Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 38

As L&D professionals, we need to provide
context over content to our audiences;
informal learning provides that context.
In other words, put employees in the
driver's seat. Let learners navigate
learning opportunities and help them
foster connections with others to
get content at the time of need via
clear paths and recommendations. To
accomplish this, L&D organizations must
develop and deliver relevant learning
experiences in the workflow, following a
unified framework.
Key point: A comprehensive content strategy
should include a healthy mixture of formal
and informal methods to facilitate learner
experiences. It should be a deliberate and
well thought out plan to deliver a holistic
and continuous learning experience.

STEP 1.
STRUCTURE A HOLISTIC
MODERN LEARNING
ECOSYSTEM
The modern learning ecosystem needs be
viewed as an interconnected intelligent
system. A modern ecosystem (Figure 1)
goes beyond traditional programs hosted
on a learning management system
(LMS) that measures only completions
and training hours. These innovative, new
ecosystems connect learning where it
happens by measuring behavioral change
and business impact. Content outside the
LMS augments the learning experience,
improving retention and adoption by
providing content at the time of need.
Key point: This system is a shift in mindset to
a more holistic view that considers the entire
system. It's a framework that allows for a
high-performing learning organization,
connecting people, content, technology,
culture and strategy.
This system would respond to relevant
triggers in an employee's life that may
call for a learning intervention based
on data, proper metrics and learner
preferences. It's a systematic approach
that involves various delivery systems to
provide unique learning paths adapted
to every learner's needs. Success of this
system requires a collaboration of efforts
between all learning teams across an
organization. It is important to continue to

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build on this vision to provide a cohesive,
personalized and purposeful consumergrade learning experience.

STEP 2.
TIDY UP EXISTING SYSTEMS
AND CHANNELS
"There's an opportunity to learn from all
the things in your life, including the things
that you discard." - Marie Kondo, bestselling
author and star of Netflix's hit show, "Tidying
Up with Marie Kondo"
You've heard the expression less is more.
This is not only true of content itself but
also the systems and channels that host
content. Due to the lack of tracking,
audits and ownership of content, we
have continuously cluttered systems
with outdated and unused content
with no expiration date. So, even with
our best efforts to create new more
engaging, personalized and relevant
content, we still find this content being
underutilized. Why?

of systems, ineffective search and the
overabundance of irrelevant content. This
leads to learner frustration and lack of
trust in the systems that are supposed to
provide them with the content they need,
causing them to look for other means of
upskilling themselves.

The real magic
of informal
learning lies in the
spontaneous nature
in which people
learn from the
content and people
around them.

A major cause of underutilization of
content is that the content cannot be
found, often due to poor integration

Figure 1

Content Layer
Content repositories
and management
(formal, informal, other)
UA
(Universal
Asst.)

Content
Creators/
Reviewers

Authoring
Layer
Content authoring
and development

Learning
Experience
Platform

Data
Analysts

Data Layer
Data Analytics
and Measurement

access
Learners
EcoSystem
Framework

Learner
Collections/Preferences
https://www.trainingindustry.com/glossary/learning-management-system-lms/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/glossary/learning-management-system-lms/
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019

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