It’s that time of year again which can only mean one thing; In this short blog post I have picked five key trends that we would expect to have an impact on eLearning in 2019.
1. Microlearning
As expected, we have seen a strong trend in microlearning during 2018 and expect this to continue into 2019 and beyond. We have worked with many organisations during the last year who have seen microlearning as an important solution for their learners to progress through modules quickly with the advantage of repeating the learning many times.
This type of bite-sized learning has already become a strong trend as organisations see the advantages of this new way of delivering targeted and objective specific knowledge in short, focused bursts. Some specific benefits include knowledge retention, learner-centric and just-in-time learning.
2. Big Data
We see that L&D teams are on the look-out for measures to evaluate the effectiveness of learning. With regards to the eLearning industry, big data is the data that is created by learners while undertaken eLearning modules. Earlier this year, we became partners with IntelliBoard and have since been engaged with clients and discussing the advantages of having more advanced learning analytics and reporting functionalities. Central to all these discussions was the ability to quickly identify at risk learners.
Big Data can assist organisations in identifying inconsistencies in a course’s difficulty curve, pointing out areas that were too simple for most users, and parts that seemed to slow progress due to a level of difficulty. L&D now require reporting and analytics to be presented in formats that are relevant for analysis, decision making, and quick action. We would expect that big data requirements will continue to evolve during 2019 and will become an essential requirement for organisations wishing to see a greater return of investment for their L&D budget.
3. Developing competencies for future organisational goals and mentoring programmes
The traditional annual performance review is being replaced by dynamic systems that give you the ability to give feedback on an ongoing basis. Organisations are rethinking their talent management programs and are looking at ways in which to use competencies to meet today’s common business challenges.
One organisation that we have been working with are using Aura Talent to identify the top performers in specific competencies and turn them into effective mentors in that particular competency. Additionally, organisations are using their competency frameworks to strategically deliver tailored individual learning plans that action skills gaps that were identified during benchmarking. This encourages individual accountability and gives employees control over their career paths.
4. Artificial Intelligence
AI has certainly been on our radar during this year and is definitely an area to keep an eye on during 2019. L&D teams are now providing innovative solutions to their learners, once such example is chat bots that guide learners through learning paths through various courses, personalising the training for the learner. Enovation recently worked with a client in developing an intelligent chatbot that acts as support for technical queries. This has greatly reduced administration from the L&D team while providing an enhanced user experience for their learners.
5. Mobile Learning
We stated at the beginning of 2018 that mobile learning would be in demand and this prediction has certainly been accurate, our content team have seen a rise in requirements for mobile learning and we believe that this will continue during 2019 as employees take advantage of learning that fits with their busy schedules. Now that responsive authoring technologies are more embedded in the industry, we predict the rise of real mobile learning design in 2019.
These learning and development trends provide a good indication of where the training industry is heading next year. It is mainly about just-in-time learning, big data, AI and making the most of today’s emerging technologies.
