We perceive time subjectively. This year simultaneously crept along at a snail’s pace and flew by. Things that happened in January feel like last week, but events from a month ago seem like ancient history. This annual paradox makes me want to look back to try to make sense of it, so I can get a feeling for what the New Year might bring.
The learning technology market saw a lot of activity in 2018. Acquisitions of all shapes and sizes happened throughout the year. Some were obvious and expected, while others came out of nowhere. Some wrapped up quickly, while others are still unfolding. (I purposely avoid mentioning mergers because I don’t think they exist. Write what you want in the press release, but someone was acquired.)
SAP picked up Callidus Cloud, which gave it Litmos.Saba picked up Lumessebefore the dust settled on its Halogen acquisitionfrom the previous year. LTG expanded its portfolio with NetDimensions, PeopleFluent, and Watershed.
This activity can stoke uncertainty, but each move was executed with a keen eye on where the market is heading. Organizations seek well-integrated and flexible solutions to solve multiple human capital challenges with little or no disruption for administrators and, more importantly, end-users.
If there was a consistent theme in 2018, it was the year of the user experience. The candidate, the learner experience, employee experience…organizations and providers alike spent the last 12 months truly diving into what it means to be an employee who uses these systems. For learning, that meant an evolution from learner-centric to something even more relevant and personalized.
To that end, we see an increasing number of companies incorporating roles focused on improving the learning experience.
Percentage of companies currently using or planning to add the following roles to L&D:
Web designer: 46%
Social media expert: 41%
User experience designer: 41%
Game designer: 24%
Source: Brandon Hall Group 2018 Learning & Development Benchmarking Survey
The smartphone/Google/Netflix universe we live in finally has seeped into the world of enterprise learning. It has taken a long time to get here because companies had much invested in legacy technologies and content. But the learning experience is being “consumerized,” providing curated, relevant material available how and when people want it. Learning is slowly moving from event-based to continuous, and this last year has seen the most significant progress.
Newer technologies are moving from curious novelties to genuine problem solvers. I’ve been watching the fits and starts of virtual reality for three decades. This year, I witnessed it in real-world applications for everything from high-rise construction to in-store safety. We’ve gone from endless possibilities to practical realities.
The democratization of learning also took a huge shift in 2018. It is easier than ever for people to create and share content without the need for a degree in instructional systems design. Some of the most effective content today is shot and shared on iPhones. Technology allows organizations to tap into the vast amounts of knowledge—both institutional and otherwise within their workforces. Whether it is giving a subject-matter expert a drag-and-drop tool to create programs or simply providing a forum for people to ask experts questions, knowledge never flowed freer.
We’ve also spent a lot of 2018 fretting about whether artificial intelligence will either take all our jobs (at best) or fuel the robot uprising (at worst). I can safely say that for the foreseeable future, neither of those things will occur. What is happening, however, is that data and algorithms are making our software smarter. This will only increase over time. And while actual robots may not take over the world, there will be more robotic automation taking over processes (which sounds like a way less interesting movie). The more data we collect and the more patterns we uncover, the more we will become comfortable with machines (software, not robots) assuming increasingly complex tasks. Today, we see AI outputs such as relevant recommendations for learning content. Soon, we may see artificially created content.
As the calendar turns, I don’t expect the pace to slow down. The digital transformation is underway for organizations and learning. The key is to not let it become overwhelming. Decide what’s important to you and your organization and focus on that. But if you sit back and wait for it to blow over, you will spend 2020 wondering what happened to you and your company.
David Wentworthis principal learning analyst at Brandon Hall Group. The firm’s vision is to inspire a better workplace experience, and its mission is to empower excellence in organizations around the world through its research and tools. Brandon Hall Group has five HCM practices and produces the Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards and Excellence in Technology Awards; the Women in Leadership Summit; and the annual HCM Excellence Conference, Jan. 22-25, 2019, in West Palm Beach, FL.
