How to make e-learning successful?

Most online learning is now part of a wider, blended learning within organizations (i.e. supporting a F2F program; a resource portal for an action learning project).

Nonetheless, how do HR stakeholders cascade learning to the thousands of managers in their organizations without incurring exorbitant costs and impossible logistics? The only way is to make the learning "on-demand".

So how to make on-demand learning successful? At Harvard, we have research that shows that learning participation and retention rates rise dramatically when collaboration takes place both among learners and between learners and their superiors. In fact, Harvard wholly advocates the principle of "leader as teacher". This is why it is important that there is a social or peer networking element to e-learning.

Remember, 70% of learning in organizations is informal. So, what is the best way to capture this dynamic? It is when learners take control of their own learning, and when they are able to collaborate with others in their teams, in their organizations.