Training success relies heavily on the audience. If participants don’t believe content connects to their needs, they will not engage.

And can you blame them? We all feel like we have many projects, tasks, and responsibilities. We simply do not have the time to invest in an event that we perceive as irrelevant.

This post is part of an occasional series “Advice from the Virtual Trenches” where we share real lessons learned when virtual and blended learning didn’t go as planned.

Virtual classrooms have been available to training organizations for over 20 years. As someone who has specialized in this domain during that entire time, I tend to forget that not every organization has adopted virtual training as an acceptable alternative to more traditional approaches.

I was definitely reminded of this recently when we worked with a global organization to implement their first substantive virtual training project.

In thinking about leadership and learning in the era of the four-generation workplace, no shortage of frustrations exists. Technology changes, “cool” workspaces, and operational processes are constantly evolving.

Everything feels more complicated, and learning faces the unique challenge of equipping and empowering our colleagues for success in this new environment. It’s quite simple to chalk up learner disengagement – especially that of the millennial employee – to a “person” problem.

But what if it’s a “perspective” problem?

Virtually There session recap

Twenty years ago, if a student needed information to complete an assignment, they would turn to their teacher, the Encyclopedia Britannica, or a library’s card catalog to find the answer. Today, a very different reality exists for modern learners. We hold the world’s information literally at our finger tips, thanks to the advent of Google and the prevalence of mobile devices and computers.

It’s very exciting to learn about and invest in the latest trends in educational technology. Who among us hasn’t been swept up by the allure of gamification, the promise of curation, and a desire to embed microlearning at every conceivable moment of learning need? 

No matter how enticing these new ideas might be, we are always (rightly) concerned about adoption. If we don’t implement well, these new technologies and instructional strategies will seem like just the latest trend, easily ignored while we all default to our normal, familiar learning mode: instructor-led. 

And, people are generally happy with that. We know how to learn in a classroom. We know how to teach in a classroom. 

It takes a modern learning culture to support modern educational technologies and instructional techniques. Unfortunately, many organizations are living in the past. While training success doesn’t depend on deploying the latest trends, and outdated learning culture can hinder employee, program, and organizational success.  

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the modern classroom. What makes it different? How is it the same?

There’s also been discussion about the fact that the way people learn in this modern classroom has not actually changed at all. Learners still need relevant, timely, and well-designed content. The foundational concepts behind adult learning principles still apply.

I happen to agree with that. There’s a reason everything old is new again. What we used to call performance support, many now call microlearning. Reusable learning objects are also now microlearning. What we used to call “chunking” is now spaced learning. Case studies and role-plays now fall under the umbrella of simulations.

Research and experience have taught us a lot about how people learn, and what strategies in instructional techniques best enable that learning.

BYTE Session Recap

As we start to build our relationship with our learners, we want to ensure they turn to us and our resources when they encounter a challenge or have a question on the job. How do we do that?

In her recent InSync BYTE series event, Modern Learning is Perpetual Learning - How Do We Become the "Google" of Learning?, Jennifer Hofmann answers this exact question. This blog details her proven six step approach.

Watch Jennifer’s entire session for insight into the reality of learning today, complex content in the age of internet search, and creating learning campaigns. To watch the recording, click here. 

How are you handling all of the changes in the new Learning and Development landscape?

If you’re like me, you’re realizing that having a narrow professional focus isn’t an option anymore. Instead, you’re broadening your approach in order to stay current.

The Modern Classroom

Thanks to the introduction of new methodologies and technologies to our toolkits, the time for specialization has passed. Today, everything in learning is blended. Experiences aren’t standalone anymore. Formal learning now includes in-person events that have supportive eLearning modules and virtual classroom training sessions. And don’t forget: these blended learning experiences also include informal learning.

Mimeo Webinar Recap & Follow-Up

Recently, the InSync team partnered with Mimeo to explore the current climate of corporate learning. We crafted a survey that asked questions about organization learning and the experiences of practitioners in the field. Over four hundred respondents completed the questionnaire, and their insights laid the foundation for our joint eBook, The State of Learning & Development in 2016.

Readers found the facts presented in this report both insightful and reassuring. We believed, though, that providing context and recommended application approaches for the empirical information was a critical next step. For this reason, Mimeo hosted me and their VP of Talent Development, Brad Thurber, so we could share our insights into the data we collected.

This blog answers attendee questions concerning the major trends deemed key by the study, and directs you to helpful resources that complement the survey results and webinar discussion. To get the most from this post, watch the webinar recording here and download the complimentary eBook here.

Training Magazine Network Session Recap 

Several months ago, Jennifer Hofmann’s presentation “How to Engage Modern Learners,” explored the differences between Push training and Pull learning. Traditional training focuses on the Push – formal scheduled programs that provide planned, siloed instruction. Pull learning, on the other hand, uses a decentralized, learner-centric approach to make content readily available in a specific moment of learning need. Both Push and Pull play key roles in the modern learning culture.

Training Magazine Network’s audience found this learning event so helpful, they invited Jennifer back to present “Pulling Learners to Your Content: How to Make it Work” on June 8. In this follow-up session, Jennifer discussed learner engagement in modern workplace learning, the five moments of need learners experience, and moving Pull learning from theory to practice.

This blog post shares a step-by-step approach you can use for creating microlearning Push activities, as well as an example of how to do so. To review all of the information covered in the June 8^th session, access the full recording here.