Posted by The ink on the learning canvas has changed. Traditional methods including the instructional approach, a force-fed and compulsory method of imparting training has undergone a metamorphosis. A paradigm shift is happening in the sphere of learning. With the widening skill gap, which is a real cause of concern for small, medium,or big organizations, the focus is on constant tightening of the nuts and bolts of learning or tweaking it to unlock the potential of talent so that the knowledge transfer is relevant to the workforce and workplace. The ultimate goal is to make learning more engaged, participative,and collaborative and an immersive experience that keeps the focus on skill development and performance management. This is an age where learning by choice is in. There is a growing appetite among learners for consuming learning that seeks to leverage technology so that it can be ‘reinforced’ with a deeper understanding of the subjects. Acquisition of knowledge is one thing, but putting it into effective use is another. A plunge into immersive and experiential learning that will polish and shape the growth of learners and enterprises, is the need of the hour.
From a closed, static, classroom environment, the framework of learning has evolved and become dynamic. Today, it is open, mobile, and powered by technologies that focus on collective intelligence. Therefore, the emphasis is naturally on the ‘anywhere, anytime’ aspect of modern learning that caters to a learner’s convenience.
Experts debate over social learning, formal learning, structured approach and the like intending to put together a learning architecture that is complete, comprehensive, and holistic. But, fast-paced changes are happening globally, be it the explosion of information (big data world) or use of advanced technologies (augmented reality, virtual reality) or the expanding list of multi-purpose gadgets (Google Cardboard, Oculus). There are organizations that have already a full-fledged learning management system (LMS) in place. Some still belong to the bygone era when work happened by application, experimentation, and requirements. Organizations have invested resources – people, money, time, and technology with results and experiences shaping up their learning architecture. Similarly, there are still many who may not have completely embraced technology. The struggle is on. What is the level of hunger among learners and organizations? Is the learning table big enough? What is the preferred mode of consumption? Is it buffet or fine dine or àla carte? In the context of learning, some key questions arise:
- Can learning be made scalable?
- Can technology be used to make learning adaptive and adoptive?
- Can learning have interesting elements (like fun, games, online, offline, virtual, or real)?
- Can consumption of learning content be made effective?
- Can learning be measured?
- Can actionable analytics emerge out of tools, technologies, and methods used for learning?
- Can learning be people-centric?
- Can learning be device-agnostic?
- Can people drive learning?
- Can learning behavior be tracked?
- Can learning co-exist with old training methodologies?
- Can learning keep diverse workforce engaged?
- How easy is it to learn?
- How accessible is learning?
- Is learning primitive, modern, cool, or trendy?
- Can learning be termed social or is it right to say social media learning?
- Can learning be meaningful? Can it transcend organizational and geographical silos?
- Can learning accelerate culture change?
- Can learning get conversational? Can it evolve?
- Can learning be educative, exciting, and non-preachy?
- Can formal, informal, blended learning be part of a development framework?
- Can experience be central to learning?
Watch out for the next and concluding post on the ‘shopping’ experience that learning is evolving into!