Digital Learning: An Interview with David Kelly

Although the term digitallearning has been referenced in academia for at least a decade, it is attractingconsiderable attention among those in the learning and development industry. DavidKelly, executive vice president of The eLearning Guild, chronicled theemergence of corporate digital learning in a recent blog post. He expands upon the subject in this interview.

Susan Jacobs (SJ): Ina nutshell, how would you define digital learning?

David Kelly (DK):First, my intention is not to necessarily define it, but to start aconversation about it. That’s what we do at the Guild. We provide a platformfor the community to engage in discussions to make sense of changes and trendsin our industry. I’ve been sharing my perspective on the topic to providecontext as a starting point for discussions.

Let’s begin with what it’s not. It’s not a new methodologyor a new way of training or educating people. Digital learning reflects afundamental change in the behavior of learners themselves, rather than a changein behavior related to the training department.

To me, digital learning is about this shift from peoplewaiting for someone to give them the resources to solve a problem, to justfinding the resources themselves. It’s a shift from “I don’t know how to dosomething, so I guess I need to go to training,” to “I don’t know how to dosomething, so I’m going to pull out my phone and Google it to find the answer.”

SJ: How is technologydriving this move toward digital learning?

DK: Technology enableslearners to find answers themselves. This metaphor can explain it. When my wifeand I were planning our honeymoon to Europe in 1999, we couldn’t book our ownflights or hotels because we didn’t have the ability to research all theoptions that were out there, let alone go to sites and make the reservationsourselves. We had to have someone plan our itinerary, so we turned to a travelagent. We needed that external person to not only provide the content, but toalso facilitate the transactions.

Speed ahead 18 years. I’m going to Singapore in November. I’venever been there before, but I have gone online and done all the research. I bookedmy own flight and hotel, and learned the cultural things I need to know. Mypersonality is such that I would have done that in 1999, but the reality isthat those resources didn’t exist then.

SJ: How doesdigital learning compare to eLearning?

DK: Digitallearning is the promise of learning technology in full bloom. It reflects theshift in learning responsibility from the trainers to the learners themselves,powered by technologies that are enabling people to learn and solve problems ontheir own, in real time. As such, digital learning is less about the actions ofa learning professional and more about the actions of the learners themselves.It represents a paradigm shift that will change the role of the learningprofessional forever.

SJ: If digitallearning is an iteration of eLearning, isn’t it just a case of semantics?

DK: It could beviewed as semantics in the regard that we are relabeling something we all know.But the other piece of the equation is the shift of the conversation from whatthe training department is doing, to what the learner is doing. That is notjust semantics. That is the core element of what the digital learningconversation is about.

Training is something you can do to another person. Learningis not. I can provide a resource that helps you learn, but you have to learn onyour own. Digital learning is about the activities of the person who islearning. As L&D professionals, this represents a fundamental shift in howwe approach the subject.

SJ: What doesdigital learning encompass?

DK: Itencompasses the larger, formal training rocks, but also all of the little rocksthat exist on a day-to-day basis. As an example, in our company we use adigital communication tool called Yammer. If I post a question on Yammer andnine people respond with answers to it, that’s digital learning in practice.There’s no official course there, it’s not in the LMS, and it’s not beingtracked anywhere, but learning is taking place. I also use a host of otherdigital tools to engage in similar interactions with people around the worldevery day to learn and solve problems.

Companies are going to have to learn how to leverage digitallearning because interactions that help workers solve problems, and develop theirskills and competency, count. They keep our organizations moving forward. Butwe’ve never prioritized them or really incorporated them into our strategies.

SJ: Do youbelieve digital learning will complement, compete with, or replace eLearning?

DK: Definitivelycomplement! I want to emphatically state that nothing’s dying, and eLearning isnot going to go away. Digital learning simply gives us more options and enablesus to have more tools in the belt. I see eLearning in its current form beingpart of the digital learning environment. Digital learning is just acknowledgingthat there is a larger pie of how people are learning, and understanding thatwe should be giving weight to things we previously didn’t give weight to.

SJ: What impactdo you expect digital learning to have? Will it completely disrupt the L&Dindustry, the way iTunes altered the music industry or Uber disrupted theautomotive industry?

DK: I don’t thinkit’s going to be as disruptive as either of those. Both of those examplesdisrupted their industries almost overnight. I don’t see that happening withinour environment. If you look at corporate learning today, each organization isits own ecosystem. Many still train in a 1980s classroom environment, and thatworks for them. The fact that all these new tools have been introduced hasn’tchanged their world. With digital music, everyone had to adapt because the CDindustry went away. You didn’t have the option of not changing. In corporateenvironments, you still have the option of not changing, as long as it doesn’thold back your business.

That said, the change in learner behaviors I’ve been talkingabout aren’t really “learner” behaviors. The change is how people are engagingin a digital world. Our smartphones alone have fundamentally changed what itmeans to live and interact in a digital world. If these technologies arechanging how we live and learn in day-to-day life, it stands to reason thatexpectations for how we learn in our organizations will shift accordingly.

SJ: Do you thinkdigital learning will reduce the need for trainers?

DK: No, but I seeit becoming a potential threat to trainers who are not adapting. If you’re atrainer who is not looking at the way technology is changing the environment inwhich we work, you are putting yourself at risk to be circumvented by thattechnology. This is an opportunity to pivot in new directions.

SJ: How canpeople in our industry best prepare for the advent of digital learning?

DK: Everyone inthe L&D industry should put on their learner caps for a minute. Think abouthow you use your technology in your day-to-day life, and acknowledge the gapthat exists between how you use these technologies personally, and how you usethem in your organizations. There is a huge difference between those two, andthat difference represents the promise of digital learning.

SJ: Is thereanything L&D should fear about digital learning?

DK: No. Fear isabout change holding us back. This is all about opportunity.

Join the conversation

The eLearning Guild welcomes the community to join thediscussion about 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 an exclusivefull-day workshop, where they can network with other executives focusing on theimpact digital learning will have on their organizations. The Executive Forum on Digital Learning will take place October24, before DevLearn begins.

Digital learning resources

Bersin, Josh. “The Disruption of Digital Learning: Ten Things We Have Learned.”JoshBersin.com. 27 March 2017.

Bersin, Josh. “Watch Out, Corporate Learning: Here Comes Disruption.” Forbes. 28 March 2017.

Kelly, David. “What is Corporate Digital Learning?” The eLearning Guild TWIST Blog. 11 August2017.