It\u2019s tempting at this time of year to make predictions about the future. The wind down to the holiday season often frees up some time to reflect on the year just passed, and new year resolutions have us considering future action and improvements.<\/p>\n
Listicles (lists dressed up as articles) abound of what\u2019s going to be hot, what\u2019s trending, what\u2019s key, what\u2019s a priority, what\u2019s emerging, what\u2019s new, what\u2019s a word in the thesaurus that someone else hasn\u2019t used yet? Some of them are just (sometimes informed) opinions, others use wide-reaching surveys and occasionally there\u2019s some research behind them. If you start searching, it won\u2019t take you long to complete the bingo sheet:<\/p>\n
Learning Design Buzzword Bingo<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s wisdom in the crowd though. If enough people are saying, and research is saying, and top-tier people are saying that X is coming, or here, then it\u2019s a pretty safe bet that as learning designers we should at least be paying attention to X.<\/p>\n Our learning design toolbox needs to have as much in it as possible. There is no one best way<\/strong>. The content, context, users, budget, tools, access and more all influence what solution will work best.<\/p>\n Standing on solid shoulders<\/strong><\/p>\n With all the trends and options that are out there, there are some foundational concepts that every learning designer should be aware of, some theorists who have stood the test of time and some practices that quite simply work. If, like Isaac Newton, we can stand on the shoulders of these giants, then we too can see further. These core ideas shape the way the easyA<\/strong> team thinks and designs:<\/p>\n Adult Learning Principles<\/strong><\/p>\n Popularised by Knowles, the 4 principles that:<\/p>\n Beating the forgetting curve<\/strong><\/p>\n Since Ebbinghaus first proposed the Forgetting Curve in the 1970s, learning designers have risen to its challenge \u2013 we\u2019ve learned that there are a wide range of things we can build into our learning designs that will help with engagement, support remembering and enable future application. With thanks to Dr. Will Thalheimer for his exhaustive research into this field (see the Deep Dive section below) we can trust the efficacy of such things as context alignment, retrieval practice, spaced learning, repetition, variation and feedback.<\/p>\n Learning Theories, Theorists and Models<\/strong><\/p>\n Every learning designer should have some familiarity with learning theory. Whether it\u2019s through big names like Kolb, Bloom, Katzell-Kirkpatrick or Maslow (his hierarchy has had a new level added at the bottom \u2013 a fully charged phone battery); or schools of thought like transformational, behaviourist or constructivist; or models like ADDIE, AGILE, SAM, Design\/ Creativity Loops or 70.20.10 \u2013 the ideas within these learning theories and design models will strengthen your ability to approach any learning challenge and design solutions that work.<\/p>\n As learning designers, we should be keeping up to speed with the trends, listening for and experimenting with new ideas to refine our craft and bringing together these trends, the latest and greatest with the researched, the tried and tested. When we\u2019re doing this (and note that doing is an ongoing thing) we will be in a better position to create learning designs that deliver performance outcomes for individuals and organisations.<\/p>\n Now that\u2019s BINGO!<\/p>\n Interested in a deep dive?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n Business alignment<\/td>\n Microlearning<\/td>\n Augmented\/ Virtual Reality<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Personalisation\/ Adaptive<\/td>\n Curation<\/td>\n Human-centred design<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Design Thinking<\/td>\n Artificial Intelligence<\/td>\n Learning campaigns\/ journeys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Social\/ Collaborative<\/td>\n Informal learning<\/td>\n Mobile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n
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