Archive for category: Learning Strategy

So in our last post we started our journey through learning technology with learning management systems so let’s turn our attention to content, including mobile, wearables, virtual environments and virtual reality (VR). Content  The definition of what e-learning content is a fluid and varied one, but often interpreted by our previous experience of point and click content.  Today, improved authoring tools, design quality, interactions, games engines, responsive design and user generated content all play their part.  Authoring tools will continue to improve and provide better experiences across devices, novice user focused tools (such as iMovie for video, learn.ist for online portfolio creation, adobe voice for short animations, Microsoft Snip for quick walkthroughs and Piktochart for infographic creation to name a few) will continue to push the quality of user generated content forward.  It is raising the bar of what is expected and what will engage users. More and more, content is drawing on the skills of talented animators, video and media production houses and graphic designs to make an emotional connection with learners and make the link to performance outcomes more immediate and memorable.  Relevance, impact, shareability and reuse are important factors here and understanding when to invest and when to create for disposability as things change is important.  Again, if the learning needs is routed in performance, the choices you need to make here become much more apparent and grounded.  In our learning design methodology, there has always been a blend before blended learning was part of the mainstream vernacular because there is never a one size fits all.  The starting point of each organisation is different, it terms of its base level of knowledge, technical infrastructure, existing content, capability to create or curate more content and on.  Therefore, in a performance led approach,  awareness of existing and emerging mediums, a curiosity for new approaches an tools and creative spirit will help ensure your content is fit for the need.  What is arguably the most important factor here is knowing whether the content is having the desired effect –impacting business performance and encouraging innovation.  This is where the breathing space surrounding content for learners to experiment, contribute, critique, apply, refine, reapply and evolve is vital.  That’s what a real blend represents – the content is the springboard to performance not the single solution. Mobile and wearables Having mobile as a stand alone statement is in itself outdated and the distinction between mobile and desktop/laptop is becoming increasingly more irrelevant.  Understanding what type of performance support people need will lead us to the right intervention or solution delivered to the right supporting technology.  Form factor is certainly a consideration in terms of design and delivery methods but again, if you look at the workflow and where and when people will require support for what outcome, this naturally indicates what will be relevant.  Its then obvious what should be available and will be useful on mobile and what approach won’t work.  Detailed interactions on a smartphone form factor are unlikely to be a great experience, but quick refresher content, short scenarios, videos and discussions will do just fine.  The opportunity to learn on the go and whilst offline, using apps (as we have done with Pathway for iOS and Android) provide the flexibility and choice learners don’t just value, they expect it. Another important consideration is recognising what is becoming the more seamless handoff between technology.  Consider a day in the like of something like an Apple Watch – now there is certainly argument as to whether it has yet to prove a success but having lived with one for a year now, its interesting to reflect on the subtle but quite significant changes its made in the way I interact with other technology and the world around me.  On a daily basis, it has resulted in a realignment of personal fitness goals due to the wealth of data it provides and a renewed motivation.  I reach for my phone less and find my phone less intrusive as a result.  It provides concise summary information, providing me with choice as to whether I then go and explore this further (such as twitter updates, texts, skype, news feeds etc.)  It also provides the opportunity to gather more contextual information on the world around me when coupled with appropriate location based apps.  Although in its current version it still relies on an iPhone, the location based updates, simplified navigation and activity feeds have application for context sensitive performance support. Learning content does not need to be consumed on a wearable (in fact in a recent interview I conducted with David Kelly, Head of the e-Learning Guild and avid Apple Watch wearer, he suggested whoever starts to build the first e-learning module for the Apple Watch should be stopped!) But being pointed in the direction of support, content or events that I may digest or participate via another medium has great potential. We are currently working with clients to do just this, pushing short messages and comms around learning via iBeacons.  As an employee pops down to the café for a coffee break, an iBeacon located nearby can provide updates on new content, events or groups that may be of interest. Augmented reality is also an area that hasn’t yet been used to its full potential and even been the focus of some derision, with commentators claiming technologies like Google Glass are a failed experiment.  Don’t be too quick to dismiss this, its time may yet come.  It may not be relevant to all and I certainly would not advocate adopting any technology like this just because there’s plenty of press attention!  However, we have worked with a high end medical equipment provider where this type of technology can have significant benefits.  The equipment they deal with comes in at the multi-million dollar end of the market, so the effective use and maintenance of this complex machinery is vitally important.  Technology such as Google glass or even something more simple like Layar, which enables you to bring objects to life, using your phone to view the object and access context relevant content provides immediate access to guidance, how to’s and more.  Using AR, accessing the support you need to maintain specialist equipment can be done in situ and at point of need.  Again, its all about need – not all organisations will have use of this, but its important to know its there and understand its potential. Virtual reality and virtual worlds Virtual worlds are an arena that many learning technologists in organisations have been experimenting with for many years.  On the face of it, they have significant application, particular where hands on experience of a scenario may be challenging, dangerous or costly to achieve.  Its for exactly these reasons a number of large organisations used to invest heavily in research into Second Life and its successors.  However, they’ve not really gained any traction, largely because they are by definition removed from the real world.  Overcoming that barrier has been challenging and stories of people concentrating more on the outfit for their avatar or struggling to control the avatar in the first place have led to something of a mothballing of virtual worlds in most organisational learning contexts.  However, virtual reality and hardware such as Oculus Rift have the potential to change this, providing a more immersive, kinaesthetic experience. Conrad Tucker, assistant professor of engineering design and industrial engineering at Penn State University describes why he is leading a research group into its potential in higher education learning design:

“Online courses also limit you in some ways—there’s little immersive or tactile interaction, and sometimes it’s hard for students to engage with the material. IVR systems are a potential solution to that problem.”

The retention of learning and ability for students to accurately replicate tasks in the real world is significantly improved when using VR as opposed to completing the same activity in a non-immersive environment.  This is primarily because the environment is one where you learn through doing, rather than observing, reading or watching.   Although it would be useful to see more detailed research in this area with wider contexts and larger cohorts, early indicators suggest it needs to be on any learning professional’s radar.  At WillowDNA, we have developed a partnership with a local Oculus Rift application developer to provide options for immersive onboarding, simulations in high risk or complex environments and where assessment needs to be practical and provide accurate feedback are very exciting.

  Now as a learning technology company, perhaps you might have expected us to lead with this, but effective technology is an enabler and as such, should never be the main show.  Understanding how to make the right choices in software and hardware, as well as being curious about new technology are the foundation skillset for learning professionals today.  For many this is a shift and not something that perhaps was expected when they joined the profession, however for newer entrants into the field, the context in which they will have completed formal education means this is much more familiar territory. If you are not from a technical background, this can feel quite intimidating.  This is why taking a performance focused approach to evaluating tools and technology can give huge confidence in engaging suppliers and making technology investments.  The suppliers that will rise to the top are those that join you in a performance focussed view of your requirement and look beyond the immediate content or system need into the environment in which it will be deployed.

Learning Technology is all about context

I reached out to one of our customers, Transitions Optical and asked the EVP of Education and Professional Development why after our initial engagement with them, they decided to partner with us.  His answer gives a clue into the job suppliers need to fulfil to ensure they are truly impacting performance

“you delivered more than we asked for and added more value.  You asked us not just what needed to be done in terms of content, but the role other supporting systems like our CRM could play, how to establish champions networks, how we could get them better connected and supported by technology and build ownership of performance out in the field, shared then across EMEA.  You gave us insights into things we hadn’t thought of.”

Now of course this is great feedback, shamelessly shared, but it demonstrates where the bar is set.  Making important decisions about technology demand real insight into the setting. Once we understand the performance drivers, we can more effectively decide when to be the early adopters and when to invest in improving use of what we already have.  So let’s touch on some of the most popular solutions and some of the emerging technology and explore its relevance to different performance challenges.  In this instalment, we’ll get started with the LMS.

