Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...

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Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
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     Introduction to
Modern Workplace Learning
         in 2018

    Modern Workplace Learning Series

                   Jane Hart
       Centre for Modern Workplace Learning
  Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

                 v2, January 2018
Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
About Jane Hart

                      Jane Hart is the Founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance
                      Technologies (C4LPT), one of the world’s largest independent
                      websites about learning on the Web, where she compiles the very
                      popular, annual Top 100 Tools for Learning List - now in its
                      11th year.
                      Jane Hart has been working with businesses for over 30 years, and
                      currently focuses on helping them modernise their approaches to
workplace learning.
Jane blogs regularly, and speaks internationally at conferences and private events on
modern workplace learning.
Jane is the author of a number of books, the Social Learning Handbook 2014, Modern
Workplace Learning, and Learning in the Modern Workplace. This new MWL series for
2018 includes some updated content from those books as well as new material.
In 2013, Jane was the recipient of the Colin Corder Award for Outstanding Contribution
to Learning, presented by the UK-based Learning & Performance Institute.
Find out more about Jane and her work, or to contact her:

C4LPT                            http://C4LPT.co.uk
Jane’s Blog                      http://C4LPT.co.uk/blog
Modern Workplace Learning        http://ModernWorkplaceLearning.com

Email:                           jane.hart@C4LPT.co.uk

Follow Jane:
On Twitter                       http://twitter.com/C4LPT
On LinkedIn                      http://linkedin.com/in/C4LPT/
On Facebook                      http://facebook.com/C4LPT

                             The content in this e-book is
                  © Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

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Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
Contents

   About Jane Hart .............................................................................................................................2
1.1 - A short history of workplace learning ............................................................................. 4
   Stage 1 - Classroom training ...........................................................................................................4
   Stage 2 – E-Learning .......................................................................................................................4
   Stage 3 - Blended Learning .............................................................................................................6
   Stage 4 - Social Learning .................................................................................................................6
   Stage 5 - Modern Workplace Learning ............................................................................................6
1.2 - The emergence of Modern Professional Learners ........................................................... 7
   Changing learning habits ................................................................................................................7
   Why do modern professionals learn?............................................................................................ 11
   How do modern professionals learn?............................................................................................ 12
   How do modern professionals prefer to learn? ............................................................................. 13
   Why is autonomy important? ....................................................................................................... 14
   Why is modern professional learning important for organizations? ............................................... 15
1.3 - An overview of Modern Workplace Learning ................................................................ 17
   Designing and delivering modern training experiences .................................................................. 17
   From training delivery to continuous learning ............................................................................... 18
   Enabling and supporting continuous independent learning ........................................................... 19
2 - Designing, Delivering & Managing Modern Training Experiences for the Workplace ......... 20
   Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... 20
   How to get a copy ........................................................................................................................ 20
3 - Enabling and Supporting Continuous Independent Learning at Work ............................... 21
   Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... 21
   How to get a copy ........................................................................................................................ 21
How to become a Modern Professional Learner ................................................................... 22
   Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... 22
   How to get a copy ........................................................................................................................ 22

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                                                                                  3
Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
1.1 - A short history of workplace learning

The work of the Learning & Development Department (aka Training Department) has
evolved over many years, and has moved through a number of identifiable stages.
                                                                                           Stage 5
     Stage 1                                  Stage 3                 Stage 4
                      Stage 2                                                              Modern
    Classroom                                Blended                  Social
                    E-Learning                                                            Workplace
     Training                                Learning                Learning
                                                                                          Learning
                                                 trainers/
                      instructional                                                      modern learning
      trainers                                instructional          facilitators
                        designers                                                           advisors
                                                designers
                                            authoring tools        social platforms/
                     authoring tools                                                         personal
                                           webinar systems       learning experience
                          LMS                                                             learning toolkit
                                                 LMS                  platforms
                                                                                        individual organizes
                                                                                         and manages own
                 training initiatives organized and managed by L&D
                                                                                       self-improvement and
                                                                                          self-development

