Virtually There Session Recap

Does your organization’s learning function struggle to improve long-term performance of employees? Would it surprise you that this result occurs with consistent frequency?

After nearly four decades of experience in L&D, thought leader Bob Mosher has witnessed the disappointing phenomenon over and over again. The traditional model of training does not serve our learners and their needs. So what can we do to move from training to knowledge transfer and sustained improvement? Bob advocates for using The 5 Moments of Need™ – a model he not only applies to his work, but that he created with his colleague Dr. Conrad Gottfredson.

Learning is a process.

As workplaces rapidly evolve to adapt to changing market dynamics, skill building must change too. Trainers work to support technical and soft-skill improvement within the same program.

How can we balance both? By using learning campaigns.

Virtually There Session Recap

The future of learning is blended. As content becomes more complex, learner attention spans shorten, and new technologies emerge, a combination approach to training offers engagement and impact.

But what stars need to align in order to create an effective blend? Expert Dr. Rebecca Sutherns joined the Virtually There series to share five case studies from her career that defined her personal best practices. Four success factors proved particularly pertinent to our processes.

With plenty of new instructional strategies, techniques, and technologies available to us to create modern learning, it seems creating a comprehensive and instructionally sound blended learning solution should be fairly easy.

But it’s not.

Simply stringing together a bunch of learning assets into the curriculum isn’t enough to encourage individuals to complete the blend. That’s because blended learning is much more than content associated with a common theme. Blended learning should create a purposeful learning journey; a journey in which the traveler recognizes the value of each step along the way.

The design and implementation of blended learning includes many moving parts. We consider the LMS that will host all the content, and the virtual classroom platform on which we will deliver live online components. We consider our learners, and the skills they need to build, and the wisdom they already possess. We also consider where learning will happen – whether in a classroom, on a mobile device, at a learner’s desk, or on-the-job.

One element we often overlook, though? Time. By not thinking through how learning takes place, we limit the potential of our programs.

If you were unfamiliar with L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz and read a description of the elements of the story, you’d likely see a list something like the following:

• a haunted castle with flying monkeys, a poppy field
• a tornado in Kansas, a village populated by wee folk
• a forest of talking foul-tempered trees
• a cornfield with a sentient scarecrow
• and a yellow brick road (YBR for short).

We spend a lot of time at InSync considering how to design, develop, and deliver great virtual and blended learning solutions.  But how do we know they are, indeed, GREAT?

Creating content is only half of the learning development story. The other half is developing a plan for evaluating the learning. This requires crafting tools used to gather feedback that informs whether learners actually learned, as well as to determine to what extent learners apply what they learned in the workplace. An evaluation should also include on-the-job feedback as learners use newly acquired skills and knowledge.

Our learners face a chaotic, complex, and overloaded world. They can (and do) access information immediately when they need it, and often dread training because they see it as a distraction from their pressing responsibilities.

So how do we encourage enthusiasm and participation in formal learning programs? Through contextualization and authenticity.

Ultimately, it comes down to strong instructional design.

Should you add “content strategist” to your modern learning repertoire? Learning and Development practitioners hear about emerging trends and “mission-critical” professional development regularly.

New design methodologies, exciting EdTech options, cutting edge learner engagement approaches pop up on a daily basis, all claiming to cure common training challenges.

However the idea of including one more responsibility to an already full roster of responsibility likely won’t wind up on the top of your to-do list.

Another year has come and gone. This time of year encourages reflection, both personal and professional, causing the InSync Team to ask questions such as:

• What did I learn this year?
• How did training evolve?
• Which developments resonated with modern learners?
• Where did learning provide innovative value to our companies?

For us, 2018 marked a widespread shift towards truly blended learning. Organizations, learners, and practitioners alike began to embrace the possibility of building skills outside of formal events. Complex, purposeful, and at times frustrating, the evolution to the new blended reality required us all to consider a handful of key elements: modern learners, engaging facilitation, comprehensive instructional design, and planning for the unexpected.