The study, which questioned 103 senior L&D managers, HR managers, and business education staff across Europe, showed that blended learning (fifty percent) was the most important channel for delivering training content today. This was closely followed by classroom-based learning (44 percent), mobile learning (38 percent), and social learning (12 percent).

However the way staff are trained is expected to change by 2014. The data showed that 71 percent of respondents stated that -œblended learning- - a mix of eLearning, mobile learning, and virtual learning - will be the primary method of delivering training (an overall increase of 21 percent from what is delivered now). Meanwhile, classroom training will dramatically fall to only seventeen percent (from 44 percent). The data also highlights that one out of five organizations expects that -œsocial and informal learning- will play a greater role in staff development, too.

Key findings of the European survey include

• Participants said that English and Chinese were viewed as the two most important languages to learn (74 percent), and this was followed by German (26 percent), French (15 percent), and Spanish (9 percent).
• Improved language skills are getting more mindshare within businesses, as 79 percent of those interviewed are actively supporting staff in language learning.
• Classroom-based teaching will dramatically fall in the next three years, but personal tutors were still cited as being an important aid in supporting effective learning (82 percent), which implies tutor support over the internet is also likely to grow.
• Participants cited three main barriers to the introduction of eLearning: lack of staff skills to manage their own learning (29 percent); technology does not work (29 percent); and line-manager reluctance (24 percent).

A whitepaper entitled "Online Communication Skills Training for a Diverse Global Workforce" provides further information on the survey.