Over the past several years, many learning trends have emerged that continue to impact the market for professional development and lifelong learning. Advances in learning technologies and methodologies provide new opportunities for L&D to design and deliver meaningful learning experiences that align with business objectives. As companies evolve to become digital businesses, they expect their learning organizations to also be more digital.
In 2019, the stage is set for transformative moves as 2018’s digital learning developments continue to mature and converge. Learning trends such as integrating learning into work along with innovative and immersive technologies allow for endless possibilities to improve the learning experience.
During a recent webinar with TrainingIndustry, I discussed a few of the questions professionals are asking and offered insights on the learning technology trends that can help them achieve their business goals:
- How do I measure the impact of learning?
- How can I improve the learner experience?
- What new developments are ahead in personalized learning?
- What are some practical uses for chatbots, augmented and virtual realities, and robotic process automation (RPA)?
- How can we develop a process for innovation and ensure viability?
If you missed the webinar, a recording is now available for you to watch online. I also know that it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends and insights from industry experts. I’d like to invite you to join our upcoming webinar series that takes a deeper dive into the trends above.
After the presentation, several great questions came up from the audience and I wanted to share them with you. Below are those questions and my best answers. Please feel free to add your experience or thoughts on these questions in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
Q: Can you elaborate on more RPA examples? Any easier or cost-effective wins?
A: I continue to believe that the most easy, cost effective RPA solution for learning and development is LMS administration. In large companies, thousands of LMS transactions occur each month so automating this process can reduce both cost and errors. At GP Strategies, we use RPA for some of our financial transactions in our ERP system. I think organizations will continue to see widespread adoption of RPA in a number of areas that are highly transactional and repeatable.
Q: What was the tool used to create the course that allowed learner personalization to occur?
A: We created that personalized learning course using HTML5.
Q: You shared that there are more high-tech options. Can you elaborate on what they are?
A: The high-tech option for personalization is adaptive learning. Adaptive learning uses a software tool that modifies the learning experience as the learner is going through the course. It uses a number of algorithms including how much time you spend on a screen, how you answer questions, and other variables to create a real-time personalized experience. The drawback to this is it requires a cloud based software that is typically licensed on a per-user-basis and that can drive up your delivery costs for each course.
Q: Please share some examples of messaging platforms.
A: You can find the top chatbots for 2019 at the link below:
https://www.consumersadvocate.org/chatbots/a/best-chatbots?msclkid=17dbc466e24118ca9881987c8a26b233&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=zr%20Chatbots&utm_term=best%20chatbot&utm_content=Best%20Chatbot
Q: Are any chatbots 508 compliant?
A: Since chatbots send messages via a phone’s text feature and most phones today have a number of features that allow accessibility to individuals with disabilities then I would assume that they would meet the 508 requirements.
Q: When do you know your organization is ready for a chatbot?
A: If your organization is committed to being a digital organization then your company is ready for chatbots. Today chatbots are becoming very ubiquitous. In fact, I just received an automated text today from my dentist confirming the appointment and asking me if I had any questions about my upcoming visit. We could do the same thing confirming a learner’s attendance at a face-to-face event.
Q: How do you analyze leading indicators for enterprise training or soft skills training versus something that has concrete data?
A: The process of developing the Measurement Map is the same. Yes, it is a bit tougher. You really have to push people to articulate “what would be different around here if …” in order to get at the data.
- What do you expect people to do differently?
- What would it look like?
- How would you know?
There is also a wonderful book by Douglas Hubbard: How to Measure Anything
Q: Can you please share any tools to help come up with solid learner journey?
A: Learning journeys can be created with a wide variety of tools including SharePoint, interactive pdf, and most e-learning development tools are capable of the task.
Q: Where do you see scenario-based learning in the future?
A: Scenario-based learning will continue to gain traction as an important part of any learning event. I firmly believe that when learners are presented scenario-based learning they retain more and are able to put the learning into use much faster.
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