Evolution of Learning Technologies
From the paper-based to the digital age, much has changed in our work lives. In recent years, this change has also affected the learning and development function in organizations all around the globe.
Building a company culture of continuous learning has never been more crucial for cost savings, employee resilience and organizational growth. One such example is Marriot International which manages to fill more than 55% of its leadership vacancies within the Australian market with internal candidates, owing to the various L&D initiatives they offer.
So, how has learning technology evolved over these past few years? What impact does it have on employers? And how can you keep up with these changing trends?
Let’s find out!
How has Learning Technology evolved?
Many different facets have been added to organizations' learning and development initiatives. Let’s take a look at each of them.
1. Mobile Learning
Employees want to learn at their own pace and convenience. A reason why digital learning in the form of mobile learning has become so popular. It provides an ease with which learners can integrate learning into their daily routines. For example, they can listen to tutorials while commuting to the office.
You can also activate collaborative learning with this medium as users can easily engage with peers to share their learning experiences.
2. Adaptive Learning
Adaptive learning makes use of artificial intelligence and algorithms to deliver learning experiences that are tailored to the individual’s needs and requirements. It also makes sure that the training materials are delivered to the right person at the right time.
This helps in motivating the individual to advance in their professional lives instead of overwhelming them with too much information.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Systems like BLEND LXP make use of artificial intelligence to accumulate data that helps make better L&D decisions and provide better interactive experiences. Employees massively benefit from AI based learning as it supports them in defining their learning objectives and shows personalized learning recommendations based on their learning style and preferences.
4. Gamification & Personalization
Online tutorials and ebooks are great but we learn the best through simulations and gamification. Adding a touch of it to your training and development plans can encourage employees to learn continuously and implement the same in their work lives.
You can even personalize the learning program depending on the individual’s strengths, skills, and capabilities.
5. Microlearning
Consider two scenarios.
Scenario A: You provide a guidebook of 50 pages on compliance training for your employees.
Scenario B: You break down the entire module into essential parts. All these parts are broken down in such a manner that completing them individually takes short amounts of time.
Which do you think would work the best? Scenario B, right? That’s what microlearning is about. It makes learning easily consumable.
6. Evolution of the Learning Management System
SAP SuccessFactors provides elearning LMS for organizations that helps build a culture of continuous learning with modern experiences. It boosts learner engagement with personalized content, develops employees at all stages, improves regulatory adherence, and lowers legal risk by automating compliance training.
7. On-demand Learning
On-demand learning is a strategy that aims to provide learners access to real-time knowledge-based content whenever and wherever they need it. The employee only needs to have the internet to access this kind of learning.
This helps solve the problem that employees generally face of forgetting the information they learn and increases employee engagement in L&D programs.
8. SAP Opportunity Marketplace
SAP SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace aims to provide personalized opportunities for employee development and growth. This accelerates upskilling and reskilling, improves engagement, and boosts internal mobility.
They provide a capability-based framework that moves beyond competencies and skills, individualized recommendations, and a team-centered approach to break down barriers and enable a networking culture. As HR leaders, you can also provide proactive guidance based on employees’ skills, experiences, and priorities of the organization.
9. Learning Pathways
SAP provides learning journeys that provide easy-to-navigate learning content. For any topic or skill set, these learning pathways compile the best knowledge and arrange it in a systematic manner for the user.
As a result, the employee can easily get access to a well-curated learning plan and accordingly plan their individual learning schedule.
How to be future-ready for L&D?
With fast-changing technology and new advancements coming in every field, we can be sure that the next 5 years for L&D are going to be filled with many new changes.
To be ready for these changes, you can either keep looking out for new technologies or have an HR partner like SAP SuccessFactors that will bring around all the latest features and systems for your organization.
To know more about how you can implement SAP Learning technologies for your L&D initiatives, get in touch with TalenTeam today.