The Era of E-Learning - Adaptive Learning

This article highlights the introduction of automation in e-learning and the impact it has on learning and development in organizations. We set out to focus on the concept of adaptive learning mediated by the emerging technologies, its scope, challenges and its integration with micro-learning.

What is the whole fuss about?

In  the highly competitive business world , it is indispensable for the organizations to realize that learning is changing and technology has a major part to play in it. Therefore, a proper utilization of the same is the need of the hour. As Herzberg's theory suggested, what motivates talent to retain in an organization falls in three buckets - Recognition, Achievement and Personal Growth. While recognition and achievement can be tracked via a continuous processes like feedback , performance management systems etc. personal growth is something organizations have been struggling with the most. According to a research by Bersin by Deloitte, 60% of the Learning and Development professionals are having trouble getting learners to engage with corporate learning when only 1% of a typical workweek is all that an employee needs to focus on training and development. This in turn is leading to increased employee turnover rate.

Today's workforce is diverse and outsourcing brings in lot of new challenges. Employees are relying more on On-the-Job training . The challenge for organizations is not about "How do I offer my employees more learning programs?” but “How do I offer an employee the right learning programs in the right context?" . Therefore to provide employees with an effective learning experience , organizations must give them the ability to learn what they want and the way they want instead of forcing them to learn according to the organization's strategy. Organizations will have to redefine learning and accordingly align the methodologies used for learning and development.

E-learning Automation is the buzzword now. Adaptive learning being one of the major innovations in E-learning Automation has not only helped organizations cater to the problem of less employee engagement but also helped making organizations more technology driven in Learning and Development function of the organization.

What is Adaptive Learning?

Millennial is a free generation and for them the "ability to learn and progress" is now the principal driver of a company's brand.

Lets breakup the word 'Adaptive Learning'  Adaptive means flexible to adjust to changing situations and 'Learning' means a permanent change in the behavior. Therefore, adapting to different situations to bring about a permanent change in the behavior is adaptive learning. When put technically, it is training or educational method which uses computers as an interactive teaching device and customizes learning material for the learner according to their needs.

Introduced in late 2012 by World School Council - London, Adaptive learning was implemented in several educational systems such as intelligent tutoring systems, computerized adaptive testing. It has its origins in artificial intelligence which started gaining popularity in 1970's but large size , cost of the computers , and UI not being conducive to the learning process then created hurdle for its implementation.

Adaptive learning software works with the help of algorithms that reads every response given by the trainee and collects information continuously. The software leverages the technology having an employee-centric approach to provide employees with individualistic training by :

·        Evaluating information provided by the trainee such as tests answers etc

·        Comparing the current learning data to initial benchmark knowledge levels which were programmed in the system

·        Adopting employee learning path automatically by level of difficulty, subject matter

Scope of Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning is definitely alluring as it is breaks the traditional models and gives the freedom to the employees to learn at their own pace provided the process has been implemented aligning with the organization and employees objectives in mind. This is leading to increased employee engagement on which usually organizations are spending more than $720million annually. Retention follows engagement.It definitely is a treat for the millenial generation who are focused at flexibility and interaction.

As quoted by the global head of Learning and development , Hariraj Vijayakumar ,Cognizant "As a leader and a firm , we need to have a very keen eye on the radar and a firm hand on the steering wheel"

Cognizant is aware of the fact that in future , learning will be less about content design but content usage and delivery. Future of learning is learner-centric. Therefore, Its Learning 2.0 solution spectrum includes OneLearning. OneLearning integrates all the possible learning platforms of the organization and provides a collaborative learning experience. The same L&D framework is the reason for various accolades awarded to Cognizant such as Brandon Hall 2012 Silver Award for Best Advance in Unique Learning Technology.

Challenges of Adaptive Learning

Even though it's quite an upcoming innovation in the learning and development intervention, adaptive learning might face some challenges in its implementation. To point out a few:

·        As Adaptive learning requires mapping of learner interactions, quizzes with various topics that are to be taught to the learner , creating a good map is indispensible. This would require the algorithm to be designed perfectly as well as good teaching experience of the content writers.

·        The content needs to be re-engineered every now and then to make sure it us updated with the latest content.

·        Adaptive learning definitely requires a lot of investment in content development. As it is content is to be created carefully because the knowledge a trainee gains from the training shouldn't be compromised. Therefore, how the content workflow should be implemented is an essential part of the whole process.

Micro - learning and adaptive learning

Micro learning as the name suggests is learning in bits and pieces. It is a holistic approach for skill based learning which deals with small learning units. Integrating micro learning with adaptive learning is indeed an ideal way of training where not only can you personalize the content you are reading but also you are reading everything in small units which helps increase the retention power of the employees. They are better able to implement at the workplace what they get trained in.

Conclusion

As it is rightly said , It's not about the "type of learning" but about "the way of learning". According to the Bersin by Deloitte , the world of automation has made it quite obvious for the organizations to keep on delivering compelling digital learning experience to its employees for a business success. The evolution of L&D has been blindly fast and to be on the top of the pyramid of success, organizations need to make constants changes in its L&D function. As for what is observed we are in the middle of Continuous Learning and Digital Learning and are heading towards Intelligent learning by 2020  which won't be an easy task but wouldn't be impossible as well.

The question lies in the fact that as we are moving towards automation and adaptive learning is taking the world in its toll, will we be able to save our jobs if we don't re-skill ourselves?

As far as E-learning is concerned, E-learning is not about learning in the digital world but  

"Bringing learning to where employees are"