Recently Senior Learning Analyst David Wentworth interviewed Michael Rochelle (Chief Strategy Officer at Brandon Hall Group) and Dawn Poulos (VP of Marketing at Xyleme) about some of the latest developments in learning content development and more. In this four-part series we will share that conversation and provide answers to some of the key questions surrounding those topics.
We have embedded the podcast version, or you can read the transcript of the conversation below.
Learning Content Development Requirements
David: What impact do these requirements have on developing and delivering content?
Michael: This places a heavy burden on creating content that is both engaging and meets the requirements of the learning.
To delve deeper into this, for learning content to be engaging it needs to grab and hold the attention of the learner.
This is not an easy process when you take into consideration the diversity of the learning audience in organizations today. We have several generations of learners and each learner has grown accustomed to having learning served up their way.
Whether it is a baby boomer who likes to read and follow along or a Millenial who would like to see learning provided in a gaming environment, both audiences need to learn the same thing.
Learning content development that drives length and depth of retention for both groups in this example cannot take on a “on size fits all” format.
Content needs to come in multiple formats and be able to be repurposed on the fly to meet the ever changing business conditions and needs of these diverse learning audiences.
Dawn:
- Organizations need to realize that learning content development, when used in a strategic, way can drive performance. Learning content is your competitive advantage but most organizations view content only as an afterthought.
- We can’t continue to create and publish content in a bubble.
- Authors need to be able to find content that has already been created and reuse the content or remix it as needed to reduce or eliminate redundant or duplicate content.
- Inability to find content is continually reported as one of top factors of inhibiting productivity, efficiency and even employee engagement. People cant’s do their job efficiently when they have top spend two hours a day searching for content and doing tedious rework.
- SMEs need to be able to share their knowledge effortlessly. You need active collaboration when creating learning. When learning sits on people’s desktops in RATs, this can’t happen.
- People are better able to learn when they have resources that are tailored to their needs and can grab it on the fly:
- That means moving to bite-sized learning that is easily accessible and digestible in any language, in multiple forms, and on any mobile device.
That wraps up our topic focused on learning content development requirements. We’ll be publishing part three of this series about how technology can support this process later this week.
Learning Content Series:
- Part 1: How to Make Learning Interesting
- Part 2: Learning Content Development Requirements (Currently Reading)
- Part 3: Learning Content Management Technology
- Part 4: LCMS Technology-Your Secret Weapon for Learning Content
