Making A Big Impact In 2018: Top Corporate Training Innovations
As a corporate training manager today, you are faced with a challenging role. On one hand, you must take into consideration your training’s effectiveness and the employee experiences. On the other hand, there are the business challenges of cost-effectiveness, measuring the return on training, and making sure your organization’s technology stays relevant.
To make this a more simplified process, and take your training to the next level, here are the top corporate training innovations you should pay attention to in 2018.
1. Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated scenario that simulates a realistic experience. Virtual learning environments combine the social interaction aspects of traditional classroom training with the digital world. Organizations are using virtual training coaches such as avatars or chatbots, which engage with the learners like a human instructor. Companies are using online virtual platforms such as Second Life for delivering their training and are creating virtual environments to bring the human aspect into their eLearning environment.
Virtual environments and use of virtual avatars in training are a great medium to target Millennials, as they can create their own avatar and collaborate with others. Large companies are already using virtual platforms for meetings, interviews, and training. Also, the prices of VR devices have gone down significantly, and more organizations will be able to purchase them in the future.
2. Next-Generation Training Solutions
It’s becoming clear to eLearning professionals that standard LMSs are not enough to create effective learning. Since the world is becoming more interactive, gamified, and data-driven focused, managers should make sure that they are using training solutions that support next-generation learning which contrasts with traditional LMSs that are focused on old-school management of the learning features.
A next-generation training solution:
- Has a modern User Interface (UI) for the learner
- Offers high-level interactions: promotes social, active learning
- Enables high-resolution formative assessment
- Enables personalized experiences
- Includes advanced gamification
- Offers mobile compatibility
It is important to note that only a next-generation training solution that provides all of these capabilities will work properly for effective learning.
3. Mobile Learning
Mobile learning is learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices. Usage of mobile learning in corporate training significantly increased in 2017. Mobile learning enables organizations to promote the concept of the lifelong learner to learn anytime and anywhere. Because authoring tools are becoming responsive and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is becoming a reality, we expect to see even more effective use of mobile learning in 2018, since it's great for organizations to implement Just-In-Time training.
4. Advanced Formative Assessment
Formative assessment, including diagnostic testing, is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures conducted by trainers during the learning process to modify teaching and learning activities to improve employee achievements. It typically encompasses qualitative feedback (rather than scores) for both the learner and instructor and focuses on the details of the content and performance. It is commonly contrasted with summative assessment, which pursues to monitor educational outcomes, often for purposes of external accountability. Formative assessment can be based on the combination of achievements, progress, and social interaction.
5. Big Data
The term "Big Data" tends to refer to the use of predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, or certain advanced data analytics methods that extract value from very large sets of data. As more learning activities take place digitally, we have more data collected, which can unveil more insights and result in a better understanding of our learning process, learner’s behavior and learner's understanding.
By using external learning analytics tools or ones which are built into a variety of Learning Management Systems, organizations are getting to know more about their learners’ usage patterns, behavior, and training courses effectiveness.
These learning analytics tools can be used in real-time or at the end of the learning session. If used in real-time Big Data can produce actionable insights that are critical to the learning process. Big Data promotes personalized learning since a personal profile can be generated based on the vast amount of data that is collected on the learner.
Learning Management Systems analytic features also help in managing, tracking, and reporting training activities in an automatic way and don’t require human intervention, in most cases.
6. Video-Based Training
In the last 10 years, we have seen a significant increase in the usage of streaming video. YouTube, for example, became the second most popular search engine after Google. Advanced training technologies and tools are enabling organizations to create cost-effective, video-based training programs. These programs are used not just in online courses but also in both traditional and blended settings. Video-based training is growing to be an effective medium for creating engaging learning modules. Video is the favorable learning medium for the Generation Y.
The cost of video conferencing tools was reduced dramatically in recent years. This fact pushes organizations to use such tools as Zoom and Skype as cost-effective video conferencing training tools.
The cost of basic video production also went down. This fact pushed many instructors to create their own videos and video-based presentations. Office Mix for example, a free add-on to PowerPoint, enables any instructor to very easily produce video-based presentations.
7. Enhancement Of "Flat" Content Materials
Flat content such as PDFs is not as effective as interactive content. This is the reason why many organizations are converting “text only” ILT (Instructor-Led Training) and VILT (Virtual Instructor-Led Training) materials into visually rich, engaging training materials with an effective set of activities and interactions (quizzes, multiple choice questions, role plays, matching, group discussions, and so on).
Interactions encourage the learner to be active and engaged. They increase the learner’s ability to express themselves and to feel heard and seen. Interactions also promote learning and memorization since the learner succeeds in constructing their own knowledge.
In Conclusion
When all these elements are present in your training solution you will have the perfect combination of features to address the demands of the modern employees’ learning model, which is no easy task. As a corporate trainer, there are many aspects to consider, but the result of an effective learning experience that leads to better return on your training investment and the benefits it will bring to your organization are well worth investing in the right solution.
