What did you learn today?
The daily question, in a world where content is king and we are overwhelmed with online learning in various forms. 185,000 online courses available, a claim from one UK provider. And that’s without YouTube or TikTok content. It’s mind boggling how much is available for consumption.
An amazing digital world where we can find out how to do just about anything, given access to the internet.
1.4 million downloads of Duolingo in 2021, the top learning app in the UK, and I’m not surprised. As one of those household’s who added to that download number, I’m a huge fan. It does what it says it does; and has been a pivotal learning solution to help my son improve his French language skills.The appeal likely to be the compelling interface and effective instructional design.
When e-learning overwhelms
Where the sheer volume of content out there has amplified the need for filters, editorial efforts and the application of instructional design. So that content is not just entertaining but provides a solution and fundamentally evokes change. Change that enables a shift in behaviour, the permanency dictated by the potency of the content.
Yet, sometimes it is so difficult to find the answer to the question we ask or the problem we have. And this can be an expensive experience. Whether wasted time sifting through videos, particularly when distracted by the hilarious and strange of youtube. Or clicking through another content packed, time-sucking and most definitely soul squashing information dump. Time is money, and for a business, that can be very steep.
So let’s change the question. What is the problem? A clearly defined, real, tangible problem. How can we improve performance and be aligned to business needs, that may not even need training as the solution? Back in 2017, Cathy Moore published a new way of designing corporate elearning with the goal of solving business problems by changing job behaviour, through the design approach, action mapping. Fundamentally putting the improvement of business performance as the goal, focusing on what people need to do by solving problems and not training round them. Designing experiences and not delivering an information dump. Where training is not an event but a stream of activities, delivered at the right time and in the best format. Saving time, money and delivering business improvement. What’s not to like?
If you’re keen to find out the next time you ‘need a course’ and before investing in another round of employee training, start with your end in mind and work with a learning designer who puts improving business performance at the forefront and quite possibly will save you, and the world from yet more boring training.