Training Industry Magazine - Content Development 2017 Special Edition - 34


WE ARE CHALLENGED TO WRAP
CONTENT IN A UNIQUE AND ENGAGING EXPERIENCE.
Technology is a major element in delivering
a learning experience that lives up to
expectations. However, if that experience
is centered solely on the LMS, it is likely to
fail. Experience follows learners and very
few are inclined to begin their journey by
visiting the learning management system.
Instead, they are prone to search among
a mixture of internal and external sites
looking for their answer. The answer might
lead to a job aid on a SharePoint site, an
expert in marketing or a TED Talk.
To support this self-directed quest of
learning, think of the architecture of
systems or a "learning ecosystem" (see
sidebar on page 35). This architecture
underlies and enables everything else and
the key principle here is interoperability
via application programing interfaces
(APIs) and web services. This allows
systems to "talk" to one another, enabling
a plug and play approach to building a
learning experience.
In a world of mass disruption with
technologies appearing and disappearing

at a rapid rate, this confederation of
systems also makes it easier to add or
remove systems as conditions warrant.

PERSONALIZATION
Personalized learning is a bit misleading in
that implies that the learning experience
is left up to each individual. That is not
the case at all. While the learning may be
self-directed in terms of choice, timing
and pace; the objective of personalized
learning is to tailor the experience to the
needs of the individual based upon factors
such as role, tenure, location, business unit
and developmental goals.
Personalization is accomplished in two
different ways. The first is to construct
pathways consisting of a variety of
experiences (content, people, communities,
activities and assignments) designed to
achieve a learning outcome.
The second method of personalization is
through adaptive learning in which the
system is able to respond to the actions of
the learner and provide timely and smart

recommendations on content, people and
activities that help the learner achieve the
end goal. Adaptive learning has long been
the Holy Grail for learning technologists,
and recent advances in the collection of
big-data on learning and analytics have
made the quest within reach.
In both cases, personalization hinges on
the ability of the technology to drive the
learning experience.

SCENARIOS
LEARNING PATHWAY
A new manager logs into the learning portal
and because employee profiles are loaded
from the HR system, she sees her current
learning path-Business Foundations.
The Business Foundations Path has two
courses, Intro to Business Finance and
Working with Budgets and Cash Flow.
However, it also includes a link to a
social learning site where she can search
for a peer to connect with, communities
to join and mentors to aid in her career

FIGURE 1

70%
EXPERIENCE

VALUE

DEFINE
THE EXPERIENCE

20%
EXPOSURE

Course
Programs

10%
FORMAL
LEARNING

DATE OF HIRE

| 34

Concrete Experience
Reflective Observation
Conceptualization
Active Experimentation

i90
INFORMAL
LEARNING
Coaching and Mentoring
Learning Communities
Communities of Practice
Job Shadowing
Stretch Assignments

SPEED TO PROFICIENCY AND MASTERY

TIME
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