The adoption of eLearning and LMS has never been higher; actually , the worldwide eLearning market is predicted to soar to USD 374.3 billion by 2026. Of course, the LMS remains central to the delivery and tracking of all that eLearning, but today’s LMS can actually do such a lot more!
It are often easy to become distracted by metrics like utilization rates, course completions, and operating costs, without listening to more meaningful data like impact and engagement. If your organization makes use of eLearning and online learning and is wondering the way to increase employee engagement, read on to explore the highest LMS trends for 2021.
Connectivity With Other LMS Systems
Perhaps the most important current trend in L&D is that understanding is such a lot quite just “courses.” Organizations are taking a more holistic view of learning to incorporate performance development, career maps, skills journeys, social learning, and more. This broader view demands current technology which will do quite simply house online courses and perform basic reporting on completions and pass rates. Imagine an integrated system where managers and employees alike can distill information from multiple sources, including performance metrics, development plans, and in fact , online learning and professional development resources. this technique may be a talent experience platform [1]. Harness the facility of all of the info concerning performance, and don’t isolate learning into siloed experiences that feel disconnected from other experiences on the work .
Personalization
If you’ve done your homework and conducted a needs analysis before creating any content for your audience of learners, you almost certainly made the observation that your audience isn’t a uniform cohort, but rather a various group of people with unique needs and preferences. Respect their individuality by giving them the chance to possess personal experiences tailored to their needs. Organize the multimedia content in your LMS into playlists, like all content concerning a selected topic or certain role. Share information with learners through dashboards that present recommended content that appeals to their interests and to their completion history. Customizing your system’s look and feel to appeal to every individual may be a great method for increasing learner engagement.
Content Curation
Content curation in learning solutions [2] is that the act of including external content in your programs, like TED talks, Coursera courses, industry articles, podcasts, and more. By curating content, you expand your learners’ access to information beyond what’s contained within the four walls of your organization. Using curated content also saves valuable time and development resources (no got to build from scratch!). Content curation pairs nicely with learning playlists and dashboards; consider creating playlists that include both internal and external content on a specific theme or topic to present your learners with diverse perspectives throughout their learning journey.
Social Learning
One of the most well liked LMS trends in corporate eLearning is that the integration of social activities. Formal learning is simply the beginning of the training process, not the top once you incorporate social activities like chat forums, reflection activities, collaborative learning experiences, and platforms where alumni learners can share their expertise and harness their natural tendencies to attach with each other . This hand-off from seasoned employees to novices forms meaningful communities of practice, and over time the collective wisdom within the community will grow as employees still share their real-world experiences and are available together to unravel problems. the utilization of social learning are often especially powerful in remote environments by helping employees form meaningful bonds with each other even while separated by physical distance. Achieve top LMS learner engagement by providing your learners with a platform built with their social needs in mind.
Interactivity
Most business plans include marketing research , and a strategic learning plan shouldn’t be any different. Gather information from your learners like their feedback and reactions to the content, their requests for what else they might wish to learn, their self-assessments before and after completing content, and the other information you desire by making use of polls. one among the foremost powerful demonstrations of how an LMS can help companies is by pairing best-in-class features, like grouping learners into audiences then polling them or using polls as self-assessments where learners can assess their abilities before and after training to spot potential areas for development. Polls also can be wont to collect feedback from others, including coaches, managers, and even peers through the utilization of 180 and 360 surveys. Poll data are often especially helpful in providing insight into areas that are more qualitative in nature than quantitative. No two learners are alike, and by implementing interactive features no two learning experiences are going to be alike either.
Badges And Gamification
One surefire method to realize LMS learner engagement is thru the utilization of digital badges and highly rewarding game-like learning experiences. Your learner’s high engagement levels will correspond to high attention during training and high retention of the knowledge after completion. Badges function as awards of completion and recognition, and may even be displayed externally, like in email signatures or on social media profiles. Whether learners enjoy the pursuit of collecting the badges, the act of displaying them, or both, badges often appeal to learners’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Game elements which will be incorporated into learning experiences can include unlockable content that learners gain access to for successful performances or the completion of tasks, praise for his or her progress as they advance through “levels” of content, and leaderboards celebrating learners’ high performances. These elements are fully customizable and may be designed to satisfy the requirements of your learners and your organization.
Conclusion
LMS trends are constantly evolving, which benefits both learners and organizations alike. Modern systems enthrall and have interaction learners, making on-the-job learning actionable, relevant, and impactful. By crafting experiences that empower learners to move participants within the process and access learning that matches their unique needs, today’s LMSs offer such a lot quite just automation of instruction and therefore the mundane record-keeping of the past. Engagement may be a critical component within the learning experience and isn’t just a trend or passing fad.