Self-directed learning needs more than just an LMS!

During the pandemic, we all experienced what is already possible with E-Learnings and how quickly we can switch from face-to-face to virtual training. Those who already had a learning management system (LMS) in place probably found it easier to make digital learning materials and videos available to their employees and co-workers. At the same time, the learning curve was also very sharp, as we quickly learned what possibilities digital learning solutions offer and where the limitations are.

“LMS is supposed to promote self-directed learning”-this is a phrase I hear again and again from L&D departments and leaders when asked about the purpose of the LMS. The responsibility of learning should lie with the employees themselves.

What is self-directed learning anyway?

There is no standard definition, so here is an attempt to summarize it:

Learners should take the initiative on their own accord, grasp their own learning needs and learning goals, and select and apply the appropriate learning content. The mere availability of content in an LMS based on a PDP (Personal Development Plan) is therefore not sufficient to bring forth self-directed learning. Learning is a social phenomenon that needs a holistic approach.

An LMS is well suited to provide a predefined process with the appropriate content at the right point. If you don’t have too high expectations of the LMS, it can still be a very useful tool when used correctly.

However, if you want to sustainably change the learning culture in your company and develop it further in the direction of agile learning, you should not back a large, expensive horse that may no longer be usable in a few years, but rather try out many smaller options using sprints.

70:20:10

The 70:20:10 model, which is often used in leadership development, brings us closer to the fact that we are always and everywhere learning, especially through our work (70) and from others (20). In the future, there will be an increasing blending of the three “ways” of learning, i.e. formally (10%, Education), through interaction with other people (20%, Exposure) and informally through our own experience (70%, Experience).

Learning is the Work. (Jarche, 2013) 

The education portion, i.e., the formal part of learning, will increasingly be used and accessed where it is needed. The technical requirements for this are already in place.

Adaptive Systems or Learning Experience Platforms (LXP)

This also demands systems that continuously adapt to users and their needs. Adaptive systems or learning experience platforms that deliver easily digestible knowledge nuggets independent of time and place and at the same time memorize learning preferences and suggest meaningful new learning content.

From the user’s point of view, one could have skipped the development step of the inflexible LMS and started right away with so-called experience platforms. But be careful, not every LXP is a real experience platform. Giving the user an active role in the learning process beyond clicking things through should be a minimum requirement and not a promoted further development on the market.

What can also hinder the learning process in connection with an LMS implementation are

• A long implementation process: it is not uncommon for it to take several years from the search to the roll-out of the software. Usually, a requirements catalog is created for months with 15 different stakeholders/sponsors (who are usually not the direct target group at all).
• The search is on for the perfect solution that meets all the technical criteria and, by chance, also provides exactly the right content for the company.
• Work is done according to the waterfall principle instead of the agile principle, i.e. the system is not deployed until all functions run without errors.

If the target group cannot be continuously tested and adapted, there is a high risk of failure.

What can current LXP platforms provide?

• Current LXP platforms such as eloomie, Rallyware, HLX, and StoryShare offer not only learning content, but also an integrated authoring system for creating your own e-learning, enable self-service content curation and content sharing, and thus also touch on social learning.
• Learning platforms should offer cross-platform content as part of their standard program and suggest suitable Netflix-style content based on user behavior using artificial intelligence.
• The Leapsome platform uses an analytics tool to continuously determine its own training needs and links daily business, tasks, goal management, and feedback. However, the option to integrate third-party content is missing here.
• So LXP also pay attention to the active and social components of learning, experience and exposure.
• But only 25% of U.S. companies have a learning experience platform in place, and according to the Haufe Benchmarking Study from 2020, LXP is still not very widespread – for 62% of respondents it is not even a term.

That sounds like a lot of work to you? It is!

But e-learning is not introduced to make things easier for the L&D department, but for everyone else ? The good news is, however, that you don’t have to do the communication work alone and actually can’t do it at all. You need trusted experts called trusted guides to do it.

More about the future role of L&D experts and trusted guides will be available shortly in the third part of my impulse series

What serves you next?