E-learning and LMS blog articles

In an exciting move to thrust Scotland into the embracing arms of a digital future, the Scottish government has published a digital strategy entitled:

A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world

The strategy aims to ensure “Scotland’s future will be forged in a digital world” and emphasises inclusivity, with the aim that “everyone in Scotland has the skills, connectivity and devices required to fully participate in our digital nation.”

E-learning is central to this idea of a digitally skilled workforce and this digital Scotland strategy presents the perfect opportunity to implement an effective e-learning strategy at your organisation.

What is the digital Scotland strategy?

Put simply, the digital Scotland strategy is the Scottish government’s commitment to building a digital Scotland by supporting organisations and individuals.

The three key areas of focus within the 111-page strategy document are:

• People: Educating people to develop their digital skills
  
• Digital economy: Bringing all businesses into the digital sphere
  
• Digital government: Ensuring local and national government reaches digital maturity
  

It’s clear then that the Scottish government has plans for digital growth to be encouraged across the board.

The document lays out the following plans in order to achieve this goal:

• Design and implement technology
• Use data to deliver better outcomes
  
• Create a collaborative culture of digital thinking

Digitisation is an exciting process for many and allows for growth and, in particular, increases in efficiency that simply can’t be matched.

Whether your organisation already has a wide-reaching digital strategy in place or you’re taking your first steps into the digital world, this is the perfect time to be thinking about how best to align yourself with the government’s digital Scotland strategy.

How to make use of the digital strategy

So what does the Scottish government's emphasis on the digital improvement of the nation mean for your organisation?

Well, it’s certainly a good time to start looking at your own digital strategy.

The digital Scotland strategy is a commitment to supporting businesses and individuals, which means you can get help from the government when implementing your own digital processes.

Here are some of the ways the Scottish government wants to help:

• Technology loans: The Digital Development Loan programme provides interest-free loans to help businesses reach digital maturity
• Digital support for SMEs: The DigitalBoost programme offers training, consultancy and support in digital practices and technologies, some of which are free
• Working from home: The digital Scotland strategy commits to working with businesses, especially in isolated areas, to make Scotland a leading country for remote working
• Digital skills: The government aims to increase the number of Scottish people trained in advanced digital skills to 10,000 per year
  

The range of support options laid out in the digital Scotland strategy document mean that organisations have the perfect opportunity to look at their long-term digital ambitions.

Why implement an e-learning strategy?

In the modern world of work it's essential that teams can be trained effectively online, no matter where they are based. The move towards e-learning was of course amplified by the Covid pandemic.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) such as Totara Learn and Moodle provide the perfect platforms to provide onboarding, CPD, compliance training or any other forms of training and learning to your staff, all online. As the training is all centralised and online, measuring the success of both the training materials and your individual and teams of learners is easy too.

For those sceptical about online training, an LMS can actually provide more engaging training sessions than in-person alternatives thanks to video-conferencing and gamification options such as quizzes.

Using the digital Scotland strategy to help

Introducing e-learning at your organisation would not only align you with the digital Scotland strategy, but also allow you to make use of the strategy to help get started.

The Digital Development Loan programme would be applicable for the implementation of an LMS and as they are such hugely cost-effective systems when compared to in-person training, the costs would be justified easily.

E-learning allows you to eliminate the need for many in-person training sessions, removing the associated costs of trainers, equipment and travel for off-site training. It also allows you to train remote workers without having to bring them all together in one place at the same time.

With this in mind, the implementation of an LMS would position your organisation well within the framework of the digital Scotland strategy, but you’d also enjoy the real benefits of e-learning.