Learning About Learning: Early Autumn Reading List

GP Strategies put together a great research report titled the 2019 Voice of the Learner that highlights some key data points to help illustrate how learners prefer to learn and develop. This report is a follow up to last year’s survey and brings a nice year-over-year view. It also happens to correlate with our own blog on the value and necessity of conducting Voice of the Learner Sessions (link) before building a course that excludes key learner sentiment. A few key points of interest in particular:. 

• 41% of respondents felt the last eLearning course they completed improved their job performance
• 44% of respondents said they turn to Google first when they don’t know how to do something on the job as opposed to 11% who said a learning portal
• 90% saw on-the-job or experiential learning as the most effective modality

“Making e-Learning Accessible”, a new article from Training Industry, shares some great statistics from LinkedIn Learning’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report on the state of accessibility in learning and just how many people are increasingly reliant on accessibility features to effectively learn and grow on the job. This rings true for us here at Intrepid as we’ve continued to evolve our accessibility features over the last several years to ensure we are staying at the forefront of inclusive learning technology.

From the article, “the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2018, 5.7 million of the 155.6 million people employed in the United States had a disability. With nearly 4% of all workers having a disability, and with so many of those learners being exposed to digital learning platforms, it is important to design content that is accessible for everyone, including those with vision, hearing or learning impairments.”

We couldn’t agree more and anticipate an increase in platforms and organizations emphasizing inclusive technology moving forward.

In the vein of making smart choices for the overall health of an entire organization, here’s an article from the Harvard Business Review titled To Be Happier at Work, Invest More in Your Relationships that does a great job of illustrating the connection between a fulfilling and balanced work life and “proactively investing in relationships that nourish them and create a sense of purpose”. This notion aligns well with our view on the benefits of online cohort-driven collaborative learning and the value of people learning together in teams and shared workspaces. By joining forces and investing in team collaboration, learners can share ideas and surface better insights to nourish both the individual and the larger organizational cause. For a better idea of why collaborating to foster better relationships is a professional and personal win/win, review the article here.