For years, talent development professionals have relied on e-learning to reach employees—especially those scattered across the globe—with consistent and flexible training. Affordability, self-pacing, just-in-time access, and other benefits make e-learning an effective and popular option in the blended learning portfolios favored by most organizational talent development functions.

Despite speculation in industry media and other sources that e-learning is in decline, Next Generation E-Learning: Skills and Strategies—the latest research report by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp)—found the practice thriving in nearly 90 percent of organizations. Further, talent development leaders and practitioners say they anticipate not only continued growth, but also exciting changes for e-learning ahead.

ATD and i4cp examined the use of e-learning in recent years and identified factors that have, and will continue to, influence talent development leaders’ choices about the ways they leverage e-learning. Considerations about content, design tools, and the types of training for which talent development professionals recommend e-learning were also explored to help these leaders and their teams make strong, data-driven decisions that are likely to support more effective e-learning use.