In recent years, the focus of organizational learning and training has shifted from traditional, new-employee orientation and personal development seminars to continuous learning and development programs designed and implemented to give employees the knowledge resources they need to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. The goal of this strategy is to help workers channel knowledge into ideas and use those ideas to create business solutions and competitive advantage.

Organizations are burdened with delivering knowledge and ideas in the form of training and learning to employees more rapidly, more effectively, and more efficiently than ever. In an effort to meet these objectives, organizations are seeking to consolidate disparate knowledge and learning resources and technologies into a centralized point of access and management, while leveraging existing investments (legacy systems, resources, etc.) in enterprise infrastructure, to give employees simple, seamless access to knowledge, training, and learning.

Current realities

Organizations possess incredible intellectual capital. The challenge has been, and continues to be, providing access to that capital and assembling it to develop best practices and collective learning. Human capital is now an asset to be scrupulously managed, and learning is a strategic advantage and weapon. One way to maximize that advantage is to use technology to optimize learning.

In a recent IDC and eWorld survey, training and education was rated in the top three applications integrated with U.S. organization Web sites. Nearly one-third of all U.S. organizations have their training and education integrated with their Web sites, and more than 60 percent of large organizations are taking initiatives to integrate education and training with their Web sites -- roughly the same percentage as those who planned to integrate knowledge management and materials management into their Web sites.

E-learning is critical to the success of individuals, organizations, communities, and economies, and e-learning portals top the list of effective training and educational strategies. E-learning portals offer customization, 24/7 accessibility, convenience and flexibility, cost effectiveness, user-centric learning, and centralized management of knowledge.

Essentially, an e-learning portal is a virtual environment set up by an organization to give users access to knowledge. These portals have also been called e-learning centers, online education centers, internal portals, corporate universities and virtual universities. Whatever they're called, they are merely vessels, frameworks, or infrastructures for training, learning, and assessing knowledge and competency. With the advent of e-learning portals, organizations have tools to help knowledge workers aggregate, access, and navigate through full or bite-size "learning chunks" or "learning objects" from internal databases, repositories, courses, and Web sites.

An e-learning portal is an access point to various applications, services, courses, and learning directed at employees, partners/suppliers, and/or customers. The e-learning portal is a place where the organization's Web channels -- Internet, intranet, extranet, and marketplace exchanges -- come together to combine the cumulative information, knowledge, and data that will enable greater business efficiencies.

E-learning industry

The e-learning industry is made up of three vendor segments: technology, content, and services.

Technology -- Includes learning management systems, learning content management systems, authoring tools, training delivery systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, application service providers (ASPs), live e-learning tools, streaming video, and testing and assessment tools.
Content -- Includes e-learning portals, third-party content providers, book and magazine publishers, enterprises, subject matter experts, government agencies, colleges, universities, schools, training organizations, IT firms, and system integrators.
Services -- Includes enterprise information portals, corporate universities, learning service providers (LSPs), content aggregators, learning consultants, certification service providers, collaboration services, and online mentoring services.

Although many vendors are "pure players," some vendors offer crossover or "hybrid" solutions. Several vendors market themselves as e-learning portals, end-to-end solutions, blended e-learning solutions, best-of-breed technology, global learning management solutions, integrated learning and management systems, and e-learning infrastructure technology.

Intelligent portals

The e-learning portal is an intelligent portal. It advises users on what skills and experience they need to advance to other levels in the organization, and provides competency maps, assessment, and discussion forums related to essential learning themes. It recognizes what the user knows, certifications earned, experiences, and his ideal learning style. As e-learning portal technology has evolved, navigation has become more sophisticated, content more relevant, and interfaces more user-friendly and intuitive. Until recently, e-learning was offered only in the form of full, off-the-shelf, or customized courseware. However, users also need an efficient way to turn their proprietary knowledge into effective e-learning content through content authoring tools. Although general knowledge provides a necessary foundation, proprietary knowledge provides organizations with competitive advantage.

Benefits of e-learning portals

An e-learning portal offers integrated multimedia and instructor-led, real-time training -- all in a collaborative environment. When implemented correctly, e-learning portals can help organizations develop and maintain a competitive advantage in the following areas:

Recruitment and selection -- attracting, evaluating, and hiring new employees
Retention -- retaining intellectual capital (human capital)
Learning and career development -- classroom training, online learning, and other forms of learning activities
Rewards, recognition, and response -- recognizing individuals according to their ability to meet/exceed performance expectations as defined by the organization
Succession planning -- identifying and developing peak performers with the appropriate competencies and skills needed to advance within the organization

Types of e-learning portals

E-learning portals fall into five key categories: learning management, content aggregation, community collaboration, content creation, and internal. They usually serve one of three primary market categories: corporate, academic, and consumer.

• The learning management system (LMS) portal tracks learning content or courses the user is taking and his progress. The learning management system ties all other e-learning components together. The LMS is the infrastructure or framework used to track, support, manage, and measure e-learning activities. An LMS helps you manage and measure the entire learning process, including managing computer-based training (CBT), Web-based training, document-based training, instructor-led training, and blended training methods.
• A content aggregation portal lets users access knowledge on many topics from various sources.
• Community collaboration portals give users a way to interact with and learn from colleagues and peers.
• A content creation portal gives users a place to create content directly on the site.
• Internal portals let users access all the services of the organization's training and development department.

• Off-the-shelf (or third-party) content is developed to meet general organizational needs. Off-the-shelf content vendors include NETg, SmartForce, and SkillSoft.
• Authoring tool products include Authorware, Dreamweaver, etc.
• Custom-developed content aims to meet the unique needs of an organization and capture a specific organization's proprietary knowledge.