Workplace learning trends 2018 — from elearninglearning.com

Excerpt:

The beginning of a year is a great time to take stock of the year gone by and plan for the year ahead. In this blog post, we will have a quick glimpse of what we believe would be some of the key trends in workplace learning this year.

 

 

 

 

Also see:

Learning Experience Design Trends For 2018 — from elearninglearning.com. & theelearningcoach.com by
8 Ways Things are Changing for Practitioners

Here are the trends I’ve been seeing, reading and hearing about.

  1. Integrating Learning with Work
  2. From Instructional Designer to Learning Experience Designer
  3. ADDIE Who?
  4. Embracing Design Thinking
  5. Increased Awareness of Universal Design
  6. Working Out Loud Circles
  7. Seeing the Value in Metrics
  8. Openness to All Types of Learning Experiences

 

 

 

DC: The next generation learning platform will likely offer us such virtual reality-enabled learning experiences such as this “flight simulator for teachers.”

Virtual reality simulates classroom environment for aspiring teachers — from phys.org by Charles Anzalone, University at Buffalo

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Two University at Buffalo education researchers have teamed up to create an interactive classroom environment in which state-of-the-art virtual reality simulates difficult student behavior, a training method its designers compare to a “flight simulator for teachers.”

The new program, already earning endorsements from teachers and administrators in an inner-city Buffalo school, ties into State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher’s call for innovative teaching experiences and “immersive” clinical experiences and teacher preparation.

The training simulator Lamb compared to a teacher flight simulator uses an emerging computer technology known as virtual reality. Becoming more popular and accessible commercially, virtual reality immerses the subject in what Lamb calls “three-dimensional environments in such a way where that environment is continuous around them.” An important characteristic of the best virtual reality environments is a convincing and powerful representation of the imaginary setting.

 

Also related/see:

 

  • TeachLive.org
    TLE TeachLivE™ is a mixed-reality classroom with simulated students that provides teachers the opportunity to develop their pedagogical practice in a safe environment that doesn’t place real students at risk.  This lab is currently the only one in the country using a mixed reality environment to prepare or retrain pre-service and in-service teachers. The use of TLE TeachLivE™ Lab has also been instrumental in developing transition skills for students with significant disabilities, providing immediate feedback through bug-in-ear technology to pre-service teachers, developing discrete trial skills in pre-service and in-service teachers, and preparing teachers in the use of STEM-related instructional strategies.

 

 

 

 

 

This start-up uses virtual reality to get your kids excited about learning chemistry — from Lora Kolodny and Erin Black

  • MEL Science raised $2.2 million in venture funding to bring virtual reality chemistry lessons to schools in the U.S.
  • Eighty-two percent of science teachers surveyed in the U.S. believe virtual reality content can help their students master their subjects.

 

This start-up uses virtual reality to get your kids excited about learning chemistry from CNBC.

 

 


From DSC:
It will be interesting to see all the “places” we will be able to go and interact within — all from the comfort of our living rooms! Next generation simulators should be something else for teaching/learning & training-related purposes!!!

The next gen learning platform will likely offer such virtual reality-enabled learning experiences, along with voice recognition/translation services and a slew of other technologies — such as AI, blockchain*, chatbots, data mining/analytics, web-based learner profiles, an online-based marketplace supported by the work of learning-based free agents, and others — running in the background. All of these elements will work to offer us personalized, up-to-date learning experiences — helping each of us stay relevant in the marketplace as well as simply enabling us to enjoy learning about new things.

But the potentially disruptive piece of all of this is that this next generation learning platform could create an Amazon.com of what we now refer to as “higher education.”  It could just as easily serve as a platform for offering learning experiences for learners in K-12 as well as the corporate learning & development space.

 

I’m tracking these developments at:
http://danielschristian.com/thelivingclassroom/

 

 

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 


*  Also see:


Blockchain, Bitcoin and the Tokenization of Learning — from edsurge.com by Sydney Johnson

Excerpt:

In 2014, Kings College in New York became the first university in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin for tuition payments, a move that seemed more of a PR stunt than the start of some new movement. Much has changed since then, including the value of Bitcoin itself, which skyrocketed to more than $19,000 earlier this month, catapulting cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.

A handful of other universities (and even preschools) now accept Bitcoin for tuition, but that’s hardly the extent of how blockchains and tokens are weaving their way into education: Educators and edtech entrepreneurs are now testing out everything from issuing degrees on the blockchain to paying people in cryptocurrency for their teaching.

