“Self Service” learning is emerging as a dominant feature of digital learning
This is radically different from the conventional approach to instructional design, which not only defines learning goals, it determines the path that all learners will take to reach those goals.
Just-in-time Resources
The types of content that L&D teams create will also see radical changes.
If you want to understand how technology will change the way we learn, you have got to understand how technology is changing the way we live. Employees expectations are shaped by the way they live, learn, and behave outside of work. “If I need to fix an unusual noise that my washing machine is making, I’m not going to take a course in applicant repair, I will Google the solution.
Just the same as someone needing to fix a plumbing problem at home is likely to watch a YouTube video rather than take a 90-minute course, that employee is likely to approach an on-the-job need or issue by searching for resources that solve the immediate problem.
Combining corporate learning with the self-service approach might mean choosing an e-Learning format that allows learners to access for just the information they need, quickly, in the workflows over courses that drive deeper into a topic but that also take employees away from their work for half a day or more. That’s where the buzz around microlearning approaches and tools that employees turn to in the moment come into focus. The ideal time for maximum concentration in a TED talk has been researched at 22 minutes and we believe that is also the optimum time to gain engagement. Also for some topics it can be a lot less.
For this type of just-in-time learning we need a format where a learning experience can be designed and available in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months with conventional instructional design.
You can produce a twenty-minute Modlette in an hour provided you have the material assembled or easily accessible. In fact, you can assemble a Modlette on your smart phone.