In any year, not just 2017, itseems that there are some “givens”—the things you can count on being true. Hereare three of them.
First, changes in learning anddevelopment practices tend to be evolutionary, not revolutionary. That is, fromone year to the next in most organizations, the things that L&D practitionersdo and the things they create tend to look pretty much like what they did andcreated the previous year. The models—courses, for example—do change, but veryslowly. We get excited about new possibilities, such as virtual reality, butlack the budget, tools, and skills to use them. Timing is everything, but youhave to start paying attention early to those new possibilities, and you haveto know when the time is right to do something with them.
Second, at some point the balancewill tip, there will be disruption of the status quo, and big changes willhappen relatively quickly. One example of this was the rapid emergence ofeLearning that began in 1997 (sparked in turn by the opening up of the WorldWide Web in 1995). Web-based instruction didn’t take over immediately, andthere is still plenty of lecture-based instruction going on (although much ofit now takes place in virtual classrooms); but within three or four years ofthe Interactive Conference in Denver in June of 1997, the change of directionwas clear.
That was 20 years ago. Is thetime right for another disruption? Has something already tipped? Maybe it hasalready started, but not with technology per se. Change is coming—and it won’talways be what you expect. For 2017, maybe it isn’t so much technological as itis social.
Third, it’s still hard to get thebudget for new approaches; however, you can often get funding for pilotprograms and for responses to challenges to the organization’s strategic focus,or to the organization’s survival. Think in terms of business problems andtrends, not in terms of “training problems.”
Looking forward to 2017, in thisarticle I offer my thoughts about what to pay attention to, new developmentsthat are already important to include in your planning (or soon will be), andsome potential disruptors that are right around the corner.
What to payattention to in 2017
Topics that instructionalcreators and managers need to pay particular attention to in 2017 includelearning analytics, BYOD and security, authoring tools, and accessibility.
Learning analytics
In the past, learning anddevelopment organizations collected and analyzed high-level data in an attemptto better guide their activity. Typically, the data consisted of coursecompletions and test scores. Unfortunately, this high-level data didn’t doanything to support improving performance on the job or to enable respondingrapidly to changes in strategic direction.
However, in recent years learningmanagement systems (LMSs) have started reporting finer-grained learner data,and some also track social interactions. Experience API (xAPI) further expandsthe level of detail reported and also brings in information from businessactivity, and even from learning activity undertaken through individual initiative.The net result is the ability to connect specific activity to specificperformance outcomes, and therefore to create more effective learning.
The challenge for learningpractitioners is understanding which data to collect, how to collect it, andhow to analyze it. To address these needs, The eLearning Guild has beencreating online events, such as the September 2016 Data & Analytics Summit;sessions at face-to-face events; research reports and white papers; andarticles in Learning Solutions Magazine.Much of this content is curated on the Guild site. Of particular assistance is aGuild Insights white paper, Learning Analytics: A Practical Pathway to Success.
BYOD andsecurity
“Bring your own device” (BYOD) hasbeen a topic of discussion since 2009, but it has never been more importantthan it is today, in particular with regard to security issues. The 2016 US presidentialcampaign brought this into full focus. Neil Lasher raised the question “Is Cybersecurity the Next Compliance?” in his February 22 article, and there have beensessions on the topic in eLearning Guild conferences this year. Lasher askedwhether you are educating your staff on how to be more web savvy. Is websecurity now part of your onboarding program? Are mobile devices now withinyour managed defense?
In November, Guild Insights published Understanding BYOD: A Guide to Concepts and Issues for Learning Practitioners. If the answers are “no” or “notyet,” then I recommend downloading that white paper. It will help youunderstand the issues and guide you in your discussions with your IT group.Supporting cybersecurity through your learning and development efforts, andthrough informal learning initiatives, should be a key part of your plan in2017.
Authoringtools
In the last five years, we haveseen many important changes to authoring tools. The biggest changes involvedthe expansion of stand-alone tools into suites, the move from desktop to cloud,and the switch from Flash to HTML5. Adobe began the trend in 2011 with CreativeCloud and continued in 2015 with changes to Captivate and the addition ofCaptivate Prime LMS. Articulate has changed the entire way it offers itsproducts as well as expanding its offerings with Articulate 360. Other toolsand learning management systems have added xAPI support and (beginning withRISC and iSpring) compatibility with the new cmi5 standard. In the last month,Lectora has also released new features and new integrations with other tools.
The point (and there have beenmany other changes to many other authoring tools) is that it is time to reviewyour selection of software, including the defaults you may have used for manyyears.
Accessibility
Section 508 of the Americans withDisabilities Act is expected to receive an update (“refresh”) in January; thenew rules will go into effect by mid-2017. It will be important for designersand developers to incorporate the new guidelines in eLearning created during2017. We will be publishing articles on the new rules as well as continuing Pam Hogle’s series on accessibility in LearningSolutions Magazine.
Leading thetarget: Get ready now for new developments
You must follow developments inthese technologies and concepts. Some are already in play, some are not readyfor prime time, but all of them are keys to effective learning and developmentprograms. We are already covering them in LearningSolutions Magazine, or will be in coming weeks, as well as in Guild Insightsresearch and at The eLearning Guild’s online and on-site conferences:
- xAPI and cmi5
- The “realities”:virtual, augmented, mixed
- Cloud usesfor learning
- Multimodal learning
- Mobilemicrolearning
- Spacedlearning
- Personas
Potentialdisruptor
“The gig economy” is the namegiven to a situation in which there is plentiful work, but few full-time jobs.While this may not have been a total reality in 2016, the trends toward the gigeconomy are already here, and they are growing. In an October 20 Harvard Business Review article, “Why I Tell My MBA Students to Stop Looking for a Job and Join the Gig Economy,” DianeMulcahy cites a McKinsey & Company study that says 20 to 30 percent of theworking-age population is already doing some form of independent work. The gigeconomy is not the same thing as what freelancers do. It is marked byorganizations preferring to contract with individuals rather than employingthem.
In addition to indicating a growingneed for worker retraining, this also points to the value of skills requiredfor self-directed and self-managed learning. Badges, properly supported withmetadata, and the ability of workers and employees to create and maintain theirown learning record stores (LRSs) and personal learning networks will grow inimportance as part of organizational learning strategies.
Welcome to 2017!