 

 

 

 

Putting lifelong learning on the CEO agenda — from mckinsey.com by Amy Edmondson and Bror Saxberg
In an open letter to business leaders, a Harvard Business School professor and a learning engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative present an emphatic case to make learning a corporate priority.

Excerpt:

If you are anything like most corporate leaders we know, you say (and mean) the right things when it comes to learning, such as “Our people are our most valuable asset, and their development is a top priority.” But if you are honest with yourself, you also know that your actions often emphasize financial over human capital, and you may leave it to individuals to find the learning opportunities they need. That worked, sort of, when people spent most of their time “doing” rather than “thinking,” “creating,” or “deciding.”

But times are changing. Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are facilitating the automation of a growing number of “doing” tasks. Today’s AI-enabled, information-rich tools are increasingly able to handle jobs that in the past have been exclusively done by people—think tax returns, language translations, accounting, even some kinds of surgery. These shifts will produce massive disruptions to employment and hold enormous implications for you as a business leader.

Both of us are educators, with decades of experience working with businesses. We write this letter not to criticize but to make the case for why a new emphasis on lifelong learning is going to become increasingly central to your job: maximizing the value and impact of your organization.

We are not seers. Still, one thing is clear. In the future, more and more of your people will need to use complex cognitive skills for more and more of their time. Some are already comfortable with this; some are not. As stewards of your company’s value, you need to understand how to get your people ready—not because it’s a nice thing to do but because the competitive advantage of early adopters of advanced algorithms and robotics will rapidly diminish. Simply put, companies will differentiate themselves not just by having the tools but by how their people interact with those tools and make the complex decisions that they must make in the course of doing their work. The greater the use of information-rich tools, the more important the decisions are that are still made by people. That, in turn, increases the importance of continuous learning. Workers, managers, and executives need to keep up with the machines and be able to interpret their results.

 

 

 

 

 

Curated Content & Conversations from Learning 2017
This 30-page eBook is packed with content, context, conversations, video links, and curated resources that include:

  • Learning Perspectives from Michelle Obama, John Lithgow, Julian Stodd, Christine McKinley, and other Learning 2017 Keynotes
  • Graphic Illustrations from Deirdre Crowley, Crowley & Co.
  • Video Links for Content Segments
  • Learning Perspectives from Elliott Masie
  • Segments focusing on:
  • Curation & Learning
  • “Micro” & Compressed Learning
  • Performance Support
  • Mobile Learning
  • Learning Design
  • Learning Strategy
  • Leadership Development
  • Gaming & Gamification for Learning
  • Escape Rooms for Learning
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Storytelling
  • and much more!

 

 

 

Udemy for Business Unveils Team Plan, a New Learning Product Designed Specifically for Small & Midsize Businesses — from globenewswire.com
Team Plan enables organizations of any size to invest in their employees’ skills development by providing quick, easy access to top-rated courses without the hassle of contracts

Excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Udemy, the global marketplace for learning and teaching online, today introduced Team Plan, a new corporate learning product from Udemy for Business designed specifically to help teams of 5-20 employees master new skills. With Team Plan, managers are able to easily purchase subscriptions to a curated selection of more than 2,000 top courses from the Udemy marketplace for their team and immediately gain access to learning content without a time-consuming contracting process.

Udemy is unveiling Team Plan at a time when more workers are feeling pressure to keep up with changing job requirements. A recent Udemy survey revealed that nearly 80% of Americans agree there is a skills gap, and more than a third (35%) say it affects them personally. More than a quarter of U.S. employees also believe that employers should take responsibility for reskilling the workforce. Team Plan is an easy-to-use and affordable subscription-based solution that lets internal departments and small businesses offer employees on-demand access to quality learning content that they can use to gain new skills and apply what they learn immediately.