Stage 1 - Classroom training
The original approach to workplace learning was to take people away from their day job
and train them in a separate classroom – just like at school.
In fact, this is the model of training that is often held up as the benchmark for all other
types of training. One of the distinct advantages of classroom training is that it is a social
experience, where participants can learn together with colleagues and in the presence of
a trainer or instructor. However, there are a number of inherent disadvantages with this
type of training. This includes the fact that everyone has to be in the classroom at the
same time and has to proceed at the same pace. For some people, all too often, a training
event of this kind is often considered to be a “holiday” from the day job. Working and
learning in many cases are considered to be quite separate activities.
Although classroom training still continues in many organizations, others have moved into
the next stage of workplace learning, where technology-based training, aka e-learning,
has automated this process.
Stage 2 – E-Learning
The roots of e-learning go back to the early uses of technology to support learning, in
particular the use of training films, TV and videotapes. In the 1980s, with the advent of
personal computers, we saw the introduction of interactive, multimedia computer-based
training (CBT) delivered on CDs or laser disks. But it was in the early 1990s, with the birth
of the World Wide Web, that online learning began and the Web was first used to provide
a global learning experience.

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Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
Most of the early online learning activity occurred in universities where access to the
Internet was more prevalent. However, by the late 1990s companies had begun to see
the value of online learning as a means of delivering training at low cost.
At the peak of the dot com boom around 2000, there was enormous interest in everything
"e-". We saw the lift-off of "e-commerce" and "e-business", and the term "e-learning" was
also coined around this time. In 2001, John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco Systems
predicted:
     "E-Learning is the next killer app: it will make email look like a rounding error."
The great benefits of e-learning, promoted at that time, were that you no longer needed
to spend long periods travelling to a location to attend classroom training, you could now
have access to learning when you wanted it, at the time you wanted it – day or night, at
home or work. It also meant that you could learn at your own pace; there was nobody to
tell you when you had to do it and how much you had to do.
During the 2000’s, corporate e-learning became big business and we saw:
1. the large-scale production of off-the-shelf libraries of generic courseware
2. companies offering bespoke development of multimedia online courses, and
3. the emergence of Learning Management Systems (LMS) to manage learners and their
   learning.
Although Cisco’s definition of e-learning back in 2001 was very wide, encompassing
     “education, training, communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing”
most organizations focused on the packaging of instructional content so that the term
e-learning soon became (and still is the case for many people) synonymous with online
courses. Despite the early fanfare around e-learning, people began to become
disillusioned with it.
For managers:
•   it didn’t seem to be delivering on its promises, people where dropping out of online
     courses and not “completing” them
•   large scale investments in LMS weren’t paying off
•   content development was taking too long and was too costly
For employees:
•   e-learning was often considered inferior to traditional classroom-based learning.
    Many wanted a teacher, as well as other students, to be present to add value to the
    whole process; just working through an online course wasn’t enough – however well
    designed or developed.
•   employees felt they were getting a raw deal: they weren’t enthusiastic about sitting
    at their computers ploughing their way through hours of online courses – they soon
    got bored or frustrated
Consequently, a number of new training approaches emerged to address these issues.

