Online Live Vs On-Demand Training: What Is The Difference?

In the past year, the vast majority of us have become highly accustomed to remote work. Even the most reluctant companies cobbled together virtual solutions that kept their processes and workforces moving. From routine day-to-day duties to training and development, it’s likely that your team has figured out how to keep people informed and productive. 

If you’re like most organizations, you’ve been so intensely working in the moment that the luxury of reflection as been un-affordable. Which is to say, you’ve been working so hard to get a solution out there that you haven’t had time to consider the differences between your options. 

First, let's consider an analogy. 

Virtual Live events are like live sports on television, they are those streaming events conducted in the real-time, with a host/organizer present in time but not space. 

On-Demand events are like a Netflix show, a form of a pre-recorded content that is created with components prior to publishing. As soon as your participants receive credentials, they have unlimited access to it. Learners can take an on-demand course whenever and wherever they want. 

We pitched both options against each other in a head-to-head comparison to make your job a little easier. Below are 5 ways to evaluate either choice. At TrainUp.com, we recommend considering each training initiative as a unique opportunity worth evaluation. One-size doesn’t fit all, and your people deserve a tailored solution.  

Virtual Live Class Size

Even the best secured streaming platforms have audience limitations. Streaming video to 3000 people is likely going to translate to lagging experience for many. If your cohort is small, virtual live events can be an effective way to ensure people are paying attention. Requesting that learners keep their cameras on is a good way to keep your team engaged during the event. 

On-Demand Class Size

Audience size is only limited by your licenses. If your company has 100,000 employees who all need to take a web safety course, then on-demand is a great solution. On-demand courses ensure that everyone taking the course receives the exact same experience, which can be critical when the material is something like email phishing or HIPAA.

Virtual Live

Hiring an expert to do anything live will cost more than an on-demand experience. Consider the difference between going to a concert versus watching one on YouTube. The tickets may cost more, but no one ever screamed a chorus with 20,000 people in front of their laptop (but hey, we're not judging).

On-Demand

If your budget is smaller, on-demand experiences are cost-effective solutions. While they lose some of the electricity of a live event, on-demand courses allow organizations to do more for less. Sometimes it’s more important to provide three courses on inclusive leadership than one course on unconscious bias.

Some on-demand learning platforms, such as  TrainUp.com's proprietary KnowledgeFlo solution, brings your self-paced content to life, breaking the traditional self-paced silos and transforming your static content into an engaging collaborative learning experience.

Virtual Live

The momentum provided by a live event can transform an organization the moment it is over. Collectively hearing a great point or transformative idea can move a team to immediate action. After a live event, everyone speaks with the authority of experience. If speed of impact is your goal, a live event can be a great kickstart. 

On-Demand

While not providing the buzz of a live event, most on-demand learning allows for more detailed analyses. For example, after deploying a course on spreadsheets, a good people ops team can run data comparing those who have taken the course to those with invitations growing stale in their inboxes. Teams can see how and when concepts learned in an on-demand course have been understood and implemented, because we have more data points to help understand the learning journey. 

Virtual Live

Hosting a live event means selecting a topic and an instructor. A good trainer will consider the needs of a specific context and alter material to meet certain goals. This is the biggest benefit to a live event; customization comes much easier and more quickly. TrainUp.com is known for organizing custom onsite training  courses tailored to the needs of specific businesses and organizations. 

On-Demand

Simply put, customization is not really an option when considering off-the-shelf, on-demand learning. For the most part, on-demand learning is pre-recorded, which is a strength and a weakness. While it’s more consistent than a live event and faster to deploy, on-demand learning is rarely a perfect fit. If your goal is to help your team better understand the basics of Microsoft Office, then on-demand can be the east choice. If however, your team needs to learn a specific set of formulas in Microsoft Excel, and then how to migrate that data over to Microsoft Power Point, on-demand learning options might frustrate you.

For those that need a tailored self-paced solution, customized eLearning is always an option.