 

 

 

 LinkedIn’s 2017 U.S. Emerging Jobs Report

 

LinkedIn’s 2017 U.S. Emerging Jobs Report — from economicgraph.linkedin.com

Excerpt:

Here’s what we found:

  • Tech is king: Jobs with the top growth potential are tech-focused, with demand coming from tech and non-tech companies alike. Machine learning engineer, data scientist, and big data engineers rank among the top emerging jobs — with companies in a wide range of industries seeking those skills.
  • Soft skills matter: Not all of the emerging tech jobs require technical skills. Sales development representative, customer success manager, and brand partner rank among the top emerging jobs at companies where a technical background is not a necessity. Traditional soft skills like communication and management underpin all of these emerging jobs.
  • Jobs with high mobility on the rise: Several top emerging jobs reflect broader societal trends, such as wellness, flexibility and location mobility. More people are getting healthy which could explain why barre instructor featured among our emerging jobs. Not quite as surprising, licensed realtors ranked highly as the post-Great Recession recovery of the real estate market rolls forward. Just in the past year, the number of licensed realtors has surged 40 percent. These type of roles tend to be more widely distributed across U.S. regions.
  • Low supply of talent for top jobs: Data scientist roles have grown over 650 percent since 2012, but currently 35,000 people in the US have data science skills, while hundreds of companies are hiring for those roles – even those you may not expect in sectors like retail and finance – supply of candidates for these roles cannot keep up with demand.
  • Future-proofing skills is critical: Some of these emerging skills didn’t even exist five years ago, and many professionals are not confident their current skill set will be relevant within the next 1-2 years.

 

top 20 fastest growing jobs in the united states

 

Software engineers are feeding into nearly all of these emerging jobs.

 

 

Even further, it’s estimated that 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately hold jobs that don’t yet exist.

 

 

Future-proofing skills is critical: Some of these emerging skills didn’t even exist five years ago, and many professionals are not confident their current skill set will be relevant within the next 1-2 years.

 

 

 

Also see:

 

 

 

 

 

From DSC:
In this video, I look at how the pace of change has changed and I also provide some examples that back up this assertion. I end with a series of relevant questions, especially for those of us working within higher education.

What are we doing to get ready for the massive change that’s heading our way?

 

 

How AI-powered enterprise chatbot platforms are transforming the future of work — from chatbotsmagazine.com by Gina Shaw

Excerpts:

WHAT IS AN ENTERPRISE CHATBOT PLATFORM?
To sum it up in a few words, a chatbot platform is a toolset which is used to build and deploy chatbots. Every organization has its own set of unique challenges that can be overcome by convenient automation provided by chatbots. After establishing a clear-cut chatbot strategy, enterprises can use a bot builder platform to build, train and manage customized bots. Before the advent of chatbot platforms, building a bot was a strenuous task and required sophisticated toolsets and advanced coding knowledge. However with time, several bot building platforms flooded the chatbot market and led to the creation of safe AI bots which need minimum deployment time and almost zero coding knowledge. Enterprise chatbot platforms also allow IT departments to have complete control and access to monitoring bots.

 

From DSC:
It is with some hesitation that I post this article. Why? Because:

  1. I started out my career in a customer service related position at Baxter Healthcare, and it was one of the most important jobs that I’ve had because it taught me the value of a customer. Ever since then, I have treated everyone as my customer — whether they be internal or external to the organization that I was working for.
  2. Then, there’s the idea of calling a Voice Response Unit (VRU) — which sometimes works well and sometimes I can’t stand it. There are times when I/we simply want to speak to a fellow human being.

So it is with some hesitation that I post this article. But I do so because it is yet another example of:

  • The increased usage of algorithms, software, bots, personal assistants, AI, etc. to obtain answers and information
  • The changing skillset employees will need and job seekers may want to develop (if such things are interesting to them)
  • The massive changes heading our way

 

 

 

Six common micro-learning myths — from linkedin.com by Clive Shepherd

Excerpt:

Micro-learning can justifiably be accused of being the latest digital learning bandwagon, here today, gone tomorrow. Real cynics might regard it as just another way of re-branding self-study e-learning, a medium which has spent too long in the compliance ghetto and has suffered in terms of popularity as a result.

I am not one of those cynics. I believe there is ample evidence to show how, when it is designed and implemented well, it can achieve great results. But it is not a panacea and works best as a strategic element in an overall architecture for workplace learning.

Before we can reach that happy state of affairs we need to agree our terminology and then lay bare the most common myths about how micro-learning works. I’ve come with six ideas that need some careful examination.

 

 

 

Dougiamas shares some #’s about Moodle’s results, future. MoodleMoot US 2017 – Miami — from moodlenews.com

Excerpt:

The projects Moodle HQ is leading from now on, MoodleCloud, Moodle.net, Learn Moodle, and the learning platform itself, as well as a new “Moodle Services” with details to come, are also part of Dougiamas’ goal to make Moodle a complete source, rather than just a software program, in the minds of users everywhere.

