E-Learning 2.0: Is your organization ready to transition ...€¦ · E-LEARNING 2.0 Knowledge is everywhere. As we have underlined in the introduction, knowledge is everywhere ...

E-Learning 2.0: Is your organization ready to transition from E-Reading to E-Everything?

Copyright @ 2016 eXact learning solutions Pag. 2 di 9

TABLE OF CONTENT

BACKGROUND ............................................................................................... 3 E-LEARNING 1.0 ............................................................................................. 4

FORMAL AND LINEAR KNOWLEDGE. .......................................................................... 4 JUST A MATTER OF TECHNOLOGY. ......................................................................... 5

E-LEARNING 2.0 ............................................................................................. 5 KNOWLEDGE IS EVERYWHERE. .................................................................................... 5 TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER. ................................................................................. 6

HOW TO BEST PREPARE YOUR ORGANIZATION ....................... 8 CONCLUSIONS AND EXTENSIONS ..................................................... 9


BACKGROUND Initiating around the year 2000, the field of e-Learning is sputtering to the end of its first generation and transitioning into its next. After almost two decades of drastic environmental and technological change, it is the right time to analyze what it takes to continue creating value for the organizations where e-Learning is implemented. A transition from e-Reading to e-Everything is the contribution of e-Learning to the digital transformation of companies and society at large.

Human beings have had an extraordinary evolutionary path for mainly two reasons:

• the ability to manipulate the symbolic devices of language in their brains and outside,

• the ability to build artefacts that can act as pieces of knowledge useful to solve specific problems.

These two aspects represent a turning point in the evolution of mankind and are also a starting point to rethink the future of e-Learning.

With the use of language and writing, knowledge becomes culture and enriches the human beings with solutions that are not only elaborated by one’s own superior cognitive mechanisms, but also by those of others. That is to say, we can capitalize on the knowledge and thoughts of other people and build on each other’s ideas to create innovation.

Also the history of writing shows us some interesting insights that we can leverage for our purpose. Initially, only a few people in society were able to master its difficultness, and for this reason they were very powerful. Then, the time had come for a widespread adoption of writing, but the output were still linear texts that do not mirror the way knowledge is accumulated in our brains. It wasn’t until the birth of the hypertext that a more functional way of storing and sharing information became widely adopted. A networked model of knowledge, like the connections among our neurons. The more connections, the more wisdom.

Finally, artefacts, as the tangible component of our culture also embed the knowledge of their inventors. In other words, the anthropic


environment we build is disseminated with smartness that everyone else can harvest and use whenever needed.

We are surrounded by knowledge and we learn simply by living our lives, as our mental plans are confirmed by experience and get reinforced through a positive feedback.

In a static world it was enough to dedicate the first part of our private and professional lives to learn. However, in today’s turbulent and fast changing times we have to go back to the roots of our mankind, rediscovering our endless curiosity and ability to learn and share knowledge every day.

Given this new context, e-Learning, as one of the most powerful and advanced training and educational devices, has to adapt from delivering moments of formal learning to enabling a 360° discovery and socialization experience.

In the next sections we will explore how e-Learning has started its evolution, from phase 1.0 to phase 2.0.

E-LEARNING 1.0 Formal and linear knowledge. The defining attribute of the first generation of e-Learning has been the significant focus placed on formal learning in the form of online course content. The resulting products have been primarily comprised of linear content that is laden with book-metaphors such as screens (akin to pages) and a multitude of other book-related attributes such as chapters, paragraphs, table of contents, and screen numbers. The assessment techniques utilized in the first generation of e-Learning were almost exclusively adapted from paper-based assessments and typically included multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions as opposed to new assessment techniques that better leveraged the available technologies. In addition to a co-dependent relationship with the book metaphor, the first generation of e-Learning has been almost exclusively focused on formal learning activities with very little focus on informal learning activities, which most research indicates accounts for 70% of all learning.


Just a matter of technology. During the rise in popularity of e-Learning, a disproportionate importance was placed on learning technology. Organizations, when asked about what they were doing with e-Learning, would most often respond by providing the names of their Learning Management System (LMS) and their authoring tool with very little awareness of or attention paid to core learning concepts such as effectiveness and other essential analytics. These issues are compounded by the fact that the current generation of instructional designers possess very shallow set of technical skills which will be required for success in the next generation of learning development.

E-LEARNING 2.0 Knowledge is everywhere.

