1.
Learning analytics in the world of informal learning
Today's learners are prosumers, they produce and consume
content. Here's a new learning paradigm that HR should consider.
The
word "knowledge economy" has been repeated in various corporate
contexts, ad-nauseum. With the advent of technology, we are seeing a drastic
move away from group learning to individual learning. Peeling the onion
further, we see that the "knowledge worker" is an autonomous,
informal learner who will no longer be satisfied with a "one size fits
all" approach to learning.
As
this paradigm shift happens in the organizational learning landscape,
traditional approaches to evaluation of training impact and ROI assessment may
have to be re-examined. The moot question, therefore, is how learning and
development professionals can measure the effectiveness, efficiency and impact
of learning.
The need for a fresh approach to learning analytics
Traditional
models of training impact evaluation are based on the overarching assumption of
externally defined objectives, and externally driven ‘completion’ and evaluation
of the program. The most widely used Kirkpatrick model, which was developed as
early as 1959, assumes that the bulk of learning occurs through "point in
time" learning event, an assumption inconsistent with current
organizational reality.
However,
this approach is philosophically and practically inconsistent with the basic
premise of informal learning, where learners are in some sense “prosumers”
(producers and consumers) of learning content.
In
the new age learning domain, some levers that can be used for impact assessment
include self-assessments, coaching discussions, process portfolios, skills
assessments and the likes.
2.
Tackling learning challenges: ITC
Infotech’s journey
A distributed workforce and inter-generational context were
factors that needed to be accounted for in learning. Heres how the company
addressed the challenge
Until
two years ago, most of the learning initiatives at ITC Infotech, a specialized
global full-service technology solutions provider, were concentrated on
classroom-based training programs in Bangalore. A key business challenge
that the L&D department had to tackle was to deliver consistent learning
programs for all the employees spread across 18 countries and 10 global
development centers. The challenge in delivering consistent training was
accentuated by the fact that a number of employees were also working on client
engagements at a client’s location. This meant that atleast 30 percent of the
company’s workforce missed out on the necessary training requirements. In order
to tackle this challenge, we experimented with learning strategies while
keeping in mind the necessary skills, the context of an inter-generational
workforce and the various modes of learning available.
3.
How innovation in learning & technology is solving
business problems
Here's how you can revolutionize learning the digital way.
Have
you ever attended a three-day long training session where you have different
trainers trying to cram you with information using power point presentations
and exhaustive manuals? It can get exhausting and yet there are organizations
that continue to run their learning departments by diktat and tick marks as
activities that need to get done instead of focusing on letting individuals
learn at their own pace and creating the conditions for learning to stick.
With
the advent of technology and learning systems in the late 1990s, a few
organizations who could afford it moved towards generic on-premise deployed
learning systems. But with the cloud economy unfolding its umbrella over the
past 5 years, the price of access to learning systems like MOOCs and cloud learning
systems has crashed.
Today
nearly every internet user has access to learning portals and sites as diverse
as youtube.com, degreed.com and edcast.com. There are even apps for learning
and following information on things that you love.
A
study done by Deloitte has put forward some interesting facts
about learning organizations. According to the Study, only 1% of an entire work
week is the time that all employees have to focus on training and
development.
The
challenge for organizations is to maximize the beneficial use of this 1% of
employee’s time every week to the maximum?
The
solution has got to be:
Personalized -
the learner need to be in the driver’s seat and empowered to learn and the
access to the learning resource without restriction of physical location
[Smartphone]
Contextual -
the learner should be able to identify and surface the right learning needs
[pre programmed but flexible learning by role and function extensible by
learning service providers or LSPs]
Actionable -
the learner must be able to use it directly or imaginatively for real world
tasks and activities [experiential actions makes learning stick and creates
habits that are trackable]
Introducing Learning in bite-sizes
Micro-learning or
Bite-sized learning can get your employees equipped with the right learning in
the most time effective manner. What micro-learning does is cuts down massive
chunks of material into chewable bites for employees to snack on in the limited
time they have.
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