Are You Ready to Deliver Personalized Learning?

Training organizations are moving toward an ideal: personalizedlearning. However, there is little agreement about what “personalized learning”means. In this article, we examine what personalized learning is in thecorporate environment and how organizations can prepare to meet this newlearning need.  

Everyday personalization

There are several ways to define the concept. It may mean:

• Learning that is adaptive to each individual’s level of learning;
• The delivery of targeted content to meet individual knowledge gaps based on assessment outcomes; or,
• Identifying and directing individual learners to what they will need to know before they look for it on their own. 

Personalized learning may be all of these things. What theyhave in common is recognition that individuals are in control of their ownlearning. For example, suppose Sarah wants to learn a language; this is easy toarrange—there are countless websites and apps to help her. Or, if Mark is inthe mood to cook or bake something that has a complicated recipe—he can searchYouTube and he’s sure to find several home-made videos that will walk himthrough the steps. If a person completes enough searches around language andcooking, the next time that person begins a search for a related topic on YouTubeor Google, what shows up in the search results will be determined in part bythose previous searches; no two people will necessarily see the same choices inthe same order.

The value of data capture and customer analytics is clearfor Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and YouTube. The more information theycapture, the better they can help returning customers find, quickly and easily,what those customers want. This is personalization in our daily lives.  

Personalized learning will bethe norm

Over the last decade, the Internet, social media,and mobile access have become huge factors in our private and working lives,changing how we interact with information. Now, with information available tous at the click of a mouse or keypad, we have come to expect immediate answers torecreational and job-related questions. This availability of information hasallowed employees to be independent of HR training and IT departments.

One of the results of these changes is that learners today aretaking control of their learning. Learning has become mobile and on demand.Learning knows no place or boundary; it can be on the go, in the office, athome, or anywhere. Learners can now “pull” the information they need, when theyneed it, shifting control from training departments to the learner. Inaddition, learners are beginning to have the expectation that the trainingdepartment should provide content that is accessible and targeted directly toindividual needs.

If Amazon can recommend which book a customer might like to read,and if Netflix can suggest what movie a customer would enjoy based on thatperson’s past choices, so the thinking goes, the learning organization shouldidentify the specific content that will support employees’ learning for jobperformance success.

In response, two things needto happen. First, corporate learning needs to be able to predict individual learnerrequirements in order to support personalized learning. Second, organizationswill need to curate information that learners may seek, and create an index oforganizational knowledge assets. After collection and definition, theinformation is available for direct delivery to the learner, or the learner canaccess it through a search and find feature. 

Preparing the organization

A first step topersonalized learning is to recognize the importance of continuous learning inthe organization. To truly meet the needs of employees and to become anorganization that supports and delivers personalized learning, it is necessaryto create, build, and support a learning organization. A learning organizationis one that:

• Continuallylearns,
• Supportsthe learning of its staff,
• Listensto everyone and openly communicates, and
• Embracesa philosophy of ongoing improvement.

Supporting personalized learning

If organizations are ready to respond to learners who want theability to pull information and knowledge assets when they need them, thereneeds to be a culture and infrastructure in place to support this.

Once an organization recognizes the importance of learning, andaccepts the shift from push to pull learning, the next step to buildingpersonalized learning is to collaborate with learners to understand theircollective and individual needs.

Learner analytics

An organization ready to support and build personalizedlearning needs to begin collecting learning analytics. Learning analytics,similar to business intelligence and web analytics, uses analytical tools tocollect information that the organization can use to improve learning, itsdevelopment, and delivery. This new area of data collection will requireworking cross-functionally between IT and those responsible for learning anddevelopment. The information being sought is the interaction between thelearner, their data output on social media or in learning communities, theinformation they search for, and their activity on educational tools – eLearningcourses, webinars etc.

Experience API

As personalized learning integrates into the corporate space,learners will be able to collect and report on their own learningaccomplishments using the Experience API, also called xAPI or Tin Can. Organizationsand learners can use the Experience API to collect data outside of an LMS fromany learning experience, completed in any environment, on any device. TheExperience API captures completed actions and tasks. It does this byidentifying who completed what action, and how it was completed. It focuses onthe learner, what the learner did, and what he or she accomplished as a result.The functionality of the Experience API will help direct the focus anddirection of personalized learning and will be a major data source for analyzinglearners’ needs.

