Why Video Platforms Such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy and Coursera Fall Short of True Training

Over the last few years, many businesses have bought into online learning platforms offering bite-sized video content as their source of employee training. Products like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera have surged in popularity and are often touted as revolutionary tools for professional development.

These platforms undoubtedly serve a purpose, but it’s important to recognise their limitations and make the distinction between them and true training.

What do I mean by ‘true training’? Well, the aim of training in the workplace is to help develop an individual’s skills, knowledge and behaviours to perform their role effectively. The goal is to enhance employees’ competencies, meet compliance requirements, boost productivity, and ensure smooth adoption of new technologies or processes.

Workplace is a key word there. Whilst we might like to talk about investing in staff – and that is a legitimate goal – that is invariably going to be in support of the organisation’s objectives. Few organisations have the luxury of providing learning simply as a ‘nice thing to do.’

While video platforms do well at delivering information in digestible, often interesting, chunks, they frequently fall short of what constitutes genuine learning and skill acquisition – ‘true training.’ The often-superficial, passive nature of the videos with no testing or assessment, means that it is hard to gauge what, if any, meaningful learning has taken place.

Learning departments should be laser-focused on delivering learning that meets organisational objectives and ensures employees are able to perform effectively, compliantly and in-line with business needs. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that providing access to 22,000 videos is an easy short-cut to meeting your learning objectives, but it’s no business strategy. It’s unlikely that you will sift through all these videos to decide which is best for your business, and you can be sure your employees won’t.  When the purchase of these platforms takes a huge chunk out of learning and development budgets, it’s likely that your money is better spent elsewhere. More specifically, I think you should aim for targeted learning that you know meets your precise, identifiable organisational goals.

Let’s delve into why video learning platforms should be viewed as repositories of information rather than comprehensive training solutions and how they stack up against traditional e-learning courses.

Video Learning Platforms: Information Without Application

Platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera are undeniably useful for providing quick access to a broad array of topics. They allow employees to explore subjects ranging from project management to programming in short, video-based lessons. However, the very structure of these platforms limits their ability to deliver true training.

Here’s why:

1. Passive Learning Experience: Most video learning platforms rely on one-way communication. The learner watches a video, often without opportunities to engage deeply with the content. While this can introduce a topic effectively, it doesn’t promote retention or mastery.

2. Lack of Interactivity: True training involves interaction—activities like quizzes, simulations, and exercises that require learners to apply knowledge in practical scenarios or case studies. Without these elements, learners may understand concepts superficially but struggle to implement them in real-world settings.

3. Limited Assessment: Most of these platforms offer little to no meaningful assessment of learning outcomes. The observer’s knowledge is not tested as they progress and there is unlikely to be any kind of review of performance. A certificate of completion doesn’t guarantee that the learner has internalised the material or can apply it effectively in their role.

4. No Structured Learning Pathways: While these platforms provide flexibility, they often lack structured, step-by-step learning paths that build skills progressively. Learners can jump between topics, which may result in fragmented understanding. There is no true direction to learning and nobody within your business will know what the learners have been doing to improve their knowledge, or indeed if they have been focusing on the desired aspects.

5. A Focus on Quantity Rather than Quality: The business model of these video platforms is to offer as much content as possible. This means that they accept submissions from any and all developers without any real regulation of the content, resulting in frequent duplication, errors and even contradiction. This can result in content that is potentially not fit for purpose being delivered to your employees without your knowledge. For example, from my own experience, there is an overwhelming number of videos on the topic of learning styles and aligning these to how people learn. This is a learning myth that has long been debunked but is still delivered on these platforms. I’m sure there are other examples that are outside my area of expertise.

The Strength of Traditional E-Learning Courses

In contrast, traditional e-learning courses provide a structured and well-rounded approach to learning. These courses are carefully designed to facilitate skill acquisition through a combination of instructional design principles, interactive elements, and assessments.

Here are some of the key advantages of traditional e-learning courses:

1. Structured Learning Paths: E-learning courses typically follow a logical progression, building on foundational knowledge before moving to advanced topics. This structure ensures learners achieve a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

2. Interactive Components: Modern e-learning courses include interactive elements such as simulations, case studies, and scenario-based exercises. These activities engage learners actively and help solidify their knowledge by encouraging real-world application.

3. Ongoing Assessments: Quizzes, tests, and assignments integrated throughout e-learning courses provide immediate feedback. These assessments ensure learners grasp key concepts before moving forward and help identify areas that need reinforcement.

4. Customisable for Organisations: Many traditional e-learning solutions allow organisations to tailor content to their specific needs, ensuring alignment with company goals and culture. This level of customisation is rarely achievable with video content that has no supporting learning content.

5. Professional Development: With due diligence, you can ensure the content developed by the e-learning provider is created to a professional standard and by experts in their field. Most providers will also allow you to review content in full before delivery to your audience.

The Role of Video Platforms: An employee benefit, not an L&D strategy

This isn’t to say that platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera have no place in the workplace. They can be useful to introduce topics or to provide quick refreshers. They can also provide a place for employees to explore areas of personal or professional interest at their own pace. Having a resource to call upon in these scenarios isn’t without its merits for employees.

This is why I feel that video platforms should be seen as an employee benefit, rather than a burden to the Learning and Development team’s budget. Relying solely on video platforms for employee training can result in surface-level understanding without the depth needed for real-world application. Learning professionals should have this thought uppermost in their mind.

Conclusion: True Training Requires Depth and Interaction

 For organisations committed to meaningful employee development, it’s essential to distinguish between repositories of information and comprehensive training content. Video learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera can be a valuable resource of information if employees have an immediate need or a quick question. However, they also have Google, YouTube and even AI tools for that, which is probably where they go first by choice anyway! So, when budgets are tight, why pay for a tool that is readily available elsewhere for free?

These video platforms fall short of providing the interactive, structured, and assessment-driven experiences that define true training. Investing in traditional e-learning courses offers a more robust and effective way to ensure employees not only understand new concepts but can also apply them in ways that drive real business outcomes. Yes, there are some benefits to these tools and by combining the strengths of both approaches, organisations can create a learning ecosystem that supports both exploration and mastery. However, if funding is limited, true training with key learning outcomes should win every time.