eLearning trends we learnt at #LT20UK

After exhibiting at the biggest and best place to see the latest education tech trends, we wanted to share what we learnt at Learning Tech 2020...

People want more bespoke content

For a while, eLearning was dominated by generic off-the-shelf content that was designed to appeal to everyone (even though that’s rarely the case). The idea behind it was simple: choose a popular topic like Health and Safety and put together a digital course on it. Back then ‘customised’ meant including a company logo in the top corner of the course! Today though, bespoke content is becoming more and more the norm with a greater focus on the end user and keeping them engaged throughout. And some eLearning design companies (like us) solely produce bespoke eLearning… but not many though! 

It’s all about blended learning!

As the world changes, so does the way that people learn. Learning used to take place in a classroom with a teacher at the front, then when computers were invented, there was a big push to move it all online. However, I think experts would broadly agree that there’s now a place for both… and on some occasions a mixture is often best. A blended learning approach allows for micro-learning to be delivered via mobile technologies and accessed anywhere in the world… even on a bus home from work or college. See what we did in a recent project for Landex.    

There are so many LMS options

There are so many it can be difficult to know where to start if you’re looking for one. That’s certainly what we understood from speaking to people at Learning Tech. Sometimes people just wanted an LMS to measure the overall effectiveness of the course and to make sure modules had been completed. But because of the growth of eLearning and the modern demands of big organisations, LMSs are now designed to capture, measure and report everything. At First Media, we’re LMS agnostic. We produce SCORM compliant files that work with any of them. We also offer a Lite LMS which is ideal for people who just want something simple to accompany their eLearning course.

Interactive design brings the learning to life

Without video, animations, illustrated scenarios and quizzes, eLearning has a tendency to be very, very dull. Come on, it really does. Fortunately though, over the last decade or so, interactive design has been embraced by the eLearning community and now most eLearning includes these elements to help engage the user. However, few include as many interactive features in their content as us. People at Learning Tech were drawn in by the eye-catching visuals on our stand and then wowed by our high impact, vibrant and extremely clickable courses. Because we know how to make eLearning fun!

On-boarding and Inductions are going digital

We were inundated with people talking to us about creating online materials to support onboarding. It’s taken a bit longer than you’d think, but organisations are waking up to the idea that inducting people digitally is cost effective, reliable, flexible and ensures that the message is consistent. Unlike with the traditional classroom-style inductions we’ve all had to endure, digital on-boarding can take place anywhere at anytime because it doesn’t rely on someone to deliver it. Also having a course which provides key information about your company, workplace and the role has been proven to improve retention. So really, it’s a bit of a no brainer for any business out there.