Learning Management Systems

Probably the most significant change over the last few years, is a greater adoption of Cloud based LMS implementations, as cost of ownership, flexibility and the drive for a more pick and mix approach to creating the most appropriate technology suite grows.  Change and pace of new technology releases has demanded a more agile approach and even the traditional enterprise LMS systems have need to provide cloud offerings. One area that leaners still find challenging is the user interface – still borne out of a desire to manage the learning experience, its this emphasis on the M and S of the LMS that has dominated.  However, well designed LMS systems with the learner experience at the core still have an important role to play, even in a more self serve, self curated world.  When we look at this through the performance lens, the scene setting core skills development can benefit from a formal learning path or scaffold.  It provides the basis for self led research, collaboration and innovation because we understand the context. Take project management for example.  Creating a formal learning path on project management in your LMS, comprised a combination of well researched and effectively design content provides confidence in core skills and a common ground for exploring how the project management process could continue to evolve, refine and change.  It makes the process of innovation more efficient, by eliminating the blank sheet of paper syndrome.  Sure, there is always the risk that having a formal learning path sets out an approach that may determine the road we take, but here is where the balance of formal and informal is so important.  Setting context enables people to more quickly enter into the conversation about current and future performance, it gives us a starter for 10 from which refinements and improvements can be made.  This is where an LMS can play an important role, as long as the user experience is simple, intuitive and doesn’t get in the way of learning! Another key theme we’ve seen emerge over the past few years is data – what can our systems tell us about the nature of learning behaviours and how they link to performance.  This was the promise and the opportunity laid out for xAPI, the e-learning software specification to enable tracking of learning experience.  There are still very limited case studies of xAPI in action (the major case study being Amazon and its adoption of xAPI on its strategic roadmap).  But this as yet limited pockets of xAPI impact is not a fault in the standard but more a symptom of the lack of alignment of a performance based mind-set.  xAPI itself is only a standard and only useful if we know what performance looks like and can create the links between learning behaviour and business outcome. xAPI isn’t just a standard you adopt, its not a case that being xAPI compliant is the end game.   Aaron Silvers from MakingBetter and co-founder of Up to All of Us, the community that is shaping the xAPI standards, explained to Learning Solutions magazine back in 2013 how xAPI compliance is not the point; “It’s not a cure-all by itself, but the xAPI presents an opportunity to tackle the fuzzy area between what’s “learning” and what’s “performance” in a way that can provide feedback that helps you design better, as well as provide feedback to learners to help them perform better” To deliver on this promise requires the type of performance approach we’ve been exploring and xAPI is just one of the ways you can gather more insightful data about how your learning content, tools and technology are playing their part in performance.  But at the end of the day, it is just data, it’s what you do with it that counts.  That is why you need to do your homework, through performance consulting and using methods such as value chain so you know what you are looking at and can draw sensible conclusions and relationships to business outcome. Of course a fully rounded view of performance is not just what people take away but what they contribute and effective LMS solutions have collaboration built in.  For us, this raises an interesting opportunity for what we call professional gamification.  Whilst game dynamics have been used to incentive people to complete and return to content, this has a short shelf life.  It could even be argued that if you have to heavily gamify your content, does that say something about its perceived relevance?  Game dynamics are useful when exploring subjects that demand decision making skills and exploration of consequence (many authoring tools are very capable of developing effective and engaging scenario based content when in the hands of a talented designer). Gamification of the LMS however is an interesting topic and sometimes only applied at a surface level.  Leaderboards highlighting users that have the highest completion, scores on assessments or uploaded most content to social learning platforms are common.  However, when we look at this in terms of performance, the value of the interaction in terms of overall business outcome is something that really should be recognised.  Therefore, with some analysis and planning, progressive L&D teams are looking at rewarding valuable contribution, recognising those learners that are contributing to the overall body of knowledge, sharing case studies, offering mentoring, are effective curators of relevant content.  To do this takes a combination of effective learning design, the right LMS that supports collaboration and committed learning professionals looking to make those connects between learning behaviour and performance. In the next post, we’ll take a look at content.