As we have underlined in the introduction, knowledge is everywhere within and around our organizations and we must be able to harvest it and build on it. It is embedded in formal learning materials, as well as in procedures, technical documentation and commercial materials; it can be found in research reports, in big and small data and in the contributions of experts that we involve from outside or sit in our company. Learning happens when socialize knowledge, innovation happens when we combine it.

The following picture shows Nonaka & Takeuchi’s model for a knowledge creating company, where there is a circulation from tacit to explicit and tacit again.


E-Learning 2.0 is about socializing it anytime and everywhere during the learner journey. For this reason, mobile learning and informal learning are two key areas of the new phase of e-Learning.

Technology as an enabler.

Today, technology is ubiquitous and democratically accessible. With the consumerization of IT, we are witnessing a boom in the offering and the demand of applications for personal use and increasing expectations about user experience in professional software. In the era of e-Learning 2.0 technology is the mean to an end; it is embedded into things, processes and behavior. Following good user experience design principles, it enables the different personas in the e-Learning value chain to play new roles:

learners: through personalized and just-in-time information retrieval and continuous delivery;


knowledge carriers: through smart, plug-and-play systems that allow everyone to share their knowledge and create good learning experiences;

human resource and talent managers: through new generation analytics that measure what really matters (see below).

E-Learning has always been an industry sensible to standardization and interoperability and this has contributed to the success of the technological solutions in phase 1.0. However, the new technological wave entails avoiding a myopic attitude to learning and overcoming a closed system approach. APIs and SDKs that create a “learning-as-a-service” environment will be the key value drivers either to build upon or to shift away from legacy systems.

Table 1: the shift from e-Learning 1.0 to e-Learning 2.0.

e-Learning 1.0 e-Learning 2.0

Key learning moments Formal learning Informal learning

Role of technology Core Enabling

Learning touch points Online courses Multi-channel learning experiences

Content format Book-like: chapters, paragraphs, pages.

Immersive bites of content, adaptive paths.

Content production Focused on technical standardization

Focused on experience design, multiple outputs

Assessment Adapted from paper examinations (multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, true/false, …)

Digital native interactions, social recognition

Authors Instructional designers and subject matter experts

Dispersed knowledge carriers within and outside the organization

Measurement SCORM Complex analytics and KPIs.


HOW TO BEST PREPARE YOUR ORGANIZATION As the second generation of e-Learning evolves, greater skills, expertise, and flexibility will be required from individuals and organizations to fully realize the promise of what e-Learning can provide today and into the future.

In order to prepare for e-Learning 2.0, organizations first need to become aware of the key advancements in the field of learning before strategizing on how to harness these new tools and techniques to move the quality and effectiveness of their learning forward:

Capture and support of informal learning and the related standards

Evidence-based assessment approaches over paper-based approaches

Incorporation of post-pc technologies into learning activities

Analytics and predictive analytics utilized to create true learning intelligence

Along with these rapidly emerging trends come the need for the requisite skills to fully leverage them:

Advanced metadata, taxonomical, and ontological skills

Assessment skills related to evaluating learner-provided evidence

Visual overlay design skills for augmented reality and virtual reality learning experiences

xAPI and cmi5 implementation skills for informal and learning capture

Conceptual understanding of Big Data and the underlying data mining and predictive analytics skills.


CONCLUSIONS AND EXTENSIONS The first generation be e-Learning was plagued by low production values, low learner engagement, and little accountability in terms of measurable outcomes and effectiveness. The next generation holds much promise but the practitioners that need to see this promise fulfilled must be more skilled in more areas than ever before.

ABOUT EXACT LEARNING SOLUTIONS eXact learning solutions is a leading online and mobile learning content management and digital repository solutions provider, offering a wide range of tools and services for content development, management and delivery, covering:

• Multi-language bespoke learning content production • Content management and digital repository platforms • Mobile learning technologies • Consulting and professional services

Headquarters

Piazza della Vittoria, 11A

16121 Genoa, Italy

+39 010 817 7500

[email protected]

US Office

1250 Connecticut Av. NW (20036),

Suite 200

Washington DC

+1.202.379.3070; +1.888.324.3573

www.exact-learning.com

E-Learning 2.0: Is your organization ready to transition ...€¦ · E-LEARNING 2.0 Knowledge is everywhere. As we have underlined in the introduction, knowledge is everywhere ...

Documents