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                              5
Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
Stage 3 - Blended Learning
Blended learning was originally defined as a learning solution that mixed face-to-face
learning (classroom training, etc.,) with online elements to create a blend of the two. Much
has been written about how to create blended solutions, yet there is no magic formula.
The “right” blend depends on a number of factors that include the learning problem being
addressed, the learners' profile, the budget and so on.
Another term for "blended learning" is "hybrid learning" and this term is commonly found
in formal education. But in each case, the term is now defined more broadly as to mean
delivering training using a variety of different media, formats and approaches.
In situations where face-to-face training was not possible, that is where students were
distributed in various parts of the country or world, systems and tools began to be used
to allow remote learners to come together online, at the same time, with a tutor who led
a learning session. This is now referred to as “live e-learning” or “synchronous learning”
or even "real time learning", to differentiate it from asynchronous or self-paced learning.
For many organizations, blended learning involves:
•   creating content-rich e-learning or blended solutions with a mix of face-to-face and
    other online elements
•   managing the learners and their learning in learning management systems and
    reporting on their activity, test results and course completions
•   using webinar platforms to deliver live e-learning sessions.
Stage 4 - Social Learning
With the rise of social media, we saw the Web evolve into the Social Web (previously
referred to as Web 2.0), and the emergence of terms like “social business” and “social
learning”. In the case of “social learning”, for many this meant the use of social media in
training, and in particular requiring people to interact with one another in online courses.
However, others have recognised that the real social learning in the workplace takes
place as employees share their knowledge and experiences with one another as part of
their daily work, and this marks a significant tipping point in the understanding of
workplace learning, that takes us into Stage 5.
Stage 5 - Modern Workplace Learning
The difference between Stages 1-4 and Stage 5 is not just using a new set of tools to
design, deliver and manage training, but a new mindset about how people learn at work
and the new role L&D plays in it.
This change is being influenced by a number of factors, particularly the emergence of
self-sufficient modern professional learners, and the changing world of work. Both of
these aspects are described below.

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Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
1.2 - The emergence of Modern Professional Learners

Changing learning habits
On 2 October 2017, I released the results of the 11th Annual Learning Tools survey in the
form of the Top 200 Tools for Learning 20171 list. I compiled the list from the votes of
over 2,000 learning professionals from 52 countries worldwide who shared their Top 10
Tools for Learning. The 11-year study has become an important longitudinal survey of
learning habits and practices.

The image below shows the logos of the 200 tools on the list. The tools within the blue
square are the Top 10 Tools on the list, surrounded by other high-ranking tools. The tools
lower on the list appear on the outside of the image.

1   Top 200 Tools for Learning 2017 http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                           7
Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
As part of the survey I asked respondents to the survey to identify in which context they
used these tools, and from that information I also generated 3 sub-lists: Top 100 Tools
for Personal & Professional Learning, Top 100 Tools for Workplace Learning and Top
100 Tools for Education2.
The Top 100 Tools for Workplace Learning 2017 list contains a variety of dedicated
instructional tools (illustrated on the graphic below) - for the design, delivery and
management of workplace training, i.e.
      • e-learning authoring tools – to create online courses and other online instructional
        content, like animated explainers
      • content development tools – to create and edit interactive PDFs, graphics, audio,
        animation, video, for screen capture and screencasting, as well as augmented and
        virtual reality content tools
      • LMS and learning platforms – to host and manage online learning
      • classroom response tools - to provide interaction, polling, quizzing and feedback
        in the classroom.

2   Top Tools for Learning: Rankings http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/rankings/

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Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
The Top 100 Tools for Workplace Learning 2017 list also contains a range of social
collaboration tools (illustrated on the graphic below) - for individuals to connect with,
interact with and ultimately learn from their colleagues - both inside and outside their
organizations
  • email tools – for creating and receiving emails and email campaigns
  • messaging apps – to communicate with individuals and groups
  • web and video meeting tools - for online meetings, webinars and web conferences
  • team and enterprise social collaboration platforms – for social collaboration and
    social learning
  • file collaboration and sharing tools – including those that interact with office
    tools.

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                          9
Introduction to Modern Workplace Learning in 2018 - Jane Hart - Centre for ...
When it comes to individual learning, the Top 100 Tools for Personal & Professional
Learning 2017 shows that many people are continuing to use a wide variety of resources,
networks and services (as shown in the graphic below). I call this the Modern Professional
Learner’s Toolkit.

