One of South Africa’s leading e-Learninging outfits, KnowHow e-Learning, today announced…

The company sent a delegation of four to attend the 2015 ONLINE & E-LEARNING CONFERENCE in Johannesburg and demanded they return with comprehensive industry insights (or at the very least a few good load-shedding stories).

The two-day excuse to sup like Royalty at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank was hosted by Knowledge Resources and concluded on 21 May, but not before a distinguished array of surprisingly witty speakers had their say on the current state and future trends of e-Learning.

Representatives from Discovery, PeopleTree, Kalleo, Telesure, and Volkswagen shared their unique experiences designing and implementing e-Learning programs. The enthusiasm, passion and drive demonstrated by these engaging presenters were positively infectious. With evangelists like these on the frontline, e-Learning in South Africa is clearly going places!

“As ONLINE & E-LEARNING CONFERENCE virgins we were not sure what to expect but soon realised the priceless value of being able to spend quality time with like-minded players grappling with the same exact issues” Justin Ashley, CEO & Founder of KnowHow e-Learning

Martin Sutherland (Global Director at PeopleTree Talent Analytics Group) managed to catch a unicorn live on stage with his eloquent presentation on how to reliably demonstrate the ROI of an e-Learning program. We can neither confirm nor deny that Mr Sutherland appreciated the four swaying Zippos in the back row when he revealed his personal strategy for identifying the benefits and measuring the effectiveness of comprehensive eLearning programs.

Willie Maritz of Kalleo gave a thought-provoking talk on what was originally meant by ’learning in an organisation’.  With the grace of a seasoned Sushi chef, Mr Maritz sliced through the facts and assumptions related to the rise of mighty Google and how people are increasingly learning out of the workplace via Internet searches, communities, and forums. When he concluded his presentation with the provocative question: “Is the Course as we know it dead?” he may as well have dropped the microphone and walked off stage like a victorious slam poet.

Simone Zanetti of Allos went metaphysical with his fascinating perspective on how games are transforming the online training experience. By immersing learners in an environment where they are engaged and focused solely on the task at hand, learning can happen without the students even realising it. With Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus Rift and Microsoft’s Hololens, the race for virtual reality supremacy is on.

“Designing and implementing game-based learning remains an expensive and specialised undertaking, requiring teams of software developers and designers, so despite its obviously potent capabilities and implications for our immediate future, its unlikely to reach the majority of online learners anytime soon, as it just takes too much time and expense to construct.”  Justin Ashley, founder of KnowHow e-Learning

Dr. Lesley Lee, head of the Learning Academy at Volkswage Group SA, also related an inspiring account of how she achieved higher levels of engagement from her learners, thereby paving the way for e-Learning penetration in the world’s second largest car company.

The quality of the attendees and depth of the presentations were remarkable and passers-by must have imagined Trevor Noah headlining on a few occasions. The credo of the gathering ‘Embracing digital learning for the modern learner’ united a dynamic cauldron of perspectives and approaches into a fluid discussion around learning delivery and enhancing the experience through innovative new technologies.

With the world of smartphones and mobile Internet technology increasing in availability and power every day, soon every employee will be carrying a device capable of instant information retrieval and communication at the touch of a button. Wait! That’s already happened.

Luckily our delegates eventually returned home with a doggy-bag full of visionary insights on how we can ensure that our clients benefit from the best in e-Learning in South Africa.

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