Designing Digitally
04/16/2020
Adaptability is a word that has been overused with regard to human evolution. Yes, we are highly adaptive beings, even if we don't always see it. It's one thing to adapt to the environment and day-to-day situations, and another to adapt to learning. Often we end up falling back on archaic methods of learning which are neither efficient nor adaptable. This is why today's teaching methods are figuring out that people learn best when you adapt the content, delivery, method, and learning curve to the learner's specific aptitudes and needs.
Adaptive learning, also known as personalized learning, is a computer-based strategy for getting learners to better understand, remember, and recall at will the concepts and skills they are learning. It is a responsive type of eLearning in which the application adapts itself to the learner's performance. This means that if a learner gets an average result on one learning level the next level will not be as difficult, to let the information really sink in for the student. This is why combining virtual reality, augmented reality, microlearning, and other content delivery methods can yield better results.
Since each learner is different, learns at their own pace, and possesses different learning skills, adaptive eLearning can pose a huge advantage for organizations willing to implement personalized learning paths into their workplace learning culture.
Read also: What is Adaptive Learning and How Does It Apply to Your Corporate Training?
If you think back at your school years you might remember a time when you had difficulty learning something that others seemed to grasp right away. Our one-size-fits-all educational system all but robbed us of the idea that each person is unique and has different learning aptitudes. Each one of us has their own way of learning new information, and some may take longer than others to understand certain concepts.
This is one major reason why technology is so amazing: we can now create personalized learning paths for every single employee without breaking a sweat. Why is this important? Check out the following benefits of adaptive learning to answer this question!
Read also: Creating Personal Learning Paths in Employee Training
We all know that corporate employees are busy. Thus, the idea of heading over to a training workshop or classroom is oftentimes daunting for most of us. Online learning, or eLearning, is kind of like a shortcut, in the sense that it cuts out traveling time, reduces costs, and dials down the stress associated with learning something new. eLearning that is adaptive removes the need for the instructor to try and figure out what direction the student should take in order to learn the information more efficiently. The learning course can be designed in such a way that each learner gets the most out of their learning experience because it adapts to their specific needs.
Adaptive eLearning, in particular, allows the learner to move smoothly through the training modules. This happens because the program itself is learning how to deliver the content and exactly how much content to deliver to an individual learner. The program is adapting to the user's proficiency and results, thus leading to a more efficient learning experience for the employee.
Learners Gain Better Understanding
With learning path personalization comes the added benefit of deeper subject matter understanding. When the course content is specifically targeted towards filling your gaps in knowledge, it's like you're putting together a puzzle. You end up absorbing the new information in a more efficient way because it speaks to you personally.
Read also: How to Personalize Employee Training and Development Strategies
Born and raised in the Age of Information, Millennials are notoriously known as tech-savvy employees. They pride themselves in knowing how to navigate new technologies and social media and are capable of instructing older generation co-workers. When you provide an adaptive eLearning module for your Millennial staff, engagement will soar for the simple fact that these employees' use of technology is second nature.
Providing a cross-platform training course for your employees empowers them to move through the content at their own pace. Of course, they won't have unlimited time to finish each module. But, the fact that they are free to access the course whenever and wherever they need gives them power over their own learning curve- which always feels great!
Some learners might whizz through the course while others may struggle. Adaptive learning dials down on the pressure trainers might feel to satisfy every learner's knowledge gap. Since this style of training delivery is so adaptable, it automatically frees up time for trainers to have a one-on-one with the learners that really need it.
All online interactions generate data. With adaptive eLearning, the data you gather from your training course, plus feedback from employees, is highly useful. You can analyze this data and identify areas of your course that might not be working in order to improve the overall learning experience for your employees.
Although adaptive eLearning has yet to explode in the corporate world, the trend is definitely going in this direction. More and more companies understand that a one-size-fits-all approach to learning is unsustainable long-term. Keep reading about how to improve employee experience with eLearning training! You can also reach out for an in-depth analysis of what your specific organization might need in order to run a successful adaptive eLearning training course.
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