A Modern Professional Learner’s Toolkit contains:
     • A favourite web browser and search engine – to make the most of the Web
     • A set of trusted web resources - for problem-solving, discovery and inspiration
     • A number of news and curation tools – to keep abreast with new resources, as
       well as store and sharing what they find
     • Favourite web course platforms – to acquire knowledge and skills in a formal way
     • A range of social networks – to build a diverse professional network of external
       colleagues (aka personal learning network - PLN)
     • A Personal Information System – to record, store and make sense of experiences,
       web clippings, experiences and ideas, as well as track their own professional
       development
     • A blogging or website tool - to share ideas and thinking, and promote themselves
       more publically
     • A variety of productivity tools and apps – to help them work effectively
     • A preferred office suite – to create documents, presentations and spreadsheets
     • A range of communication and collaboration tools - to interact, share and learn
       with others in different ways
     • One or more smart devices - for ubiquitous access to content and people

10                                                                           © C4LPT, 2018
Why do modern professionals learn?
The Top 100 Tools for Personal & Professional Learning 2017 also shows that
modern professionals learn for many reasons. Ten are shown in the diagram below.
But there are also a number of significant features that differentiate modern professional
learners – and these are also highlighted below.

In other words, traditional workplace learners are very reliant on learning initiatives that
have been designed for them, whereas Modern Professional Learners recognise that a
lot of what they learn is not designed (i.e. it happens accidentally, incidentally or
serendipitously) as a by-product of another activity, which is particularly the case in the
workplace as they do their daily work. They understand that learning at work is more than
just training; it happens in many different ways inside and outside and outside the
organization.
The activities of traditional workplace learners are tracked and managed centrally in the
organization using enterprise learning platforms, whereas Modern Professional Learners
track and manage their own learning using their own personal tools.
Traditional workplace learners believe their organization is responsible for what they
learn, whereas Modern Professional Learners understand that learning is ultimately their
own responsibility. Although an organization will provide them with training, e-learning
and other learning opportunities, they recognise their organization can’t provide them with
everything them need throughout your career so they need to take charge of their own
self-improvement (for the now) and self-development (for the future).

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                            11
How do modern professionals learn?
The Top Tools for Learning 2017 survey results also provide a good indication of how
modern professional learn – at, through, and for work
       Modern professionals learn               Modern professionals learn
        in 4 main ways through                       in 3 key places:
1.   Content                              1. In Training
2.   People                               2. At Work
3.   Events                               3. Outside Work (& on the Web)
4.   Experiences

Here are some examples of how Modern Professionals learn in each of these different
ways and places:

12                                                                      © C4LPT, 2018
How do modern professionals prefer to learn?
But which of the different ways of learning described above bring most value to a modern
professional?
My Learning in the Workplace3 survey, now in its 6th year, provides some answers. In it I
ask individuals to rate the importance (i.e. value and usefulness) of 12 different ways of
learning for and at work:
      •    Classroom training
      •    E-Learning (and web courses)
      •    Internal resources (documents, guides etc)
      •    Knowledge sharing within your team
      •    Daily work experiences (i.e. doing the day job)
      •    Manager feedback and guidance
      •    Coach or mentor feedback and guidance
      •    Professional networks and communities
      •    Conferences and other events
      •    Blogs and news feeds
      •    Web resources (e.g. videos, podcasts, articles)
      •    Web search (e.g. Google).

The survey is now in its 6th year and has had over 5,000 responses from 65 countries
worldwide. The full results are shown below ranked by the total Very important and
Essential scores (in blue). The red figures are where the most votes were received.
                                                                  Not         Quite       Very                  Very Imp +
                                                                                                    Essential
    Rank                                                        important   important   important
                                                                                                       %
                                                                                                                 Essential
                                                                   %           %           %                        %