MoodleCloud has 25,000 sites. He admits it is not a product for large organizations, “not that it has stopped people from trying.”

Moodle.net is one of the areas with the most active development. Dougiamas suggested it will feature a sort of “social network for teachers” that they can access from their institutional Moodle sites or use as a content exchange. It will have its own app.

 

 

 

From DSC:
I’m posting this in an effort to:

  • Help students learn how to learn
  • Help students achieve the greatest possible returns on their investments (both their $$ and their time) when they are trying to learn about new things

I’d like to thank Mr. William Knapp, Executive Director at GRCC for Distance Learning & Instructional Technology, for sharing this resource on Twitter.


A better way to study through self-testing and distributed practice — from kqed.org

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

As I prepared to write this column, I relied on some pretty typical study techniques. First, as I’ve done since my student days, I generously highlighted key information in my background reading. Along the way, I took notes, many of them verbatim, which is a snap with digital copying and pasting. (Gotta love that command-C, command-V.) Then I reread my notes and highlights. Sound familiar? Students everywhere embrace these techniques and yet, as it turns out, they are not particularly good ways to absorb new material. At least not if that’s all you do.

Researchers have devoted decades to studying how to study. The research literature is frankly overwhelming. Luckily for all of us, the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest published a review article a few years ago that remains the most comprehensive guide out there. Its 47 pages hold valuable lessons for learners of any age and any subject — especially now, with end-of-semester exams looming.

The authors examined ten different study techniques, including highlighting, rereading, taking practice tests, writing summaries, explaining the content to yourself or another person and using mnemonic devices. They drew on the results of nearly 400 prior studies. Then, in an act of boldness not often seen in academic research, they actually awarded ratings: high, low or moderate utility.

The study strategies that missed the top rating weren’t necessarily ineffective, explains the lead author John Dunlosky, a psychology professor at Kent State University, but they lacked sufficient evidence of efficacy, or were proven useful only in certain areas of study or with certain types of students. “We were trying to find strategies that have a broad impact across all domains for all students,” Dunlosky says, “so it was a pretty tough rating scale.”

 

In fact, only two techniques got the top rating: practice testing and “distributed practice,” which means scheduling study activities over a period of time — the opposite of cramming.

Practice testing can take many forms: flashcards, answering questions at the end of a textbook chapter, tackling review quizzes online. Research shows it works well for students from preschool through graduate and professional education.

Testing yourself works because you have to make the effort to pull information from your memory — something we don’t do when we merely review our notes or reread the textbook.


As for distributed practice vs. cramming, Dunlosky and his fellow authors write that “cramming is better than not studying at all,” but if you are going to devote four or five hours to studying for your biology mid-term, you would you be far better off spacing them out over a several days or weeks. “You get much more bang for your buck if you space,” Dunlosky told me.

 

 

Also see:

Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques — from journals.sagepub.com by John Dunlosky, Katherine A. Rawson, Elizabeth J. Marsh, Mitchell J. Nathan, and Daniel T. Willingham
Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology

Excerpt:

In this monograph, we discuss 10 learning techniques in detail and offer recommendations about their relative utility. We selected techniques that were expected to be relatively easy to use and hence could be adopted by many students. Also, some techniques (e.g., highlighting and rereading) were selected because students report relying heavily on them, which makes it especially important to examine how well they work. The techniques include elaborative interrogation, self-explanation, summarization, highlighting (or underlining), the keyword mnemonic, imagery use for text learning, rereading, practice testing, distributed practice, and interleaved practice.

 

 

 

In fact, only two techniques got the top rating: practice testing and “distributed practice,” which means scheduling study activities over a period of time — the opposite of cramming.

 

 

From DSC:
This is yet another reason that I like the approach of using streams of content to help people learn something new. Because you can implement distributed practice, encourage recall, etc. when you put the content out there at regular intervals.

 

 

 

Augmented Reality: Remote Assistance and Maintenance Overview — from wikitude.com by Camila Kohles

Excerpts:

Make no mistake, the fourth industrial revolution is upon us. While conservative industries are simply observing the action from the sidelines, leading 4.0 industries are already reaping the benefits of their investments in augmented reality (AR) enhanced MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) practices.

Continue reading to learn more about how augmented reality is taking preventive, corrective and predictive maintenance procedures to the next level.

