Summer Blockbusters for Learning Pros

It’s summer and you know what that means? Blockbusters! They all have a few things in common, right? Heroes, high stakes, and big disasters.

Well, the learning and development industry isn’t that different. The last year has had all of those things: there was a world-changing pandemic, very high stakes, and of course, big heroes in the L&D industry.

To celebrate, and because movie-goers have started heading back to the theaters, we thought we’d celebrate with some hot summer movies for the learning crowd. So grab some popcorn, take note of the exits, and don’t silence your cell phone (because you can use it for mobile learning).

These smash hits are playing at an LMS near you.

Back to the Office

Great Scott! Where we’re going we don’t need roads… actually, never mind. You do need roads to get to work. After more than a year of so many learners working from home, many workers are returning to work in a physical office. That may be why so many learners told Training Industry that they prefer On The Job (OTJ) training. According to Training Industry’s Learner Preference Report, 31% of learners prefer learning on the job, and 65% of learners said they believe learning on the job is the most effective way to learn at work. It makes sense; just as Marty learned about time travel while actually doing it, learners feel that they’re most able to recall information if they’re learning during a task, and — like Marty learning from Doc — they do best under a mentor. And after all, if you’re going to learn at work, why not do it with style?

Transformers: Age of Upskilling

Your employees are more than meets the eye; that’s likely why so many companies are investing in reskilling the workforce rather than trying to hire to fill new positions. Companies transformed during the pandemic, and so is the workforce. According to LinkedIn Learning’s 2021 Workforce Learning Report, upskilling and reskilling are the top priorities of L&D leaders in 2021. Additionally, internal hiring is more of a priority as organizations grow and train their own leadership. To paraphrase Optimus Prime: it’s time to transform and roll out.

Close Encounters of the Instructor-Led Kind

52% of learners say they prefer Instructor-Led Training. This means something. This is important. Learners and companies both have always preferred instructor-led training, and after a year away from other people, learners are particularly hungry for interactions with real human beings. Learners might be getting back into the classroom now, but there is another option for those who are still remote: virtual instructor-led training or VILT, which lets the instructors communicate with students across space and time (or you know, just across the Internet.)

Guardians of the Gamified Galaxy

Dance off, bro! Or, maybe you can’t offer your learners a dance-off, but you can make their training more engaging. Engagement is one of L&D professionals’ largest concerns when it comes to training content. A report from the Ken Blanchard companies found that 19% of learning pros felt their remote and virtual training could be improved by making it more engaging for learners. This can be done by offering gamified options (that’s adding game elements like points, leaderboards and badges to training) or other fun elements, like animation and humor. The last thing your learners want is to be bored during training. By adding some fun to training, you can make sure your modules are your learners’ Awesome Mix. And then nothing will go over their head.

The Fast and the Furiously Learning

Hey bro, we’ve got a problem. You’re at work, you need to learn a new skill. If you don’t get it right, you’re going to botch a task – what do you do? You turn to Just-In-Time Learning. Just-In-Time learning gives your learners the ability to log into a learning management system (LMS) and learn just the skills they need exactly when they need it. It’s fast, it helps them do their jobs well, and it’s one kind of on the job learning. It doesn’t matter if your employees learn by an inch or learn by a mile, right? Learning is learning.

Honey, I Shrunk the Learning Module

Where’s the online course? We shrank it, so learners could get up to speed quickly and easily. Not with a machine, just with good instructional design. Micro-learning makes small, intensely-focused chunks of learning available to learners whenever they need it. Done well, it’s an effective way to boost learners’ retention and get new information into their hands quickly. (Just don’t blow up the learning. If you blew up a learning module, there’d be pieces of it.)

Mission Impossible

Mission accomplished! Learning has changed a lot in the last year. Businesses pivoted like never before, went remote, and some converted their entire L&D programs to remote programs in weeks. This change has shown the business world two things. First: quick dramatic changes aren’t impossible. Second: L&D is a crucial, driving force in most organizations. LinkedIn Learning’s 2021 Workforce Learning Report’s top finding is that L&D is firmly in the drivers’ seat: 66% of L&D pros globally agree Learning and Development is focused on rebuilding or reshaping their organization this year, while 64% watched their peers change their mind about learning — it’s not a “nice to have,” it’s a “need to have.”

Now, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is continuing the changes made by L&D in the last year.

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