L&D 2020: Shaping change in learning

Technology

E-learning trends

In 2020, e-learning is an accepted and commonplace way to learn and has become as ubiquitous as email or search engines at the turn of the century. Trends¹ include:

e-learning has levelled the world’s professional playing fields
governments are using e-learning for citizen skill development
partnering organisations are using e-learning to keep people aligned as boundaries change
wireless technology has enabled further reach e.g. to connect rural areas.

Churning skill sets have forced e-learning initiatives to keep up with organisational needs¹ and users are constantly accessing on-demand learning via their desktop – generally micro-learning rather than complete course packages.

Today’s users regard self-selected, self-paced e-learning as an integrated work process, rather than something separate and specialised.

Companies have integrated e-learning into their infrastructure¹ and the term ‘e-learning’ has disappeared now it is routinely merged with work processes. This trend has coincided with the rise of social computing across, and between, organisations that makes e-learning an integral part of personal networking.

As a result, knowledge sharing and collaboration naturally benefit from the various supporting technologies. These are enabling e-learning to emulate the traditional face-to-face learning-by-storytelling process¹.

Leaders are acknowledging e-learning’s important role in knowledge share and have observed a rise in innovation following informal learning. Many individuals are regularly contributing to e-learning processes by combining data from more than one source (technology mashup²) to create new and distinct learning environments.

More turnkey solutions are appearing as e-learning processes becomes standardised¹ and e-learning is no longer the preserve of specialist content providers. At the same time, high quality content costs are falling due to a high global student/content ratio¹. E-learning processes are interactively publishing information 24/7 to facilitate continuous learning on demand³.

Processes and authoring for e-learning have become simpler⁴, while at the same time incorporating semantic web services and serious games. These combined approaches are delivering effective learning packages that often incorporate several supporting systems. This means a fully integrated desk top front-end that supports a user’s learning no matter what their technology.

E-learning is easily provided remote from the user’s organisation – and globally. Many companies are investing in technology that enables learners and tutors to communicate via online chat and web-enabled telephone services⁵. This development has helped several companies offshore⁶ their online tutoring to other countries, notably India⁷.

1. http://www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-industry/trends.htm

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid)

3. http://www.nigelpaine.com Nigel Paine, Learning Technologies Conference, 2008

4. http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2007/01/

5. http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/firstyear/articles/20050904.htm 08/05

6. http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/nov2005/bersin.htm

7. http://www.careerlauncher.com/company/aboutcl/index.html