E-Learning 3.0

A brand-new world is developing

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The world is changing. Digitalization is no longer an option. Either you are in or you are out. Apple won over Nokia when they mastered time to market and digital disruption.

The same is happening to other businesses. If we redirect our attention towards the world of teaching and e-learning, it is worthwhile asking ourselves a few simple questions:

1. “Will we have to face a new reality soon or are we already in that boat?”
2. “Robots instead of teachers or a mix of both?”
3. “How did this giant wave swallow us all without even realising?”

Amazing how a virus has rocked our worlds and has managed to simply recreate the systems for us, improving and customising them, to the point that we are now able to work from everywhere in the world, teach from anywhere and no physical presence is required anymore in order to develop our core missions. This becomes a magnificent opportunity for e-business to flourish (e-doctors, e-learning, e-shopping, e-everything), for companies to have more recruiting opportunities and for new teaching environments to become more and more competitive, interactive and engaging. E-learning is one of them. Why use a book when you can actually interact with the application, simultaneously correct yourself and learn from your own mistakes, while being the protagonist of the show? 

The new learning can be summarised as: online streaming, online storage, no more physical books or notebooks needed, no more excuses – the homework can no longer be “forgotten at home” or “eaten by the dog”. That is also a thing of the past. “Transparency”, “Now” and “Fun” are integrated into our 3.0 vocabulary.

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Current gamification platforms and digital education grab everybody’s attention, especially the HR departments’, which strive to get people to complete the mandatory training without multitasking or procrastinating them. Probably everybody who works in a large organisation has dreamt of cancelling these training or putting them “on hold” forever, or at last, until they became interactive and fun to do. Now, the latter is possible. Increased accessibility to digital learning platforms has developed, together with customised content, able to manage a new generation's type of thinking, enhancing more diversity and well-being at the working place. The training is now immersive, interactive and most important, can be completed from anywhere, even from our bedroom.

There is no better learning than actually doing it. Practising and skills improvement have a new classroom. It is called “online”. One of the great online tools that mostly everybody has heard of is Kahoot. It is simple, easy to use and proves everything you need in an online experience. No more waiting for the right answers to be provided by the teacher or instructor, you can get them on the spot. Everything happens fast. It happens now.

The more we postpone the change, the harder it will be to adapt to it - it will come to us, it will grab the old systems and tear them apart. We must advance with this wave, together with our children, that already have it in their DNA, as they were born with the mobile and laptop at their fingertips. Keeping pace with them is now part of upskilling ourselves and having fun with them. No pain, no gain.

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Make the learning and training experiences fun and engaging

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The paper has become obsolete.

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 What do all the employees think when it comes to mandatory training?

“Boring, dull, chore.”

These are the 3 words that come to our mind. The fact that the training contains a test part seems to be the only stimulus to keep on going, the only incentive that makes the whole process seem reasonable and feel slightly interactive. Sometimes, that part doesn’t even exist and taking the training suffices to complete it. Then, why not multitask while training? We all know that the human being is programmed to carry out only one thing at a time successfully. If we challenge ourselves to do several, the quality of our work might be compromised. Therefore, multitasking can be very little productive for both the employee and the employer, even if it gives a prompt feeling of accomplishment combined with time-saving. 

With the new platforms, this is no longer an option, because there is a promise to let users train their skills in captivating environments and live mesmerising experiences. Besides that, the Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been created for easy delivery and quick monitoring, which makes them become a practical and efficient tool for everybody that uses them, able to provide insights into progress and improvement areas. Through these systems, a learner’s evolution is easily tracked, supported by alarm systems that communicate where there might be areas of improvement and encourage strengthening those. Therefore, using the new e-learning platforms is not only fun and engaging, but also efficient and effective for the entire organisation. Multitasking is gone, and efficiency is on.

Implementing a digital learning platform not only promotes a more inclusive business environment but also represents a step towards a more sustainable training method, being fun and flexible for the employees and totally efficient for the business. The LMS triggers huge savings for the companies in terms of commuting, not to mention the environmental impact. Take as an example Articulate - they have increased the focus on UX design and their platform has proven to work amazingly well. In these new realistic contexts, the employees can take the training from anywhere, anytime, and the company can be sure it will be completed, as it is captivating and easy to digest, while involving the participant into the actual plot and generating the feeling of proactiveness and belonging. A higher and higher rate of engagement into these learning techniques has been observed and the high efficiency of the methods has proven to actually break the records of training made fun.

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In the recovery phase from the pandemic, we have had the opportunity to approach both work and education differently, to think strategically, with effectiveness in mind and to actually consider what makes our lives easier and more enjoyable. Combining office work with home office is a clear win-win for everybody: employees can accommodate work in a comfortable space where they gain travelling and chit-chat time and actually get to spend more time with their families, while employers can be sure the work will be completed without coffee break interruptions and with more efficiency and engagement. 

People appreciate when they are offered the chance to work under flexible conditions and they give even more in return, while they feel committed, trusted and empowered to do their jobs without being closely monitored. The era of the boss holding a whip is also a thing of the past. No more whips, just carrots and rewards. We are, therefore, facing a win-win situation with lots of opportunities popping out like mushrooms. We just need to seize them and embrace flexibility. Flexible training, flexible work, a happier life. E-Learning 3.0 means that three amazing concepts are now able to interweave: efficiency, joy and a better work-life balance. Ain’t that the essence of happy organisations?

To find out more about how to make your training enjoyable, efficient and engaging, take a sneak peek at our innovative and fun solutions at Apprendly.