part 1: Trends

Are we all just trend chasing?

I hear the word "trends" and immediately think of the questionable fashion trends I followed as a child. Mullets and zubaz. What felt awesome at a point in time is something I can now laugh about when looking at family photos.

But when it comes to learning trends, I take them a bit more seriously than my fashion decisions. I work in the corporate sector, so trends showing up in higher education and K-12 felt they wouldn't affect me. It was just those crazy kids making their own trendy decisions like I did.

Then I realized, all those kids in K-12 and adults in higher education are the people we are expected to train as new employees. Suddenly those trends didn't feel like fast fads. They felt like the wave of the future. And we can either keep up top of that wave and ride with them, or wait on the shore and let the wave knock us over.

people want to learn and want to choose how

The main trend I've noticed across all K-12, higher education, and corporate learning is that learners want training available across multiple modalities and they want continuous learning.

This is a big deal. We have children who have experience learning in classrooms, at home, and using videos, games, reading articles, and using hands on experience to teach themselves with the guidance of an instructor. Higher education now offers completely online programs that use some of these same modalities.

Taking training where you want and how you want may seem like a white glove service reserved for the C-suite, but it's going to be the expectation from new employees. Not only that, but these children and adults who will soon enter the working world understand the importance of continuous improvement and professional development. They've been doing it their whole lives. They understand the importance of growing and changing. Why would they stop now?

See for your self

I don't expect you take my word for it, though. Check out these articles about continuous learning and other trends:

Why is it important?

If employees don't feel like they have a career path or learning opportunities, they will leave. It's that simple. And based on the trends, the new employees coming into an organization out of school aren't expecting a one-size-fits-all model for learning. They've experienced distance learning and multiple modalities. Many organizations deliver learning in one way and in one space. That may have worked in the past, but if we want to bring in and retain new talent, we need to adapt to their learning needs instead of forcing them to adapt to ours.

It matters to the learner

See the image to the right? That setting used to be reserved for checking personal email or doing homework in college. Now, it could easily be an employee in their preferred learning environment truly enjoying the opportunity to pursue continuous learning and better themselves. Learners have the chance to take a course when they are ready for it in a setting that may not be perfect for everyone, but it's perfect for them. That leads to better outcomes and more productive organization.

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