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The modern learner, performance and L&D

NEC, BirminghamLearning News

Toby Harris, head of solutions at Filtered, the company behind the learning recommendations engine, magpie, explains why developing skills lies at the heart of developing performance.

Toby Harris: the modern learner, performance and L&D
Toby Harris: the modern learner, performance and L&D 

Drawing on insights from Anders Ericsson's book on developing performance, Peak, and Filtered's experience of 60,000 users of its learning recommendations engine, magpie, Toby Harris explains how the learning and development profession has a key role in developing skills and creating environments for ‘focussed practice’, sometimes overlooked in the current 'performance-oriented' narrative and the performance support methods operating in the L&D sector.

“The problem with performance support and point-of-need learning design is we are ‘de-instructionalising’ our learning strategies,” says Toby Harris.

“There's an assumption that we can just put the right content in the right place and that will drive better performance. If you don't have a culture where you are continually practising, continually feeding back on each others’ work, you'll never see skill development happening.”

Toby Harris gave an interview with Learning News ahead of his presentation in the Learning Design Live theatre at World of Learning 2019. Watch Toby Harris’ interview here on Learning News and check out all of the Learning News interviews with learning leaders at World of Learning 2019.