that the remote learning experienced by the majority over the past year is a poor substitute for being back in the classroom. This shows that a heavy price has been paid for suboptimal learning experiences.

So, it is essential that the benefits of experiential learning are stressed and participation is encouraged. It is also vital that it can be provided to professionals with a technology that is accessible, affordable, engaging, and scalable.

How to master experiential learning?

Some robust online solutions help enrich the learning experience with the same depth and context as traditional experiential training, but with reduced costs and increased access. If you can opt for a robust solution that blends online and experiential aspects of learning seamlessly, you can elevate the efficacy and simplicity of the learning experience to an impressive level, and that’s a win-win for employees and employers.