Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2019 - 57

STELLA LEE, PH.D.

WHAT'S NEXT
IN TECH

HOW TECHNOLOGY IS
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF
WORKPLACE LEARNING
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is
transforming industries and fundamentally
changing the way we work and live. As
the nature of work evolves, learning is
key to managing and embracing this
new workplace.
Looking back, 2019 brought a lot of
excitement about future of learning, from
using blockchain to verify educational
credentials to voice-based interfaces.
Technology is a form of pedagogy; it
shapes the way we think about and design
learning experiences. As we look to the
future, learning will continue to be shaped
by emerging technological innovations, as
well as our rate of adoption in the learning
and development (L&D) space.
At a high level, I envision the future of
workplace learning with the following
characteristics:

TECHNOLOGY IS A
FORM OF PEDAGOGY;
IT SHAPES THE WAY
WE THINK ABOUT AND
DESIGN LEARNING
EXPERIENCES.
HIGHLY PERSONALIZED LEARNING
EXPERIENCE
There will be an increased demand for
experiential and personalized learning,
especially as users' interactions with online
learning become more sophisticated,
and the focus shifts further toward an
emphasis on quality, personalized content.
L&D will need instructional designers
who look beyond page-turner e-learning

courses and incorporate design thinking
approaches and a variety of learning
modalities to cater to the needs and
preferences of learners. Adaptive learning
paths, recommender systems, learnerand peer-curated content, and virtual
coaches will continue to improve and rise
in demand. It will serve us well to become
acquainted with how these learning tools
support a better learning experience.
DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS
Analytics technologies have matured
over the years, with some applications
being used to process data in real time
to measure learner attitudes, sentiments,
readiness, progress and levels of
engagement. With these capabilities,
organizations have new opportunities to
assess, measure and improve learning.
While it will become increasingly
commonplace for digital tools to have
built-in machine learning capacities for
analytics, L&D often lacks the ability to
leverage this data effectively. According
to a 2018 Towards Maturity study, 51% of
L&D professionals say that they cannot
meaningfully use data due to a lack of
in-house skills. As a result, around one in
10 organizations never analyze the data it
collects. It is time for us to bridge this skill
gap and equip ourselves with the tools
necessary to interpret and present data.
DIGITAL FLUENCY REQUIRED
According to the 2019 "EDUCASE
Horizon Report," "Digital fluency is
the ability to leverage digital tools and
platforms to communicate critically,

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE -TRENDS 2020 I WWW.TR AI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

design creatively, make informed
decisions, and solve wicked problems
while anticipating new ones."
Digital literacy is no longer adequate
to keep up with the complex needs
of retraining and upskilling. Learning
solutions come in many forms, including
plenty with artificial intelligence (AI)
capabilities. L&D professionals need
digital fluency to understand how best
to make use of these solutions.
WORKING IS THE NEW LEARNING
Working is now learning. AI and automation
will replace components of our jobs,
and we will be required to take on new
tasks as a result. This requires us to learn
new skills and let go of old mindsets. As
learning practitioners, we need to modify
our roles with business strategies.
We also need to consider how everyday
technologies and productivity tools
are being used for learning at work.
YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Twitter,
Skype and many more are being used
for knowledge-sharing, collaboration
and learning. More than ever, we need to
provide instructional design frameworks
in these everyday tools so we can
integrate them into our repertoires.
Dr. Stella Lee has over 20 years of
experience in consulting, planning,
designing, implementing and measuring
learning initiatives. Today, her focus is on
large-scale learning projects, including
LMS evaluation and implementation,
learning analytics, and artificial intelligent
applications in learning. Email Stella.

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Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2019

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