Contextualized content

The next step, in addition to identifying learners’ needsand knowledge gaps in order to deliver targeted content, is contextualizinglearning content. Putting context around content ensures delivery of specificand targeted information delivered to learners for exactly what they want toknow. Today, contextualizing learning goes beyond this fundamental requirement. 

Location-based learning supports contextualized contentdelivery. It is learning delivered to a mobile device with information directedto a specific need based on the learner’s location.

Another way to contextualize content is augmented reality learning. Webster’s Dictionary defines augmentedreality as, “An enhanced version ofreality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on animage of something being viewed through a device (a smartphone camera).”

Augmented realityallows a learner to use a hand-held device to find context-specific informationthat helps them make connections and discoveries. Augmented reality iscontextualized performance support driven by the learner.

Moving away from the LMS

A lot of corporations use learning management systems (LMSs).There are many types and variations, but looking closely at any of them shows theyare more about managing learning than about the learning itself. Most currentsystems are about pushing information, courses, and schedules, and about trackinglearner registration and course completion. This supports the learningdepartment, but not the learner and the learning. If LMSs are to survive, theymust adapt the way they capture and track learning, and how they supportlearners who want to find information.

Start-up companies are emerging in response to the needs ofpersonalized learning. These companies are identifying how to tag content andtrack learner activity as a way to merge the two to deliver personalizedcontent. Other companies recognize the importance of adaptive learning.Adaptive learning programs meet individual learner needs by creating learningpaths based on learner assessment outcomes.  

Here are three companies that support personalized learningthrough adaptive learning and data collection of learner analytics. Eachcompany takes a different approach.

Knewtonpresents itself as an adaptive learning platform. It partners with educationalproviders to support their adaptive and interactive course development. Througha three-step process—data collection, inference, and personalization—Knewton analyzescontent and learners, which allows their partners to create the most effectivelearning materials.

aNewSpringis a complete on-line learning solution that allows developers to createadaptive learning courses. Based on learning objectives, it asks learners tocomplete specific activities. The results of these learning activities andprogress toward meeting learning objectives determine the individual learningpath.

Easygenerator providescloud-based eLearning authoring software to create courses that adapt tolearners’ progress based on assessment outcomes. Easygenerator’s approach toadaptive learning is around learner completion of pre-assessments to identifyknowledge gaps. Based on assessment results, it directs learners to content toimprove knowledge levels where there are gaps.

Summary

After examining personalized learning it becomes clear thatit is the next step in how organizations must provide learning and performancesupport to staff. 

As the workforce changes, learners will demand this kind oflearning. Everyone today, from Gen Y to Baby Boomers, is accustomed to gettingimmediate answers and responses on their mobile device to quickly verify whatthey’re thinking, or to find the answer to something they don’t know.

Personalized learning is becoming the norm, and in responselearning organizations need to begin to prepare for it.  

The role of the organization will be to collect its intellectualproperty so that it’s available in tagged, micro-learning chunks that it can easilyfind and share across social networks. The future workplace must keep pace withthe world we live in—which means identifying the right content for eachindividual and delivering it to them however they want it.

Want moreinformation about personalized Learning?

From the Editor: If you are a member of TheeLearning Guild, you can access additional ideas for delivering personalizedlearning in the handouts from these sessions at past conferences in the Conference Archive (requires log-in):

• Dawn Poulos’ session 812 at Learning Solutions Conference & Expo 2013, “Leveraging the Cloud to Deliver Personalized Learning Experiences.”
• Kelli Holmes’ session 304 at Performance Support Symposium 2013, “Using Personalization to Create Next-generation Performance Support.”
• Mark Varey and Sean Wilson’s session 102 at DevLearn 2012, “Creating an Adaptive Content Deployment Strategy.”

In addition, the following sessions at the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2014 in Orlando March 19-21 may be ofinterest to you:

• David Kelly and a panel of experts: Featured Session F3, “Redefining Training via Technology: Examples and Perspectives.”
• Eri Kammerer: Session 102 “DIY: Introducing Self-directed Learning to Corporate Learners.”
• Andy Whitaker: Session 308 “Blazing Trails with the Experience API (xAPI): Experiential Learning and Performance Support.”

These are just a few examples of the excellentvalue of Guild membership and of the outstanding content offered at conferenceshosted by The eLearning Guild!