E-learning gives employees flexible, self-paced access to training they can take from anywhere, at any time, without the scheduling constraints of classroom learning.
The rise of Employee-generated Learning
Traditional training methods struggle to keep up with how fast things move in most companies. That’s why many organizations are turning to e-learning as a more flexible way to share knowledge. One of the most practical shifts in recent years is an approach called Employee-generated Learning, or EGL.
With EGL, employees don’t just take courses. They help create them. Instead of relying only on L&D teams or outside trainers, companies tap into the knowledge their own people already have. Subject matter experts (SMEs) share their experience directly with colleagues by creating short, practical learning content. That content can be as simple as a checklist or a short video, or a full e-learning course.
The advantages are straightforward. Because the people creating the content already know the topic, they don’t need long interviews or rounds of approval. The content is also more relevant: employees know exactly what others need to learn because they’re doing the same work. And because anyone can contribute, training scales without putting the entire burden on one small L&D team.
EGL also builds a learning culture from the inside out. When employees take the lead in sharing what they know, they feel valued for their expertise and more connected to their team. Learning becomes something that happens between colleagues, not just something delivered from above.
EGL doesn’t replace other training. For compliance and safety topics, formal training remains the right tool. But for fast-changing, job-specific knowledge, EGL fills a gap that traditional methods rarely can.
As companies move more training online, EGL fits naturally into that shift. It’s built for the way people actually work today. The top 10 benefits of online learning for employees below reflect that reality: the most effective learning doesn’t only come from the top down. It comes from within the team.
10 benefits of online learning for employees
1. E-learning fits how people work today
Remote and hybrid work is now standard in most organizations. E-learning fits that reality. When new employees join from different locations, a well-built digital training program means their onboarding doesn’t depend on everyone being in the same room.
And the shift toward online learning isn’t temporary. Organizations that built e-learning programs during the push to remote work have kept them. The flexibility and reach are too useful to give up.
2. Employees learn on their own schedule
Classroom training runs on fixed schedules. That works for some people and not at all for others. One of the main benefits of e-learning for employees is that they choose when they learn. Course material is available whenever they need it, whether that’s before a meeting, during a quiet afternoon, or later in the evening.
3. Employees take ownership of their development
In traditional training, an instructor decides what gets taught and how. E-learning shifts that. Employees choose what to study, how deeply to go, and when to come back to something. That shift from passive recipient to active learner makes a difference: people who direct their own learning tend to engage with it more seriously.
4. Employees can revisit content and beat the forgetting curve
Research shows that most people forget at least 75% of what they’ve learned within a few hours. This is the forgetting curve. One of the clearest benefits of online training for employees is that the content doesn’t disappear after the session ends.
When training material stays accessible, employees can return to it the moment they actually need it on the job. You can also update that content in real time, so employees always have the most current information available, not a version from six months ago.
5. Creating e-learning content is cheaper and faster
E-learning cuts training costs in two ways: it removes the overhead of onsite facilities and printed materials, and it frees up your L&D team from organizing sessions so they can work on higher-priority work instead.
Beyond cost, it keeps pace with how quickly things change at work. When employees learn at their own pace through an effective e-learning system, your L&D team spends less time scheduling and running classroom sessions and more time on work that actually moves the needle.
T-Mobile is a good example of what this looks like in practice. When they added an Employee-generated Learning (EGL) approach to their e-learning strategy, they increased learning output by five times using only 25% of their L&D resources. Because employees created the content themselves, the L&D team could step back from production and focus on strategy.
6. E-learning provides education on demand
Employees already get answers on demand through Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs). Slower, scheduled training feels like a step backwards by comparison. That gap is one of the clearest advantages of online training for employees.
E-learning lets employees decide what to learn and when, so you meet them at the moment they actually need the information, rather than six weeks before or after it.
7. Easily track your learning progress
One practical benefit of e-learning is that progress is easy to track and review. Modern e-learning platforms give you detailed data: not just quiz results, but which resources employees use most and where they drop off. That makes it easier for L&D teams to spot what is working and fix what is not, without waiting to collect paper-based assignments.
It is a faster feedback loop for the people running the training, not just the people taking it.
8. E-learning is better for the planet
E-learning reduces a company’s environmental footprint in a few concrete ways. It cuts the need for printed materials, which saves paper and avoids the use of environmentally harmful inks. It reduces travel to in-person sessions, which lowers carbon emissions. It also removes the energy cost of running large training facilities like classrooms and auditoriums.
The shift many organizations made during the pandemic showed how much of that footprint was optional.
9. Online learning allows for immediate feedback
When a learner answers a quiz question in an e-learning course, they find out straight away whether they got it right. That immediacy matters because people absorb corrections better when the material is still fresh, not days later when context has faded.
Feedback runs in both directions, too. You can build a rating system into your course, such as a net promoter score (NPS) survey, to see how learners feel about the content and where it needs work. All courses created in Easygenerator include an NPS survey by default.
10. An online training model provides more concentration
Traditional classroom training comes with distractions that are hard to control: side conversations, a trainer’s body language, the rhythm of the room. One advantage of online learning is that it strips most of that away and lets employees focus on the content itself, at a pace that suits them.
Those ten benefits of e-learning cover a wide range: from giving employees room to grow to cutting costs and reducing your company’s environmental footprint.
Start enjoying the benefits of online learning today
Now that you know the benefits of e-learning, the next step is to build your first course. Easygenerator is designed so that anyone can get started, even without a background in instructional design.
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