Author: Divya Nambiar
Every Monday, the L&D group waits for the Topic of The Week to have a healthy and informative discussion on various topics and latest trends in L&D/HR space.
I have captured below the key points from the weekly discussion that was initiated on the 24th August 2015. At the outset, let me share with you the topic of the discussion:-
“Elearning has been there for a few decades now. However, with the changing times, does Elearning need to reinvent itself? What can we do to make Elearning more effective? What changes can we bring in its form, stlye & deployment?”
The discussion began with the groups, sharing their views on how to enhance the current elearning scenario. Most of them believed that the way forward would be a blended approach where different forms would come to forefront. For example, the importance of “Gamification” in elearning was highlighted by many members. Learning through games, introduce challenges, introducing immediate rewards in the form of points etc..
As few members pointed out that blended approach is the latest in Elearning industry:
1) Gamification
2) Mlearning – Bite sized learning preferences of the millennials, and training anytime, anywhere
3) On demand learning/ Wearable Elearning – As one of member explained that this is still in Beta testing phase, this method uses the smartwatch and apps. The early adapters of this virtual learning process have tried this for product coaching very successfully.
The group explored the level of acceptance to Elearning in their organizations. Majority of the group felt that the response has been positive with the new inclusions. As one of the member mentioned that “we are able to milk the existing digital media to its max, using it extensively for technical, domain and now behavioral & leadership training. On a lighter note, the analogy was shared: “For passionate Digi Learners, E-learning is like an ice cream they would have always wanted”
As someone clearly pointed out that any Elearning is based on design & the relevance of content. Hence, the instructional design methodologies still holds good.
The discussion moved to understanding the learner profile & instructional designers to spend time with business directly to understand the same & thereby creating a content more audience specific. For eg: The level of complexity of games to be created based on the skill level of audience. There was also a mention on the content to be made available in vernacular language to cater to wider Indian audience.
The discussion also covered inclusion of behavioural & experiential learning & it was mentioned that it will find a place in the form of videos, CoPs, & various platforms of social media
Conclusion: Elearning to carry Blended approach. It needs to be integrated with various other forms of learning like face to face, CoPs, & coaching. Social media to play the role of an enabler. Gamification of content is for sure way forward & will be important to ensure that the content is more audience centric & interesting to the next Gen. The instructional design strategies like ADDIE will stay to remain as the basis for content design. M- Learning, On-demand information anticipated to be the trend in Elearning for the next few years.
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