You’re an inveterate optimizer.
As an L&D leader, you can’t help it. Running learning and development (L&D) in an organization is like running a non-stop evolving experiment that can always benefit from new approaches or tweaks. The goal?
To continuously make your team’s training more accessible, engaging, and effective.
We want to help. We’ve isolated six online training trends in educational technology (edtech) whose impact on learning, like a snowball rolling down a hill, continues to grow.
None of these six trends will surprise you. But if you’ve focused more attention on other approaches in training design, then our list may serve as a valuable reminder of untapped opportunities for optimizing your organization’s online training.
1. Blended learning is here to stay
In a recent survey, 43% of Canadian CEOs said they expect to have most employees working remotely at least two days per week.
Given this widespread adoption of a hybrid work model, we can safely say blended training will be with us for the foreseeable future. This is good news.
A well-designed blended learning program combines the advantages of training that is both asynchronous (e-learning) and synchronous (in-person or online real-time instruction).
Thus, your organization and learners keep all the convenience and cost-savings of asynchronous learning while benefiting from the instantaneous feedback and support of synchronous in-person training.
While designing your blended learning program, remember that more and more employees are accessing their training on mobile devices. As a result, online training is evolving from a mobile-ready format (an adaptation of the desktop experience) to a mobile-first presentation.
Since your employees will access their training anytime, anywhere, your learning management system (LMS) needs to present this mobile content effectively, no matter what medium it comes in (e.g., audio, video, PowerPoint, SCORM, and so on).
2. Video interactivity is a must-have
Video has always been a popular tool for presentations, interviews, how-to training, and other forms of one-way audio-video instruction. (YouTube, the world’s second most popular search engine, has more than two billion logged-in monthly users.)
As useful as traditional video is, this medium offers a passive learning experience. Since interactivity is one of the drivers of learner engagement, the relatively recent rise of easy-access video conferencing has given L&D professionals a powerful new tool for enhancing engagement.
The two-way interactions of this video platform enable instructors to interact with the participants to give instant feedback, answers, and support.
Thoughtfully designed training will take advantage of this instant live interaction and complement it with other interactivity tools, such as discussion forums, chats, and surveys.
Of course, with the right LMS, you can easily set up the access all these capabilities.
3. Enhance engagement in real time via analytics
Once upon a time, every learner was served generic content, no matter what their preferred way of learning was: some may have favored audio content; others preferred visual support, while a number learnt best when using their hands.
This generic content made positive learning outcomes more difficult to come by. L&D professionals who sought to reduce or eliminate ineffective learning content had to work hard using manual methods (e.g., paper questionnaires, in-person interviews) to find out what worked for their trainees.
Fortunately, the advent of modern LMS analytics and reporting tools along with survey capabilities enables your team to get easy real-time access to both qualitative and quantitative feedback on your training.
The analytics tool can extract hidden patterns and correlations in the behavior of learners by tracking test results, course completion rates, and so on. The reporting tool enables the easy export of data for analysis, while the survey tool allows efficient polling of learner feedback.
With the gathered real-time insights of these tools, you can modify the training content as appropriate to create a more engaging learning journey and improve learner performance. Instructors can also choose to intervene in real time with the learner to provide the attention needed.
4. Micro-learning rises in prominence
Employees spend close to 42 minutes a week on learning and development in a 50-week year.
Given this time constraint, micro-learning can help employees make the most of this training window by being customized to their needs, available at a click, and very focused on its learning objective.
In micro-learning, a brief learning module (generally, two to seven minutes) focuses on teaching a concept to help the learner retain or refresh their training. Any form of media may be used to transfer this knowledge.
For employees on the go or in the flow of work, micro-learning modules can be completed to a high degree and help counteract the “forgetting curve” that follows any training that is not appropriately reinforced.
With the right LMS, you’ll enable learners to launch modules as often as they like, and be able to consult the analytics to understand how many times a specific module was launched.
5. In gamification, it’s game on
Gaming occupies an increasing amount of real estate in our popular culture. In 2020, for example, YouTube Gaming hit its biggest year ever, with 100 billion watch-time hours.
So it’s not surprising that for years the instructional design of online training has taken advantage of interest in gaming to increase the effectiveness of learning.
Gamified learning boosts engagement, motivation, and learning transfer by adding game-like elements, such as goal-setting, progress-tracking, and virtual rewards (e.g., custom badges and certifications). It’s important to remember, though, that while competition is an element of gamification, it isn’t the goal. Learning is the goal, and gamification is a means to that end.
6. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) add new dimensions to learning
The buzz and the dollars behind AR and VR keep growing. One analysis of the e-learning virtual market reports that spending totalled USD 60 million in 2018 and is forecasted to reach USD 1.478 billion in 2027, a CAGR of nearly 43% between 2019 and 2027.
The major advantage of AR and VR in e-learning is the door it opens to having the learner immersed in, and interacting with, the training content.
Thus, a technician learning about a new device can be in the middle of a 3D rendition of its inner parts and interact with them instead of merely listening to an explanation and seeing a 2D image of them.
As L&D professionals know, the experiencing of content, in contrast to having it explained, offers exciting possibilities for boosting engagement and retention rates.
As with all effective training, AR and VR content must be thoughtfully developed and executed. For guidance on this content development, consult with your LMS partner or an eLearning company that specializes in development of AR/VR training such as pardeux.
To benefit from any or all of these trends in your organization, make sure that your LMS has the functionality required to fulfill your vision. If you have any questions about how an LMS can help, do connect with us.
