5 Reasons Execs Should Pay Attention to Digital Learning

With an abundance of rich resources literally at theirfingertips, today’s learners are using technology to find their own answers to workplacequestions. This unprecedented shift in human behavior is expected to radically transformthe current corporate training paradigm. L&D executives need to be preparedfor the ramifications digital learning will bring.

Five reasons execs should pay attention to digital learning

1. Digital learning is here to stay

It may be tempting to dismiss digital learning as a buzzwordor passing trend; however, experts maintain that digital learning is here tostay. Furthermore, they predict that it will significantly impact the L&Dindustry.

“Right now we’re in the early stages of a major disruption,”writes Josh Bersin, principal and founder of Bersin by Deloitte. In a piece for Forbes, the business thoughtleader notes that the industry is pivoting to embrace digital learning. Technologiesthat support digital learning are expanding, and vendors are “focusing ondeveloping video-learning platforms that feel more like YouTube than aneducational course catalog.”

David Kelly, executive vice president of The eLearningGuild, advises L&D executives to educate themselves about digital learning becauseit will inevitably become part of their overall strategy. “Even if yourtraining department is not proactively looking to shift towards this change inhuman behavior right now, your organization will eventually be impacted,” he says.

2. It changesthe conversation

“The question we need to be exploring from an executivestandpoint is: What does learning and development look like when we realize andaccept that we are no longer controlling the conversation?” Kelly says.

In the past, L&D took responsibility for providing theresources learners might need, usually housing it within the corporate learningmanagement system (LMS). Workers today can fend for themselves. In manyinstances they are shunning the LMS, opting instead to use digital tools suchas Google and YouTube to find immediate answers to their questions.

In light of this paradigm shift, L&D should be redesigningtraining to be simple, accessible, and employee-centric. “Just as we use appslike Uber to locate a ride or like DoorDash to order food, we need learning andinformation support to be as easy and intuitive to use,” Bersin writes in aseparate comprehensive and thought-provoking article about digital learning.

In the past, employees participated in lengthyinstructor-led workshops or online training courses; however, today’s busy workersdon’t always have time for that. Bersin’s research indicates that harried employeestypically allocate just 24 minutes per week for training and development. “Rather than produce two- tothree-hour ‘courses’ that require page-turning and slow video or animation, weneed to offer ‘learning on-demand’ and recommended content just as needed,” he suggests.

3. Self-learninghas merit

This new and fundamental change in how today’s workforce is learninghas far-reaching ramifications for L&D, which must accept and embrace thefact that there is inherent value in self-learning.

“Right now we’re in an environment where if you didn’t learnit from the training department, it really doesn’t count, to a certain degree.That’s going to shift,” Kelly says. “We’re going to start to recognize that whatpeople are doing outside the walls of the training department counts. Thequestion is: How do we acknowledge and give weight to it? And how do weleverage it as an organization?”

The academic world views pure learning as a way to expandone’s knowledge base. Kelly points out that in the corporate world, learning isaccepted because it is an opportunity to enhance performance.

“The truth is: Very few organizations are going to allocateresources for the benefit of just learning. They will allocate resources if itis going to help employees do their jobs better,” Kelly says. In this newparadigm, L&D executives will be called upon to demonstrate that digitallearning adds intrinsic value and can help the company achieve its organizationalgoals.

4. Digital learning will irrevocably alter L&D

Digital learning promises to alter the industry in many ways,and L&D leaders must be prepared to respond appropriately. Personalizationwill take on greater importance. Rather than simply dishing out the same one-size-fits-allcontent to workers, L&D departments will have to partner with employees to developcustomized learning journeys. Effectively tracking and measuring this willrequire new thought processes and technologies.

Kelly describes how digital learning will change the way theL&D assesses competency. “We may see workers saying ‘I’ve learned thisalready, so I don’t need to go through your formal training course.’ This willshift the discussion from ‘I’m going to build a test on the material you wentthrough in my course’ to ‘I’m going to build a test that verifies yourcompetency because you may have learned this elsewhere.’”

L&D departments may move in a direction similar to that ofdigital badges, which demonstrate competency in particular topics. Workerscould earn the badges by taking Lynda.com or Coursera-style classes, readingblogs by industry experts, commenting on posts from work colleagues on internalcommunication sites, or watching relevant videos on YouTube. Such initiatives,when combined with a transcript documenting official training from the LMS, willgenerate a more robust picture of the learner’s skill set and could actually followthe employee throughout his or her career.

Kelly admits that the technology to effectively trackdigital learning is not yet fully realized. “There’s infrastructure in placethat can track a lot of this, xAPI and LRS (learning record stores) being themost visible,” he says. “They can form the foundation of how we can track allthese activities and make sense of them. But there’s enough gray in what fallsunder the heading of digital learning that we can’t say at this time that theycan handle all of it.”

What is clear is that the traditional LMS may not be builtfor the task. Bersin points out that many large firms are confining their LMSsto managing compliance and formal training, while developing newinfrastructures to track digital learning.  

“One of the keys to digital learning is building a newlearning architecture. This means using the LMS as a ‘player’ but not the‘center,’ and looking at a range of new tools and systems to bring contenttogether,” Bersin says. He predicts that in the future, a growing number offirms will shift L&D investment away from costly capital purchases (such aslearning management systems) toward “pay for use” models that will provideincreased flexibility as the market shifts.

5. It creates a need for new skill sets

Traditional trainers, instructional designers, anddevelopers concerned that digital learning might usurp their jobs need notworry. Experts predict that digital learning will create new roles foremployees, especially those with the aptitude to track and measure learning.

“A growing number of organizations out there have chiefknowledge curators. I anticipate that we will see more of that,” Kelly says. “Ican also see some new technical roles emerging, especially for those whounderstand coding and can get different systems to talk to each other,” headds.

Pivoting employees in order to cover new staffing needs isjust one of many decisions L&D executives will be faced with as digitallearning permeates the workplace. According to Bersin, the explosion of digitallearning promises to radically disrupt the industry, and L&D leaders mustbe prepared and up for the challenge.

“I’m not saying this is going to be easy. It takes a lot ofnew technologies and approaches, but it’s clearly where things are headed,” Bersinstates.

To learn more

The eLearning Guild welcomes the community to join the conversationabout digital learning in a series of sessions at DevLearn 2017 Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, October 25– 27.

Senior-level L&D leaders are invited to anexclusive full-day workshop, where they can network with other executivesfocusing on the impact digital learning will have on their organizations. The Executive Forum on Digital Learning will take place October24, before DevLearn begins.