In recent years, much of the focus of learning technology has been on the learner experience. In Brandon Hall Group’s 2017 HCM Outlook survey, 64% of companies said that the learner experience would receive moderate to heavy attention over the coming year, second only to aligning learning with the business strategy. Companies are trying to figure out how to deliver an intuitive, non-intrusive, engaging experience to learners after decades of serving up lists of SCORM courses.
As each new shift in technology took place, smaller technology providers would pop up to meet those needs as the larger players took some time to react. Mobile, social, personalized – the story has been the same. The newest focus is now the content experience, with companies like Pathgather and Degreed leading the charge.
During all of this, no one had gotten all of it together in one place: Scale, stability, simplicity, functionality, features, content, reporting, analytics, etc. This week in San Diego, Cornerstone unveiled a host of new offerings that may finally put all of the right elements under one roof. The idea is to create a learning experience that gives learners access to anything and everything learning related in a personalized, curated and contextual environment that allows them to learn when and how it suits them best.
In the fall, Cornerstone will launch Cornerstone Content Anywhere. The solution aims to gather content from literally anywhere — Ted Talks, YouTube, custom content, user-generated content, academic institutions, third-part content libraries, etc. – and make it available to organizations and their learners via a Netflix-like experience. Instead of getting emails dictating which course they need to take, learners can explore a library of required, recommended and reviewed content. Curation around roles, paths and interests keeps learners from becoming overwhelmed and able to focus on the material that helps them in their current roles and any future paths they may choose to take.
These learning elements, which can be anything from videos, courses, documents, etc., can be pulled into playlists that can be shared and commented on, much like the way people interact with online music and video services today. Cornerstone is not the first to do some of these things, but it just may be the first big technology player to do all of them and make a real step forward into creating a learning experience that fits the learning needs of a modern workforce.
–David Wentworth, Principal Learning Analyst, Brandon Hall Group
@DavidMWentworth
