Top Five Emerging Trends in Learning Technology – SumTotal

I sat in on a great webinar today from SumTotal. I’ve captured some notes here
that I took during the session, but the slides from it will be available at the link below. I would definately recommend taking a session from Bill again as he was a great presenter. One more thing that I enjoyed even more was this was truly a learning session and not a sales pitch. Very important. I’m more likely to go and look at a product (sponsor) when it’s not presented as a commerial.

SumTotal – Top Five Emerging Trends in Learning Technology (Bill Docherty)
www.sumtotalsystems.com (Events)

Emerging Technology – “One whose science, basic principles and theory are understood, and at least some useful applications are recognized. However, the potential is mostly unfulfilled as evidenced by a lack of significant products, possibly by the lack of market demand or need. ” –
http://www.bitpipe.com/tlist/emerging-technologies.html

1-Increased Adoption of Mobile Devices

Growth Factors

• number of subscribers/users
• device capabilities
• use in an out of learning applications (ie: maps, movie listings)
• access anywhere/anytime

Limiting Factors

• Not all devices are the same (size, browser, etc)
• Limited tools to develop content
• Vendor solutions limited
• Many companies want mobile learning, but lack a strategy to implement

What can we do?

• Find a pilot project to start
• Determine initial focus – deliver content or tools
• Identify how many different devices are deployed in your org.
• Evaluate available technologies – what can you do vs. a vendor

2 – Blended Learning Environments

Growth Factors

• Blended programs are more effective and engaging
• Some learning demands a blended approach (sales training, new hires,etc)
• Techology maturing

Limiting Factors

• Managing blended learning a challenge
• Orgs. not clear on moving from classroom to blened

What can you do?

• Develop a blended learning strategy
• Define what it means to you and the components that would be involved
• Decide if your technolgoy can manage and deliver blended learning
• Consider the change managment required for user to move to this model

3 – Growth of Talent Management Suites
“Comprises of 4 components Recruitment, Performance, Learning, Compensation”

Growth

• More Orgs seeing the value of centralizing talent management functions
• Helps to promote the org with a competative edge
• New users want to know how orgs will help manage their careers and help them grow
• Vendor offerings growing

Limiting Factors

• TM processes are often built to manage them seperately
• Significant investments still in legacy system

What can you do?

• Do you have a long-tem TM technology strategy (housed in one dept, or many)
• How are your TM strategies made – insure cross-functional participation
• Evalutate vendors for the broadest functional fit
• Start using your soluition in phases, hard to implement all at once.

4 – Integratation of Web 2.0

Defn: “Web 2.0 is all about user generated content. Individual users providing content to grow the overall value of the community.” – Bill Docherty

Growth

• Users are more use to “community experiences”
• An orgs greatest asset is it’s tacit knowledge (web 2.0 helps to unlock this knowledge)
• Crossing between formal and informal knowledge acquisition

Limiting Factors

• Orgs lack clear vision on how and where to use Web 2.0 technologies
• Hard to measure ROI from the use of these technologies
• “Community experience” bar is high – use to using these technologies more and more

What can you do?

• examples (discussion forums, wikis, blogs, etc)
• Know your audience/culture – will they use the technologies
• Set clear goals for deployment
• Which technologies will provied the best benefit
• Decide if readily available technologies will be sufficient to pilot

5 – Immersive Technologies

Growth

• Creation of technology is maturing and becoming more cost effective
• Immersive learning simulation effective for skills practice
• Users are becoming more use to this type of learning

Limiting Factors

• Still costly and time consuming compared to elearning
• Large generational difference in adoption (more so than other types of learning modes)
• More difficult to deploy because of the hardware and software demands

What can I do?

• Determine if your audience is conducive to this type of learning
• Which programs would be best suited to these techniques
• Evaluate potential partners and immersive technologies available
• example (http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4010112)

Question Period from Participants
How would these technologies be different for a college/secondary school from a work world? There are companies that specialized in school formats and tools.

Where and how does SAS (software as a service option) fit in here? Vendors offer tools they host on their servers or can place directly onto your servers.

Use of avatars? Not a great deal of adoption yet, no clear vision (even in vendor community) how this will be leveraged and used.

Risk of time waste immersive learning? Users sometimes don’t take in the learning, they are more likely to remember thier score. However, sometimes it is skill basing. How much can they do now rather than what do they remember.