      1     Daily work experiences (doing the day job)             1           6          26          67           93
      2     Knowledge sharing within your team                     1           9          30          60           90
      3     Web search (eg Google)                                 5          16          27          52           79
      4     Web resources (videos, podcasts, articles)             4          20          37          39           76
      5     Manage feedback & guidance                             7          19          39          35           74
      6     Professional networks & communities                    4          24          41          31           72
      7     Coach or mentor (feedback & guidance)                  7          28          43          22           65
      8     Internal resources (documents, guides)                 8          32          35          25           60
      9     Blogs and news feeds                                  10          34          33          23           56
     10     E-Learning (online courses for self-study)            20          39          25          16           41
     11     Conferences & other professional events               17          48          32           3           35
     12     Classroom training                                    28          41          19          12           31

3   Learning in the Workplace survey http://c4lpt.co.uk/litw/

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                                                            13
The results show that for modern professional learners:
•     the least valued ways to learn at and for work are in traditional (workplace learning)
      activities – like classroom training and e-learning – which appear right at the bottom
      of the list. These are activities that happen intermittently, are organized, directed and
      managed by L&D, and primarily take place through instructional events and content.
•      the most valued ways to learn at and for work are continuous, self-organized/and
       self-directed experiences and activities that happen as part of daily work, interaction
       with people as well as the use of informal web content.
In summary, Modern Professional Learners
•      not only have a modern toolset for learning – where they make use of a wide variety
       of everyday tools, but
•      they have a modern learning mindset about how and when learning happens for, at
       and through work, and
•      they have also developed a modern learning skillset that is no longer just about how
       to study or take a course online, but how to make the most of all the learning
       experiences and opportunities they might encounter – whether it be as part of their
       daily work or learning on the Web
•      they are highly independent/autonomous, continuous (lifelong) learners, making
       their own decisions about what they need to learn and how to do it.
Why is autonomy important?
This last point is key to understanding modern professional learning. Autonomy (together
with Mastery and Purpose) is a powerful motivator in the workplace, as Dan Pink has
explained in his book, Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us4, and this quote
from it summarises his position (my emboldening).
         “Human beings have an innate drive to be autonomous, self-determined and
         connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve
         more and live richer lives. The opposite of autonomy is control. And since they
         sit at different poles of the behavioral compass, they point us to different
         destinations.
         Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.”
However, autonomy scares many organizations and often provokes reactions from L&D
professionals such as those shown (in the diagram overleaf) and in the comments printed
below:
         “We can’t let people learn stuff on their own; they might learn the wrong things!”
         “We can’t let people share stuff; they might provide incorrect information!”
         "We need to track every piece of activity and everything that everyone learns.".

4   Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us, Dan Pink, 2011 http://www.danpink.com/books/drive/

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It is clearly difficult for some, who see themselves as “gatekeepers” to learning, to
understand that they can no longer control everything that people learn in their
organization.

But most people are already learning things on their own and sharing them with one
another – face-to-face, on the phone, in emails as well as in other social channels - so it
is not a matter of letting people do things on their own, but recognising this is a key
aspect of how people learn to do their jobs, and is therefore something that needs to be
encouraged. But there may be some who still question why it is important to do this; why
it is important to support modern, independent, professional learning.
Why is modern professional learning important for
organizations?
There are a number of reasons why the traditional workplace training model is no longer
relevant. Put simply the workplace is no longer the place it was 100 years ago when
training was the norm.
The fast pace of change in the world of work means that jobs are changing fast. For
example, the effect of AI and robotics in the workplace means that many jobs, if they are
not completely replaced by robots, will be very different.
Information is exploding at a phenomenal rate. Knowledge and skills now have a short
shelf-life. It is frequently said that an individual’s knowledge and skills will be out of date
within 5 years, and a college degree will be out of date before the loan is paid off.
Individuals are living longer, so the traditional “job for life“ model has disappeared. In fact,
a MITSloan Management report, entitled The corporate implications of longer life 5,
suggests that the flexible nature of the modern workforce will likely see a 15-year-old
today navigating a portfolio of 17 jobs in 5 different industries.

5The corporate implications of longer life, Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring
2017 http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-corporate-implications-of-longer-lives/

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                                                15
It also shows how the traditional 3-stage model of education-work-retirement will no
longer apply.
      “As working lives become multi-staged and the sequence of those stages
      becomes more customized, individuals will take an interest in skills with value
      that extends beyond the current employer and sector.”
The report then goes on to say
      “This will weaken the one-size-fits-all approach to learning and development.
      Instead, there will be a growing need for more decentralized and flexible
      approaches to learning, curated more by individuals than by employers.“
The report recognises this will cause the following tensions:
•    people want personalization; corporations want conformity
•    people want flexibility; corporations want standardization
The authors conclude
      “We expect the pressure building from these tensions to grow in the years
      ahead. Without changes in corporate policies, employees will struggle to build
      working lives that have resilience over an extended period of time and that
      support healthy and prosperous longevity. In response, companies need to
      initiate a top-to-bottom redesign of their human resource practices and
      processes.”
Some organizations do recognise that to deal with a fast-changing world they now need
to value “learning agility” or “learnability” - that is the capacity to keep learning and
developing new skills and expertise, even if they are not obviously linked to one’s current
job.
In a Harvard Business review article, It’s the company’s job to help people learn6, Tomas
Chamorro-Premuzic and Mara Swan make the following three recommendations for
managers to foster learnability in the workplace:
1. Select for it: To maximize the benefit of limited training investments, focus on
   employees with higher learnability: curious and inquisitive individuals who are
   genuinely interested in acquiring new knowledge.
2. Nurture it: Managers who want their employees to learn new things will encourage
   that behaviour by doing it themselves. We are all time-deprived, but high learnability
   people make the time to learn new things.
3. Reward it. If you want to change people’s behaviour, you should show them that you
   mean it. It is not enough to hire curious people and hope they display as much
   learnability as you do. You should also reward them for doing so.
So, what role does L&D play in this? How can they support modern workplace learning?

6It’s the company’s job to help people learn, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Mara Swan, Harvard Business Review,
18 July 2016 https://hbr.org/2016/07/its-the-companys-job-to-help-employees-learn

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1.3 - An overview of Modern Workplace Learning
Modern Workplace Learning provides a new understanding of how learning happens at
work – one that is much more aligned with how modern professionals see the world. It is
no longer just about training or studying; it recognises that individuals learn all the time.
Learning doesn’t just take place in a specific training event or e-learning course, it is an
integral part of daily work. People learn something new every day – whether they realise
it or not. But having said, unlike school or college, people don’t go to work to learn, they
go to work to work, so, we need to be careful using the “learning” word as it is no longer
synonymous with education and training; in Modern Workplace Learning “learning” has a
far wider meaning.

Consequently L&D’s role needs to broaden too, in order to reflect this new understanding.
Essentially there are two key elements to Modern Workplace Learning:
(1)    Designing, delivering and managing modern training experiences
(2)    Enabling and supporting continuous independent learning
Designing and delivering modern training experiences
Whilst organizations have a responsibility to provide training and opportunities for
organizational learning, there is a lot that can be done to modernise current training
initiatives to make them relevant and appealing for today’s modern professional learners
- as highlighted on the graphic below.

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                             17
From training delivery to continuous learning
Whilst some L&D departments are making good made efforts to modernize their training
initiatives. others have gone further and are now providing a wider range of learning
opportunities and resources for on demand use. But in an agile organization – where
things are changing very fast and the L&D department can no longer provide everyone
with everything they need - continuous learning now becomes an imperative. However,
supporting continuous learning requires a new approach, and the following table
highlights some of the key differences.
                      MODERN               ON DEMAND                 CONTINUOUS
                      TRAINING              LEARNING                  LEARNING
                  “We need to make        “We want to offer
                                                                  “We want to help our
                   sure our people       our people a range
     rationale                                                   people to self-improve
                    are competent       of flexible resources
                                                                    and self-develop”
                   and compliant.”      to use as they wish.”
      model            delivery             self-service              self-reliance
                                        providing resources
                                                                 helping individuals get
                                         and other learning
                       providing                                  the most out of their
                                        opportunities to help
                     (intermittent)                               daily work and take
                                        with ad hoc learning
                        training                                   control of their own
                                         and performance
                                                                         careers
     L&D role                                 problems

                       courses               resources           building and supporting
                                                                  modern professional
                       creation               curation                learning skills

                       instructor             facilitator                advisor
       tools/            LMS/                                      self-selected tools
                                                portal
     platforms     learning platform                               and digital portfolio
                                                                Enabling & Supporting
      e-book/        Designing, Delivering & Managing
                                                                     Continuous
     workshop         Modern Learning Experiences
                                                                Independent Learning
Although there will continue to be a need for L&D to provide modern training and on
demand learning – there will be an increasing necessity to help individuals become much
more self-reliant in terms of their own continuous self-improvement and self-development.
Although some might question why companies should help individuals to prepare for their
own futures, doing so actually not only means they are more likely to stay in the
organization, but is also a win-win since both organization and individual benefit from the
new knowledge, skills and experience gained. Ultimately, this is what will make the
difference in how future-ready organizations learn, grow and thrive.

18                                                                            © C4LPT, 2018
Enabling and supporting continuous independent learning
Although for many people, as we have seen, continuously learning from a multitude of
sources both for, through and at work is a natural way of life, there are others who think
that workplace learning is all about being trained. So, when it comes to continuous
independent learning, the first step will involve preparing the ground and helping both
managers and employees acquire a new mindset about what it means to learn
continuously at work, and how the learning function can help them. It will then involve
working with managers and individuals in a number of ways – as highlighted on the
graphic below.

Futhermore, whilst it will be important to have central training records for compliance and
regulatory purposes, it doesn’t mean trying to achieve the impossible task of tracking
everyone’s learning. Rather, it means helping individuals to organize and manage their
own learning and development – using their own personally-selected tools – and
maintaining a record of their own achievements that they can take with them throughout
their career.
This new approach requires a new learning professional role that I call a Modern Learning
Advisor, whose work is to build and support self-reliant and self-sufficient modern
professionals who can make the most of, and learn from all kinds of experiences and
opportunities to self-improve and self-develop.

If you want to find out more about the two key elements of Modern Workplace Learning,
you can do so in Parts 2 and 3 of this MWL 2018 Series.

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                           19
2 - Designing, Delivering & Managing Modern Training
Experiences for the Workplace
Table of Contents
1. Why we need to modernize training - what’s wrong with
   current training practices, overview of how can we address
   these issues, what modernizing workplace learning means.
MODERN TRAINING EXPERIENCES
2. A modern classroom experience - flipping the classroom,
   offering a technology-friendly classroom and running different
   types of classroom events.
3. Designing modern content - principles of modern content
   design, content formats and tools, content curation,
   employee-generated content.
4. Modern experiential learning - understanding experiential
   learning, simulated training experiences, immersive experiences (VR, AR and MR).
5. Modern social learning - understanding social learning, lessons learned from
   formal social learning, guided social learning experiences, live o nline chats.
6. Modern blended learning - learning campaigns, gamification.
MODERN DESIGN & LEARNING MANAGEMENT
7. Modern learning and performance design - issues with the traditional design
   process, 3 new approaches: performance consulting, action mapping, design
   thinking.
8. Modern assessment and evaluation - issues with traditional assessment and
   evaluation, a modern assessment approach, designing performance assessments.
9. Modern learning management - looking beyond the LMS, thinking differently about
   learning management.
10. Modern learning support - supporting groups, supporting individuals, the future of
    learning support: chatbots and AI.
SUMMARY: 12 guiding principles for the design and delivery of modern training.
How to get a copy
You can purchase a copy of the PDF of Part 2 separately or with Part 3 by following this
link. http://modernworkplacelearning.com/mwl-series-2018/
You can get a FREE copy of the PDF by participating in the online workshop with the
same name, by following this link: http://modernworkplacelearning.com/activities/c-
modernizing-training-e-learning/

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3 - Enabling and Supporting Continuous Independent
Learning at Work

Table of Contents
1. The role of the Modern Learning Advisor - The work of a
   Modern Learning Advisor, the skills and attributes of a Modern
   Learning Advisor
STAGE 1: PREPARE
2. Changing mindsets - What is continuous independent
   learning? Why is it important? What does it mean in practice>
STAGE 2: ENABLE
3. Help managers enable continuous independent learning –
   Select for, nurture and reward learnability
4. Help individuals learn from their daily work - Help individuals get the most out of
   their daily work, and keep track of their daily work experiences
5. Help individuals learn outside the workplace - Help individuals learn something
   new every day on the Web, keep up to date with their industry or profession, and
   acquire modern learning skills
6. Help individuals build a professional network - Help individuals understand the
   importance of a professional network, grow and manage their own network
7. Help individuals manage their professional self-development - The professional
   self-development process, help individuals set professional goals, achieve and
   evidence their goals, and set up a Learning Log and Digital Portfolio,
STAGE 3: SUPPORT
8. Help managers encourage sharing in teams - Build a knowledge sharing culture,
   make use of a social space for team sharing, and measure the success of
   knowledge sharing
9. Promote sharing across the organization - Run corporate networking events and
   large company events
10. Set up a Learning Concierge service - Rationale and the activities of Modern
    Learning Advisors
How to get a copy
You can purchase a copy of the PDF of Part 3 separately or with Part 2 by following this
link: http://modernworkplacelearning.com/mwl-series-2018/
You can get a FREE copy of the PDF by participating in the online workshop with the
same name, by following this link: http://modernworkplacelearning.com/independent-
learning/

© C4LPT, 2018                                                                         21
How to become a Modern Professional Learner

Table of Contents
This resource contains 100 short tasks (based around the 10
Principles of Modern Professional Learning (listed below) to
help you make the most of your work life and take control of
your career.
1. Take responsibility for your own self-improvement,
   learning and development – it’s your career so you need
   to be in control of it. Intermittent training is no longer enough, you need to be
   continuously curious and finding things out. [TASKS 1-4]
2. Spend some time reflecting on your daily work experiences – so that you can
   learn from your difficulties and challenges as well as your successes. [TASKS 5-7]
3. Address your own performance problems – become self-reliant and learn to
   solve your own problems particularly by power-searching on the Web and validating
   your sources. [TASKS 8-15]
4. Make the most of your manager – continuously ask for feedback on your current
   activities and help in moving forward in your work. [TASKS 16-18]
5. Learn from your team members – ask them for help and to share their
   experiences – and share what you learn with them too. [TASKS 19-26]
6. Build and maintain a diverse professional network – so that you have a
   collection of people around you who bring you value, and with whom you interact
   and learn on an ongoing basis. [TASKS 27-50]
7. Make a point of learning something new every day – it doesn’t have to be work
   related and it certainly doesn’t have to involve study. Make the most that the Web
   has to offer. [TASKS 51-69]
8. Keep up to date with what’s happening in your industry or profession – not just
   by attending an annual conference but continuously from daily knowledge flows that
   come from relevant curated resources. Connect the dots between random pieces of
   information, and avoid information overload. [TASKS 70-85]
9. Manage your own professional development – set your own professional goals,
   work on them in the best way for you, document your progress, and evidence your
   performance in a digital portfolio. [TASKS 86-99]
10. Establish your own personal learning toolkit – build a set of resources, tools,
    networks and services that help you continuously learn, grow and develop. [TASK
    100]
How to get a copy
You can purchase access to the online resource as well as download a PDF by following
this link: http://modernprofessionallearning.com/

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