Information technologies are changing almost every aspect of our lives. From communication to finance, you can use digital tools to speed up and improve your business. The trend did not bypass the learning industry, so now you can utilize online mechanisms to improve the skills of your employees and boost their productivity.
A report shows that eLearning produces an 18% increase in employee engagement in the workplace. At the same time, the process requires up to 60% less employee time than learning the same material in a traditional classroom setting.
These and many other studies prove the power of digital learning, so the only dilemma is which trends to embrace in this field. Our post will show you how to improve your training strategy using the nine most effective trends in eLearning.
Table of contents
- Adaptive learning
- Online tutoring
- Micro-learning
- Social learning
- Video-based learning
- Gamification
- Mobile learning
- Performance support tools
- Virtual reality
- Conclusion
1. Adaptive learning
Adaptive learning is the state of the art teaching model that relies on computer algorithms to deliver customized learning experience. The system is able to analyze learner's behavior based on the set of answers, tests, and professional experiences. Generally speaking, it's a three-step analysis:
- Performance: It is necessary to understand the current knowledge of a participant.
- Behavior: The system measures the time needed to answer all inquiries.
- Information: A trainee explains how she/he feels about certain materials or content types.
That way, it is possible to fine-tune the learning program so as to fit the specific needs of a trainee.
2. Online tutoring
Hiring an expert to teach your employees can be extremely challenging organization-wise. This is particularly the case with complex industries where you can't find too many specialists and industry thought leaders. This is why online tutoring is getting more important as part of the eLearning business. Using this mechanism, you can arrange every detail effortlessly - from schedules through timing to implementation, online tutoring is making the whole process simpler.
3. Micro-learning
If you want to help workers acquire a highly specific skill, then micro-learning might be the right tactic for your business. It's one of the trends in education technology that focuses on small segments of training in order to narrow down the options and encourage a trainee to reach a very practical and actionable goal.
As such, micro-learning is based on short training phases and lasts up to 10 minutes per session. While it's not the best option for comprehensive learning subjects, it is valuable if you want to:
- Achieve specific goals extremely quickly
- Give employees valuable information when it matters the most
- Personalize the learning model to match a concrete position
- Save time needed for eLearning
4. Social learning
Social learning is another one of educational technology examples, but it's very practical due to its range and accessibility. As all of your employees probably have at least one social profile (or just use the Internet regularly), you can make use of it to promote social learning among your team members.
First of all, they can join social groups, online discussions, and forums dedicated to your niche. Secondly, you can encourage workers to participate in Q/A website communities such as Quora where they can answer industry-related inquiries, post comments, or ask their own questions.
5. Video-based learning
Why would you hire a tutor multiple times if you can just use video materials anytime you need it? Video-based learning is getting increasingly popular because of its practical advantages. People love videos much more than textbooks, while it's easy to add interactive elements to this type of visual content.
At the same time, employees can find their own learning pace and you won't have to worry about some of them lagging behind more advanced trainees. While it's not the perfect option for in-depth teaching, video tutorials can definitely serve as a great starting point for your team.
6. Gamification
Gamification is not one of a new trends in education, but it's becoming more popular year after year. The whole idea of this tactic is that people learn faster while playing and discovering things on their own. It makes the process entertaining, so most trainees are eager to learn more.
This is why McDonald's and Kineo developed a till training game to help users deal with customer orders effortlessly. The developers explained it briefly: "Using an innovative approach, a game was designed to target skill and knowledge – using a simulation of the new till system so that learner's ability to take orders could be tested and using questions to assess knowledge on how to deliver the best customer experience."
Related read: How to Use the Power of Gamification in e-Learning
7. Mobile learning
As the number of smartphone users keeps growing, mobile learning is also flourishing worldwide. A lot of organizations are designing mobile apps to help users study whenever they feel like doing so. For example, Duolingo has a nice app that makes the language learning process easy. The best thing about it is that Duolingo adds a lot of gamification elements to the equation, so the tool becomes even more amusing and user-friendly.
8. Performance support tools
Performance Support Tools (PST) represent a whole set of apps, devices, plugins, and programs that improve the eLearning industry in general. There are all sorts of different tools that you can use to enhance employee training and engagement, but some of the most common options include:
- Whiteboard animations
- Online learning sources like an assignment writing company
- Interactive videos
- Interactive PDF documents
- Besttermpaper and editing apps like Grammarly or Hemingway
- Kinetic text-based animations
- Flip books and eBooks
- Micro portals with searchable learning libraries
Each of these tools has its own pros and cons, but the combination of all features can really improve the possibilities of eLearning.
Related read: How Much Does It Cost to Develop an Educational App
9. Virtual reality
If you are ready to invest in training more than the average company, perhaps you can think about adding Virtual Reality (VR) to your eLearning portfolio. This strategy has enormous possibilities because it simulates work in a real-life environment.
Some universities and hospitals already use VR as a valuable addition to the learning practices. The technology enables students to perform virtual surgeries, so they can switch to the real thing more comfortably.
Conclusion
It's not easy to maintain the highest level of professional productivity if you don't allow your employees to keep learning and acquiring new skills. While traditional classroom-based training takes a lot of time and efforts, eLearning helps organizations to make the process faster and more effective.
In this article, we explained to you how to improve a training strategy using nine eLearning trends. Make sure to think about our suggestions and let us know which eLearning mechanism suits your company the most.
This is a guest post by Tiffany Harper. Tiffany is a talented writer from New York. She is an extremely active woman and a real leader, likes traveling, writes about entrepreneurship, technologies, and education. Now she works as an experienced freelance writer with cheap essay writing service in different areas. Please do not hesitate to contact her on Twitter.
