“I’m too old for e-learning” – Do you know people who would say this? For many older employees, further education is still closely associated with flip charts, chairs, and a free lunch. Read in the article 5 tips on how you, as an HR professional, can make digital education particularly attractive for older individuals.
That learning ability does not decrease even in advanced age has already been explained by my colleague in this article: What Hansel doesn’t learn... – The Myth of Learning in Old Age
However, many HR developers face the challenge that older people tend to be reluctant to engage with new methods. This especially includes digital learning, which is associated with many prejudices: E-learning is impersonal, complicated, and doesn’t bring any benefits?
Symbol image: Too old for e-learning? – Not if you, as an HR professional, follow a few tips!
If you follow a few tips, just the opposite is true! E-learning can be very personal, even with physical distance, and is also easy for those who are inexperienced with IT when using the right technology, while achieving a high learning effect.
Tip No. 1: Simple Technology for E-Learning
Everything starts with the foundation: your tool for e-learning. Not every learning platform is suitable for people with averse attitudes towards technology. When choosing your platform, ensure that it meets the following criteria:
Intuitive operation
Simple registration
Clear navigation
Ability to guide the user through the course
Particularly, the last point is a key factor for older e-learning participants: Can they be "digitally guided"? Participants should always know,
where they should click next
where they can find help
what is expected of them
when the next task is due
Technically, you can facilitate older employees' participation in e-learning by providing the following features:
Email reminders
Automatic, staggered release of content (not everything at once)
Visually prominent help button
Clearly recognizable display of which contents are still to be processed
Tip No. 2: The Sandwich Method
Another important aspect: Gradually accustom your older employees to new methods in e-learning. Blended learning is ideally suited for this: Combine the best of both worlds, face-to-face and digital.
Presence-Online-Presence: With the blended learning model "reverse sandwich", you pick up older employees in a familiar environment and gently introduce them to new digital methods.
The reverse sandwich model is the best choice for older participants:
Start your training with a face-to-face measure. This way, you can bring all participants "on board", clarify questions, and alleviate the concerns of those who are skeptical about technology.
Next comes the actual digital training, the e-learning. Ideally spread over several weeks, to guarantee a connection to everyday life and give your participants enough time.
Finish your training with another face-to-face measure. This can be an in-person meeting or even a phone call.
Tip No. 3: Learning Culture! Actively Involve Older Learners
Without a learning culture, there is no successful learning. This applies particularly to older employees who may quickly feel uncertain: What is allowed, what is required, where can I find help? Our tip: Actively approach older employees and involve them. Ask them about their wishes and concerns – and work with the trainers to come up with solutions.
What can also be helpful: Choose a lighthouse participant. This can be an older person who has already completed an e-learning course. Conduct a short video interview with this person and use the video as a "promotional measure" for your e-learning, for example, on the intranet or directly in the online course.
Tip No. 4: Videos with Double Advantage
The technology is in place, the model is planned – what are suitable contents for an e-learning that best reaches older employees? Clearly: Videos. Moving images have a double advantage for people who are skeptical about IT:
Videos are easy to consume: You click on a large image, and that's it.
Videos convey closeness, which is often lacking in e-learning.
Especially self-made videos score points with older employees who long for flip charts and eye contact. This way, they can see the trainer, even though they are physically separated.
Videos featuring leaders are also a hot tip for e-learning skeptics: The statement from the boss, "I stand behind you, this is a good measure," significantly increases the willingness to participate in e-learning and successfully complete it.
An example of such a motivational video from leaders is a video by blink.it CEO Konstantin Ristl. Konstantin has included the video in an online course and shared it with all participants.
In this example, what matters less is the content of Konstantin's video than the conditions surrounding it: A simple environment (the video was filmed during the lockdown from home office), a short duration (under 2 minutes), and direct address!
Konstantin Ristl to blink.it employees: Example of a motivational video in e-learning to engage and empower all participants.
Tip No. 5: No Action Without Calls to Action
Let’s move on to the last ultimate tip for older participants in e-learning: The call to action, also known as Call-to-Action. This point seems so obvious to many trainers but I still notice how it is often neglected. Feel free to exaggerate a bit and really incorporate calls to action EVERYWHERE:
At the beginning of each content (introduction text)
At the end of each video
At the end of each content (redirecting to the next content)
As an HR developer, ensure that your trainers use sufficiently clear calls to action. It is particularly important for older people to know what to do next. Course creators often no longer see that the next step is unclear, because everything is naturally known and understandable to them. Therefore, my tip is to build in more calls to action rather than too few, while these should always remain clear and unambiguous.
More on the topic of calls to action and some practical tips can be found in this blog article: 5 Examples of Good Calls to Action in Blended Learning
Conclusion: How to Win Older Employees for Digital Education
Let’s review the 5 tips once again:
Use a simple technology as a platform for your e-learning.
Gradually accustom technology skeptics to the digital world with blended learning using the sandwich method.
Ensure a good learning culture and actively involve older learners in e-learning.
Rely on videos, especially from leaders as motivation for participants.
Ensure that there are sufficient calls to action in the online course so that the next step is always crystal clear. Good luck with your next training course with technology skeptics!
