Both Synchronous and Asynchronous delivery methods are used for Rapid eLearning. Synchronous training is when students and teachers meet at a specific time and the teacher leads the training session. Asynchronous is when training material is made available on the web and students access it as needed. Synchronous eLearning is similar to traditional classroom training. Typically the students and instructor are on a conference call, log onto the same web page, or log onto an online white board facility. Power Point is the authoring tool of choice for Synchronous eLearning sessions. Most synchronous delivery systems include a shared white board for viewing Power Point presentations or for allow the teacher to let everyone else view their desktop. The teacher controls the slide or white board while the student listens to the lecture and views the white board or slide from their computer. Asynchronous training is student guided. Asynchronous eLearning is a course that resides on the internet, available to students when the student is free to be trained, 24 hours a day seven days a week. Power Point is a poor choice for asynchronous training since it does not provide the breadth and depth of information necessary for material to stand on its own.

Both Asynchronous and Synchronous eLearning approaches have their pros and cons. Synchronous eLearning needs an instructor. It should be used when there is a clear need for communication between instructor and student (instructor face time). Clearly there is a time/cost benefit of Synchronous eLearning over classroom training since companies can save the time and cost of having people travel to one location. Synchronous training is also very effective when the material is rapidly changing since the instructor can make changes on the fly.

Asynchronous eLearning is different in many ways from synchronous training. Asynchronous eLearning does not include a teacher. It needs to have content that is much more engaging and provide more depth of information since it must stand on its own. Asynchronous content can work well on a synchronous session but synchronous content does not work well in an Asynchronous context since it usually needs the instructor to bring the training to life. There are many benefits for creating Asynchronous eLearning. Asynchronous eLearning is training that resides on the web (internet or intranet) and doesn't need an instructor to lead the training. Shift work employees, employees that travel, employees located in a different time zone or different countries, and employees with schedules they don't control (e.g. emergency workers and call centers) find it difficult to be away from their desk at a given time to take a training course. Many hospitals are moving to Asynchronous eLearning. Hospitals need to constantly train employees on the hospital's procedures while employees need to maintain certification. It is difficult to pull an ER nurse out for training since it is unpredictable when the ER will be busy. Asynchronous training lets the nurse plan their training schedule around the ebb and flow of traffic in their department. Call centers also have unpredictable schedules. Employees in a call center need to be trained on products and procedures. It is difficult in a call center environment to plan training for slack times. An asynchronous course lets the employee control when they take training. Another group that benefits from the flexibility of Asynchronous training are sales people. Sales people can be located anywhere in the world, making it difficult for them to take training at a pre-described time. Sales people also tend to need just-in-time training. A sales person may use an Asynchronous eLearning course before a sales call. Many times a sales person needs to present a product or feature they are not currently familiar with. Asynchronous training provides them with an easy way to bone up on an unfamiliar topic.