Virtual College’s latest report delivers valuable insights into new and emerging L&D technologies
It can’t be denied, technology is currently changing the way in which L&D teams operate throughout all industries and sectors and is providing the L&D professional with many new creative options. To help navigate these, Virtual College, a digital learning provider with over 27 years’ experience, has released a report titled "The Future of Learning & Development". This report explores and discusses the new ways in which technology can be used to enhance digital training programmes.
This report has been written with the sole purpose of helping businesses understand the ever-changing world of L&D and how technology is playing a big part in this change. It answers lots of questions that L&D professionals are currently asking:
- What role do social communication tools play in training?
- How best can blended learning be used?
- What does ‘learner-led learning’ mean for businesses?
- Should we be embracing informal or formal learning? Can you get a balance?
- How can L&D professionals collate and use data in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to future training programmes?
To help tackle these questions, Virtual College have gathered a number of industry experts – both in-house and external – and created a variety of informative assets for L&D professionals. A number of highlights include:
- An interview with Nick Bate, Co-founder and Director of recruitment specialist Blue Eskimo, who discusses how the face of L&D is changing the roles within the industry, and how L&D teams and businesses must adapt to keep up.
- An in-depth look at blended learning: how it’s changed over the years, what it means for L&D professionals and how it can be adopted.
- An easy-to-digest infographic highlighting ways in which social communication tools can be implemented into training programmes.
- An article written by L&D Consultant Jez Anderson, which explores how learning has moved from teacher-led to learner-led, how technology has supported this and how L&D teams can use this insight to their advantage.
Sarah Baker, Chief Learning Officer at Virtual College, explains why these technological changes provide an exciting opportunity. ‘Technology is finally catching up and allowing us to make learning as meaningful and as beneficial as possible for the learners. With the ability to put the learners at the front and centre of the piece or use a blended learning approach to really bring a training programme to life, ensuring those important behaviour changes happen, L&D teams now have the technological power at their fingertips to really make a difference.’
This is the third and final report in the company’s Evolution of L&D series. This series of reports has been released this year following a survey the company carried out, in which they asked over 2000 learners to share what they really wanted from work-based training. Simon Falconer, Virtual College’s Chief Marketing Officer, explains why it’s important to understand learners if you want to make training that really delivers. ‘Learners know what they want. They know what learning works best for them, and they know what they can more easily fit into their professional and personal lives.
Understanding our learners’ preferences can therefore help us to create training that’s truly transformative. By getting to the heart of their challenges, needs and wants, we discover the kind of insights that will truly make a piece of learning meaningful. It’s easy to assume we know what learners want, but it’s only through talking to them – through meeting them halfway – that we’ll discover what they need, where their knowledge is lacking and how we can best support them.’
Links:
The Evolution in L&D series: Find out more information about Virtual College’s three reports
Evolution of L&D Interview: A chat between Learning News and Virtual College’s Chief Marketing Officer, Simon Falconer and Director of Sales and Partnership, Nicole Horsman, in which they discuss this third and final report.