CBT (Computer-Based Training)

Computer-Based Training (CBT) is a broad term for any training delivered through a computer rather than by a live instructor, historically distributed on physical media such as CD-ROMs and installed locally, and today used loosely for self-paced digital training in general. CBT emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as the first mainstream alternative to classroom training, offering standardized content, self-paced progress, and elimination of travel and instructor costs. The term is largely a predecessor of modern e-learning vocabulary: when the internet made locally installed training obsolete, Web-Based Training (WBT) became the more precise term, and today most people simply say e-learning or online training. CBT still appears in specific contexts — regulated industries like aviation (where the term originated with the AICC standards committee), defense, and healthcare often retain it in documentation and compliance requirements, and some offline simulation-based training is still genuinely computer-based rather than web-based. In practice, understanding CBT matters mainly for navigating legacy terminology in RFPs, compliance frameworks, and older course libraries that may need conversion to modern standards such as SCORM or xAPI for delivery through a current LMS.