As a profession, many of us will be signed up to attend the CIPD’s Festival of Work this month. Even if we’re not great at carving out time for personal or professional development during the rest of the year, events like these can really help keep us to stay relevant and share learning and experiences.
This got us thinking about how much learning has shifted to online in the last few years. Even the Festival of Work went virtual during lockdown and then moved to a hybrid model. This has many benefits in terms of accessibility, but if, like me, you learn the most from the people around you and the post-session discussions, you’ll be glad that events like this are back and hopefully here to stay.
So, taking this a step further, what does the future of learning, and more specifically Learning Management Systems (LMS) look like? We see lots of core HR process and admin starting to benefit from the use of AI – so what does this look like for learning and what are some of the developments that we’re seeing in this space? Are our people ready to embrace it, or will it take some time to embed?
When speaking to Ciphr on the benefits of AI for learners, Charlotte Chadwick explained that beyond the automated attendance tracking and course scheduling, “AI can personalise the onboarding and training process for new hires, for instance the system can gauge an individual’s understanding and adjust the content to their level, creating a more engaging and effective learning experience.”
I’m not sure how I’d feel discussing course content with a chatbot or virtual instructor until I’ve tried it, but why not? It’s at your own pace and likely to allow a much more personalised learning experience, if, unlike Siri, it understands what you are asking!
Gareth at The Access Group explained how AI could also allow every learner to become a teacher. “By asking an AI Assistant with only a couple of sentences, bitesize learnings such as videos, e-learning or clips can be easily and quickly created, tested and shared with others.” This could certainly improve upon the ‘recorded’ Teams sessions that seem commonplace if someone can’t make a meeting or training session. Paired with an AI chatbot to answer questions, will there still be a demand for in-person training once these tools have been refined and embedded, I wonder?
So, whilst these developments and tools are being tested and developed, what is in the immediate road map for Learning Management Systems? Access are already working on transforming the learning admin and end user experience with new AI based integrations, content and learning experiences. Whilst Ciphr are looking to further streamline efficiency with their upcoming LMS developments.
Dawn at Kallidus explained that a lot of companies are still in, what she described as the ‘compliance’ stage of learning, however and before looking at things such as self-directed learning or a learner-centred approach, their people and culture need to be ready to move to this method of delivery, otherwise all of the amazing tech just sits there underutilised.
It’d be interesting to hear what your thoughts on AI or self-directed learning are, and where your organisations sit in the readiness to embrace some of the learning tech