E-learning is the hottest trend currently adopted in the education and business sector. E-learning means learning over the Internet/intranet and this can be done at student pace or in real time (LiNE Zine, 2001). Regardless of flexibility and self-paced learning, e-learning has been a “stab in the back” for many organizations as they have spent millions of dollars on technology infrastructure to implement online learning, but most corporate learners have joined the courses and did so. don't stay to complete it. At Motorola University, 69% of students had dropped out (The New Corporate University Review, 2003). The attrition rate (the number of students enrolled in the course declines) has been alarming for many companies including Toyota, GE Capital, New York Online University (NYUonline), Corporate University Xchange Inc and others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay According to Workforce Management (2003), many online students neglect courses by complaining of not having enough time as some courses may only be viewed on the company intranet and distraction from other colleagues has made it impossible to complete the course during hours of work. The importance of completing the course was not clearly emphasized by the management and immediate supervisor, and the course instructor did not monitor student performance, resulting in student demotivation. The courses were poorly designed and some aspects of the modules were not relevant to the employees' work. The course could not be customized to students' preferences, for example they were not given the choice whether to provide the information, for example in audio or text. E-learning technology is new to most employees, and a shocking number of them aren't familiar with it. know how to use the program since the guidelines were short and insufficient especially for the computer illiterate. The students could not depend on their instructors as some were inexperienced, thus they were not an ideal source of knowledge for the students. Additionally, many corporate students felt isolated during the learning process. Especially those who took the asynchronous course left quite distant and boredom began to envelop them, while in the synchronous courses the completion rate of the employees was much better. At Sun Microsystems and NYU, online completion rates increased to 75% with synchronous courses, however, the remaining students felt the level of participation, interaction, and collaboration was low. To further improve the results of Workforce Management (2003), both The Learning Guild (2003) and the University of Glasgow (2003) had used Vincent Tinto's retention model to explain that students withdraw from courses due to academic or social integration. Academic integration occurs when they decide whether the subject is of interest to them, whether it is fun, provides career development and whether they are currently satisfied with their results. Social integration refers to the peers with whom students discuss, whether they feel comfortable around them, and their relationship with instructors. Having positive academic and social integration would result in a strong likelihood of completing the course. (Refer to Appendix 15, page 3 for diagram.) To overcome the alarming student dropout rate, it is essential to analyze the notion of how adults learn. By understanding the concepts of various adult learning theories, companies will have the opportunity todesign a course that provides students with a more meaningful learning experience. Malcohm Knowel's approach was known as the theory of andragogy, defined as "the art and science of helping adults learn" (Nova Southeastern University, 2003). Knowels explains that adults will want to know why they are learning something and how it would be applied to their work and the effect of learning a particular course. Adults are eager to learn and will therefore want to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned immediately, otherwise they tend to procrastinate online learning. Adult educational learning should include interaction and case study rather than memorization. Finally, adults are highly motivated by intrinsic factors such as job satisfaction, self-esteem, and the quality of the work environment over extrinsic factors such as higher pay and promotions. Knowels' theory is used for the traditional classroom, but it is also applicable to e-learning and organizations must keep in mind that the learning style of an adult does not change even if the means of transmitting knowledge change (Learning Circuits, 2003). Other adult learning theories are similar to that of Knowels, such as Cross's Characteristics of Adult Learners (CAL) model which explains that regardless of personal characteristics (age, life stages, developmental stages) and situational characteristics (full-time learning /part-time and voluntary learning/involuntary learning) students still need flexibility, control and feedback in their learning process. As imperative as these theories are, there is no discussion of the interaction or communication aspect which is one of the fundamental needs of online learning (Nova Southeastern University, 2003). Beyond that, companies will need to determine the motivating factor that would push students to complete the courses. Some students are active and would continue to learn continuously. They know how to plan and organize their learning structure and are motivated mainly by intrinsic factors. As for passive learners, they need to be "fed" because they lack personal motivation, so they need to be rewarded by extrinsic factors in order to continue the course. To determine the type of learners, companies can provide questionnaires; therefore they can act accordingly to motivate different types of students (Vuepoint, 2002). To keep online students continuously learning, companies should motivate them before starting the course, during the course and after the course. When preparing the course or modules, companies should know who the students are and what their objectives are by conducting a needs analysis. It is important that students see that what they study is relevant to their assignment. Companies will need to determine whether the course learned will actually achieve the students' goals (Vuepoint, 2002). A culture for online learning should be developed in the company. Support from management and colleagues is needed in designing the course. Management can provide a short presentation on the importance of online learning or a course orientation so that potential students have a willingness to participate in online learning (Learning Circuits, 2003). For example, at NYUonline, the vice president for training had a pep talk with the students informing them of the importance of the course and the positive outcome they would get from the organization (Workforce Management, 2003). Companies must ensure that there are no distractions from other staff and that the immediate supervisor istrained to accept new skills and abilities of employees (Vuepoint, 2002). Push strategies should be used to encourage course completion. This includes student tracking, for example instructors can use Archipelago software to see when students have logged in and out and how long it took them to complete the assignment. At GE Capital, the supervisor tracks students' performance and informs them if they are falling behind. Dashboards are published to show student performance and outcomes. Pull strategies can also be used by giving inspiration to the student to complete the course. This can be done by using managers as role models, for example senior management would also take the course. Stories of students completing courses should be posted so prospective students know they too can be successful (Workforce Management, 2003). Give the student 20 minutes of detailed learning. According to the Centrax Corporation of Chicago, this has proven effective for employees. Entertain students with animations, photos and videos, and eye-catching backgrounds, however, don't create distractions that could cause the student to wander off course. Provide interaction so that the student is attentive, for example using rollovers and drag and drop. Standardize all pages and text, provide tutorials and help features to make it easy to use. Enable the customization feature so that information can be presented in text or audio format, or they can change colors or some images according to their preferences (Learning Circuits, 2003). Interaction needs to be improved in online learning. In traditional classrooms the completion rate is close to 100% because students are able to communicate freely when they see each other, trust is built as they can determine other students' non-verbal gestures. Instructors can tell if students understand the topic by their expressions and emotions. But in online learning, student support is essential. You can form an interest group by discussing problems and issues via live chat rooms or video conferences. Management could provide support by creating alumni for online students so that those who have completed the course but still face problems can interact with other students. (LiNE Zine, 2001). According to Fastrak Consulting Ltd (2003), a "buddy system" should be incorporated into e-learning so that each student works in pairs, thus building trust and loyalty. The pressure of having a partner would force the student to complete the course. However, this can create problems as each student has different learning approaches and may be overly dependent on their partner, dampening their efforts to work alone, especially when skills need to be transferred to the organisation. Provide immediate feedback to the student. Chat sessions, virtual classes, email are the ways instructors can answer questions. Passwords can be enabled to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the discussion (ASTD, 2002). Learning should be seen as a continuous process. Organizations need to continually update their courses, and as far as the student is concerned, learning should not stop once the course is completed, but discussions should be held to learn new skills and knowledge. Instructors must continually assist students and show support. At Motorola University, the emphasis on interaction had caused an increase in completion rates. When learning with.