General Benefits of Augmented Reality Maintenance

  • Reduced human errors
  • Reduced execution time
  • Reduced breakdowns
  • Reduced downtime
  • Reduced cost
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased operation speed
  • Increased fix rates
  • Increased compliance
  • Increased profit

Don’t take our word for it. Controlled augmented reality case studies:

  • Boeing cut its wiring production time by 25% and reduced error rates effectively to zero.
  • GE Aviation experiences an average of 8-12 % in efficiency improvement.
  • GE Healthcare warehouse workers had a 46% increase in productivity using AR.
  • GE Renewable Energy wiring technicians are yielding a 34% increase in productivity.

As they say, numbers don’t lie. Considering such attractive advantages and adding to the fact that large-scale factory breakdowns are often far more costly than maintaining a regular MRO program, more and more AR maintenance use cases are coming to life.

 

via GIPHY

 

 

The Trillion Dollar 3D Telepresence Gold Mine — from forbes.com by Charlie Fink

Excerpt:

Similarly, messaging and social media are the killer apps of smartphones. Our need to connect with other people follows us, no matter where technology takes us. New technology succeeds when it makes what we are already doing better, cheaper, and faster. It naturally follows that Telepresence should likewise be one of the killer apps for both AR and VR. A video of Microsoft Research’s 2016 Holoportation experiment suggests Microsoft must have been working on this internally for some time, maybe even before the launch of the HoloLens itself.

Telepresence, meaning to be electronically present elsewhere, is not a new idea. As a result, the term describes a broad range of approaches to virtual presence.  It breaks down into six main types:

 

Our need to connect with other people follows us, no matter where technology takes us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Corporate World Moves Toward Curated ‘Microlearning,’ Higher Ed Must Adapt — from edsurge.com by Sean Gallagher

Excerpt:

Just outside the walls of the ivory tower, a transformation is underway in the world of corporate learning, and those of us at colleges and universities should pay attention.

Corporate learning and development, often referred to as L&D, is radically different than just a few years ago. Meanwhile, the education dialogue has shifted to a focus on employment-related themes such as competencies and skills.

“Businesses today have to be more agile and have to be able to pivot—access to content needs to be very rapid,” says Lori Bradley, executive vice president for global talent management at PVH Corp, a publicly- traded fashion and apparel company with 35,000 employees. “Priorities and jobs are changing more quickly, so we need an agile learning environment that anticipates what learning needs will be, and where we can quickly access them.”

The typical employee has one percent of their time available for learning, according to research by Bersin by Deloitte.

When there’s a need for information or new skills, employees today are increasingly turning to instantly accessible sources such as search engines and online course libraries available on their mobile devices. “Before, our only options were to send people to a training, sit in a course, and learn the material–whether from a university or a week-long certification,” says Shelly Holt, vice president of global learning for SAP, a leading enterprise-software company. “Information today is pushed so quickly at people that the landscape has fundamentally changed.”

 

 

We need to think more in terms of providing streams of content -- Daniel Christian

 

 

In a world where content is more commoditized, today’s corporate L&D market is increasingly driven by the curation of external content and learning—rather than investment in formal training programs and traditional course libraries. As Lori Bradley, of PVH, describes, “for our people moving at the speed of business, they need to access the content when they need it. We’re moving toward microlearning — 90 minute or shorter sessions.”

 

 

Second, in this changing landscape, colleges and universities that seek to meet corporate needs must move beyond monolithic programs and think in terms of competencies, unbundling curriculum, modularizing and “microlearning.”

 

 

 

The future of work: How artificial intelligence will transform the employee experience — from forbes.com by Jeanne Meister

Excerpt:

Artificial Intelligence is on the verge of penetrating every major industry from healthcare to advertising, transportation, finance, legal, education, and now inside the workplace. Many of us may have already interacted with a chatbot (defined as an automated, yet personalized, conversation between software and human users) whether it’s on Facebook Messenger to book a hotel room or ordering flowers through 1-800 flowers. According to Facebook Vice President, David Marcus, there are now more than 100,000 chatbots on the Facebook Messenger platform, up from 33,000 in 2016.

As we increase the usage of chatbots in our personal lives, we will expect to use them in the workplace to assist us with things like finding new jobs, answering frequently asked HR related questions or even receiving coaching and mentoring.  Chatbots digitize HR processes and enable employees to access HR solutions from anywhere. Using artificial intelligence in HR will create a more seamless employee experience, one that is nimbler and more user driven.

 

 

 

 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian