Corporate Software Training: Is Web-Based Training as Effective as Instructor-Led Training?
http://www.ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/47/22133/01029957.pdf
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  peer-reviewed

Coppola, Nancy W. and Robert Myre
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
2002

Abstract:

Web-based training has been both acclaimed as a self-paced, consistent, stand-alone alternative to traditional instructor-led training and disparaged for its high development costs and dearth of qualified trainers. Critics especially question its effectiveness. This case study tests the effectiveness of a stand-alone web-based training program and compares the results to that of an identical instructor-led course. The course provides highly task-oriented instruction for a computer software package and was developed using a proven instructional design methodology. The data from this study show that web-based training is as effective as instructor-led training for stand-alone software application training in a corporation.