5 digital learning trends from Learning Technologies 2022
Digital learning has come a long way since ‘eLearning’ was coined, in 1999 by educational technology expert Elliott Masie.
As we shift to a post-pandemic world, there is an increasing lens on the world of digital learning and how it will continue to play a crucial role in workplace learning and development in 2022 and beyond.
To explore this further, The Access Group attended this year’s Learning Technologies event - Europe's leading showcase of organisational learning and professional development. With over 9,000 attendees from 50 different countries and over 200 seminars, it’s fair to say it’s a pretty big deal on the learning and development (L&D) calendar.
Don’t worry if you missed it, this quick rundown will bring you up to speed with the biggest trends in the digital learning and development space right now, and how your business can stay ahead of the competition.
Digital learning trends 2022
1. Hybrid learning is here to stay
As we look to the future of eLearning, we need to consider the balance of digital technologies with traditional in-person training. Digital learning solutions that were used as a stopgap 18 months ago must now be balanced with real life interactions to meet the long-term needs of hybrid working.
Fosway Group’s David Wilson and David Perring presented findings from their recent survey. They revealed that:
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- just under half (48%) of businesses have significantly changed their approach to L&D to support a hybrid workforce
- those that haven’t yet integrated the right eLearning tools and technology – at least in key areas such as compliance and regulatory training – have already fallen behind the competition
- digital learning experiences are being fine-tuned even further to target individual needs and avoid learning fatigue
2. Make digital learning personal
It used to be that staff learning and development was a one-size-fits-all solution which failed to consider individual differences or preferences. The truth is that one size fits nobody!
Every learning journey should be tailored to individual objectives and ambitions. A key digital learning trend is that of personalised learning and development pathways.
The development of personalised learning pathways and tracking individual progress is now becoming as important as the mass actions that eLearning allows.
Pushing out training to your whole workforce, such as compliance or health and safety training, and monitoring completion is still vital. But there is now the additional overlay of creating opportunities for learning and development that are meaningful for each individual.
Modern and effective Learning Management Systems now take skills and personal development into account along with compliance training.
This is crucial to:
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- inspire stronger engagement with training plans
- ensure people feel their employer is investing in them directly
In turn, this can lead to:
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- greater loyalty
- better retention
- a more rewarding employee experience
Personalisation of learning is being considered for all stages of employment and there are options suitable to varied industries.
For example, in the not-for-profit and education sectors, the Access Group’s Career Development technology includes CV 360 and the revolutionary Interview 360. These are both career enhancing tools powered by AI to offer highly personalised support and feedback.
3. Learning experiences start from day one
The onboarding and induction stage is L&D’s first chance to shine in the eyes of their new joiners. Following the pandemic, businesses have also sharpened their focus on bringing people up to speed as efficiently as possible, especially from remote locations.
People Management’s Ron Stock advised employers to identify the priority knowledge and skills that must be developed in the first 90 days and invest in the right tools to enable automation of the process. New starters now expect a consumer-grade experience that makes onboarding feel human-centred and lays out a clearly defined learning pathway for their role.
Take a look at The Access Group’s online career development solution as an example of a system designed to enable an organisation’s staff to take ownership of their career development, from day one. It allows for a flexible approach, available anytime, anywhere and on any device.
4. The shift from upskilling to ‘rightskilling’
NilesNolen co-founder, Amanda Nolen talked through her experience advising Fortune Global 500 companies and the challenge of ‘rightskilling’ a diverse workforce.
The idea behind this trend in digital learning is that organisations need to make ‘precision learning’ a priority, to:
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- greatly reduce the time needed to develop employee skill sets
- avoid teaching people things they already know
A good starting point is for your Talent and L&D teams to discuss role requirements and pinpoint specific skill gaps throughout the organisation. From there, rightskilling is about helping people find the content they need to develop themselves. There has to be a balance between the skills that would benefit the business and the skills employees want to develop for themselves.
5. It’s time to get a grip on learning analytics
Analytics to show how workforces are engaging with their learning and development is firmly on the radar of digital learning trends. Providing greater insight is going to be essential in the future of eLearning.
Modern HR departments have a wealth of proprietary data at their disposal, though not every learning management system (LMS) makes it simple to turn this raw information into actionable insights.
With the right digital learning solution in place, learning analytics can help you better understand employee behaviours and find valuable answers to questions such as:
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- what type of content do employees view more and for how long?
- what are the patterns and trends across teams and the wider business?
- how does your organisation measure learning efficacy?
- how does your learning data connect with other metrics and functions?
Our voice at Learning Tech 2022
Sarah Mian, Access Group's Head of Learning Content gave a speech at Learning Tech 2022.
You can find out what Sarah, and Christian Foerg, General Manager of its Access Talent Suite, had to say here: Sarah Mian and Christian Foerg talk about Learning Tech 2022.
As a thought-leader in the field of Learning Content, Sarah has also written a blog about combatting the Great Resignation.
Looking to achieve more with digital learning across your business?
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