Learning isn’t changing

Abstract

Purpose

An exploration of what’s changing – and what is not – in the world of corporate learning. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

Discussion paper with special reference to the report “A Review of the e-learning markets of the UK, EU and China 2014”, published by Learning Light in 2014.

Findings

Learning is not changing – but the need and the opportunities for that learning are expanding. What is changing in the learning world is not learning per se but delivery technologies – and also the relative importance in the overall learning delivery mix of this growing range of learning delivery technologies.

Research limitations/implications

We’re standing on the shoulders of giants but we appear to be looking at an extremely foggy landscape. And, since we do not have “20/20 foresight”, our danger is that we spend our time “training to fight the last war” rather than “training to win the next war”.

Practical implications

There are a number of technological factors as well as demographic factors that learning and development professionals need to take into account when designing and developing (online) learning materials.

Social implications

As technology makes the work of subject matter experts more accessible, other factors – such as money or time availability – are likely to come into play to maintain some form of established intellectual elite.

Originality/value

An attempt to discern some current trends and extrapolate them.

Citation

Little, B. (2015), "Learning isn’t changing", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 47 No. 6, pp. 330-335. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-03-2015-0022