Digital Learning Journey: I am packing my suitcase. What I take along...
The key items one should never forget on a digital learning journey
Dear E-Learning Punk friends, one year of corona, one year without a holiday. Do you remember back when it was possible to travel the world with ease?
Cocktail in one hand, a good book in the other. Feet in the sand, sun on your face, looking at the roaring sea. That’s how many of us remember the perfect holiday. But there are many other ways to travel: From city breaks through backpacking tours to cruises, there’s something for everyone. The same applies to a learning journey.
What exactly do you need to pay attention to when planning, preparing and going on this journey? Over a nice cocktail, we asked travel guide and expert Eva Lettenbauer to offer some tips and hand you a checklist.
Planning a learning journey – What’s the destination?
Am I going on to explore far-flung places, or do I return to the little finca at the edge of the fishing village in Mallorca? We often go into holiday mode as soon as we start planning our trip. But we do have to decide on the destination.
Similarly, we need to figure out what digital training is meant to achieve for the company. What corporate goals is the training geared towards? What performance goals are being pursued? What exactly do we want to bring across? Should the training focus on background knowledge? Practical application? Sharing experiences? The more clearly you can define where you want to go with this journey, the more effectively you can leverage the different learning formats.
Everyone goes at their own pace on holiday. One person might want to see all of Paris in a day, while the next person would rather watch the hustle and bustle while sitting in a street café in Montmartre. But in the end, both want to take a picture in front of the Eiffel tower.
Defining the goals – the destination – and the contents of a training course is crucial for the success of a learning journey, but so is taking account of the actual learners. They are the target group the learning offers need to be tailored to. If employee requirements are met, they learn more efficiently and learning success is achieved more effectively. Learners should be enabled to close their knowledge gaps to the best of their abilities and learn at their own pace.
Packing the suitcase – What are the essentials?
Finally, the time has come! A quick check to see if last year’s bikini still fits and the sunscreen hasn’t hardened up. Now to the evening outfits – What can I wear when it gets cooler at night? Hang on. Does it even cool down in Bali?
Packing the right stuff for my destination is important. The same applies to training objectives: Each format is suitable for a range of contents and has its own advantages. Virtual classrooms are great for exchanging ideas, while web-based training helps participants to learn theoretical content at their own pace. By packing the right formats, you create a learning journey. This also opens up the opportunity to create small, digestible learning nuggets that are easy to integrate into day-to-day work.
Shoes, clothes, cosmetics, books and, of course, my sunglasses land in my suitcase.
For a learning journey that means the individual modules are defined. You might pack a virtual classroom, game-based learning, on-the-job challenges, social learning, quizzes and fill each with suitable content.
For imc customers, Eva Lettenbauer handles that part. She is a specialist for learning experience design at imc and turns contents into learning content. Above all, the learning journeys she thus creates motivate and aim to activate the learners.
“You want to capitalise on the strengths of each format and cater to different requirements and levels,” says Eva. “Depending on the level, advanced employees might even skip simpler topics. The better the modular system, the more flexible it is, allowing you to tailor it to the specific demands of each learner.”
Let the journey begin
Finally arrived and checked in. A quick look around the hotel, then I’ll see what I can reach on foot. Each journey has different stages. I need to get my bearings before I party in the best club in town with the locals without sticking out as a tourist. ¿Quién sabe? Maybe I even speak a few words of Spanish by the end of my trip?
The learning journey also goes through different stages. First, the learner needs to find their way around. A brief introduction helps to set the tone for the topic and motivate the learner. Then, the theoretical foundation is created as the necessary knowledge is gained. In the next step, the learned material is applied – on-the-job challenges, job aids, tests in quiz format and, of course, social learning can be leveraged to achieve this stage goal. Finally, it all has to be internalised to reach the end of the journey. From this point onwards, the learner can also act as a mentor and support others in their development.
Checklist
The best thing about the travel guide I used for my last holiday was the checklist for must-do sights and experiences in the city. To equally help your digital learning journey become a resounding success, we offer this checklist:
- Define objectives and content
- Distribute content across suitable formats
- Introduce the learner to the training and motivate them
- Create a theoretical foundation
- Apply the knowledge on the job
- Establish an active, self-directed learning culture
Now, we are just as excited about learning journeys as we are about travelling.
Of course, you won’t have to wait long for the next edition of E-Learning Punk, either. We will be all be about the intriguing topic of gamification.
... and if you’re still looking for the right holiday read: We’ve got that covered as well.
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Contact person
I joined the imc newsroom team in 2021. As a journalist my heart beats for content and storytelling.
I’m excited to figure out how e-learing and digitization affect the future of work. My task is to create content to talk about and I’m always looking for trends.
Privately I love to travel and eat Tapas.
Topics: E-Learning Trends, Corporate Social Responsibility, Press and Influencer Relations
