Workflow learning is something we're starting to hear a lot about. It's the concept of embedding content into the flow of work at each moment of learning need.

I think this is a great idea. But it’s not really new.  Our children are already doing this.

And, as is typical, they can't believe we haven't been taking advantage of all of the technology available to us to support our workflow all along. (Admittedly, they aren’t using these words.)

I’ll share a personal example.

Learning does not just happen. The success or failure of knowledge transfer and behavior change depends on many factors such as engaging facilitation, thoughtful instructional design, and purposeful training deployment and management. And, many would argue, that underlying all of those elements lies a bedrock of neuroscience.

Learning theories, which attempt to define how students gain, process, and retain information, have a storied and stormy history within the Learning and Development field. Some experts swear by their efficacy and rely on them heavily, while others dispel them as pseudoscience bunk.

Let us count the ways!

Valentine’s Day encourages us to fill our hearts with love and our bellies with chocolates. Not a team to ignore tradition, InSync, hit by cupid’s arrow, considered all the reasons we adore the modern blended classroom.

Whether a learner or learning industry leader, a facilitator or designer, manager or new practitioner, we can all find something that gives us training butterflies.

Behavior change is the holy grail of training. Learning and Development practitioners strive to impact business outcomes by improving the skills of our audience. Performance improvement grows out of learners truly understanding content and successfully applying it back on the job.

To achieve this goal, expert Oded Ilan believes, “we need a paradigm shift in the way that we perceive teaching and supporting people.” And that paradigm shift starts with our understanding of how our brains function in the modern workplace environment.

Global organizations are the norm now. The boundaries constraining corporate success and competition no longer fall along state, national, or continental borders. Growth, as demonstrated by companies like Amazon, Apple, and more, has no limit.

Education serves as the true competitive differentiator. Can your learning function adapt to more diverse and international workforces faster than the competition? For this reason, Diversity & Inclusion, also known as D&I, has quickly become a priority for just about every organization.

Virtually There Session recap

Have you heard? Modern learners love games. In fact, with the right design, these games have the power to increase learner engagement and boost retention.

Our organizations and stakeholders, though, often struggle to understand the value of games. “Having fun doesn’t equal skill building,” is a common refrain. How do we prove them wrong if they won’t buy in?

Take the first step by walking them through “Serious Games 101.” Andrew Hughes, President of Designing Digitally, graciously shared his serious game secrets with our Virtually There learners. This blog details the basics of serious games and game-based learning, allowing you to apply his model to your own corporate L&D.

We’ve been using virtual classroom technologies for close to 20 years now. Unfortunately, we are still holding on to a content model that insists the most important outcome is getting through all of the slides.

This webinar approach to content delivery is perhaps the most ineffective way to get information out to the world. Few of us have the motivation or concentration to focus on 60 minutes of lecture.

And, most importantly, we know that learning only "sticks" after learners have a chance to apply what they’ve learned and then reflect on the experience.

Metrics! Learning ecosystems! Informal learning! Oh my. It seems that the modern learning landscape gets more complicated by the day.

In fact, to keep up with the break-neck pace of change happening in our world, learning faces a unique challenge: practitioners need to operate and succeed in three places at one time. Our strategies, visions, and methods all need to simultaneously consider the past, present, and future.

All instructional designers have a toolkit: a set of processes, applications, and approaches they use to create modern learning programs. High-tech, low-tech, paid, or free, they rely on a myriad of sources to design training that sticks.

While toolkits may vary, many instructional designers face a common obstacle: communication. How do we make sure that our stakeholders and teams understand the design vision, execution plan, and associated benefits? More often than not, designers spend a majority of their time in meetings, talking about the nitty gritty details and the high-level overview of programs. Every element discussed and revisited. Designers, by default, can’t extract themselves from their work.

Virtually There Session Recap

The last ten years brought us a digital revolution. New technologies and applications changed the way we live our lives. More interestingly, perhaps, is the impact this decade has had on how we behave. As consumers, we are radically different than previous generations. We want effective solutions to our problems immediately, and thanks to platforms like Amazon, that’s not an unreasonable request.

Did you know that this consumerism has spilled into how we learn? In fact, as guest Virtually There speaker Treion Muller recently pointed out, seven consumer realities specifically impact learning and development, creating challenges for L&D professionals in this space.

What pain points are we experiencing? Treion posed this exact question to his learners and shared his expertise for overcoming them. Two questions in particular caught my attention, and Treion’s answers may help you improve the functionality of learning within your organization.