If you’ve turned away a training manager looking for more e-learning dollars, you’re not the only CIO to do so this year. The tight IT budgets that reined in big projects also limited spending on Web-based learning management systems, according to a report published in October.

That doesn’t mean there’s less going on, though. In fact, what’s most notable in the report?titled "The Growth of E-Learning in 2002," from e-learning researchers at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Brandon-hall.com?is that new government regulations and business process changes mean more organizations, from financial services to pharmaceutical companies, are turning to e-learning. They’re just using what they already have in place, says lead researcher Brandon Hall. For example, the federal government, with the biggest information technology budget, has consolidated its e-learning programs at www.golearn.gov.

"Another way training departments are increasing their use of e-learning without spending a lot of money is by creating their own simple Web-based courses," the report notes. All of this sounds like a healthy exercise in ROI and dollar-stretching, and Hall says you can expect more in 2003.