The use of e-learning in the process of training of employees in small and medium enterprises

Abstract

This article describes the sector of small and medium enterprises. The definitions thereof are presented based on the provisions of the tax law. This article presents the barriers that make the development of the SMEs sector more difficult as well as one of the methods of removing them, i.e. trainings of employees, with special attention devoted to e-learning. Then, e-learning was defined with the division into academic e-learning and corporate e-learning (institutional, non-institutional). The article presents the most important premises and conditions for the development of e-learning, in particular the corporate one, the availability of IT tools, poor computer literacy and knowledge of training software, time and significant costs of preparation of training materials as well as the employees’ and management’s level of interest in trainings. Attention was drawn to the increasing importance of e-learning, especially spontaneous learning. Next, the article presents the results of empirical research concerning the use of e-learning in the SMEs sector. Furthermore, the article describes the reasons for the low use of e-learning trainings within this sector.