From personal learning and gamification to adaptive learning and Artificial Intelligence, we've broken these down, to give you a better idea of what each of these trends will mean for you.

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2. Trends

3. Personalised
Cost? Low
“If someone can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we
should teach the way they learn.” – Ignacio Estrada
What is it?
Non linear learning content that adapts to what the learner knows, doesn’t know and
needs to know.
Think of it as.
As an alternative to one site fits all approach to learning where the needs of the
individual learner are uniquely addressed.
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4. Micro Learning
Cost? Low
"Microlearning is more than a buzz today. It is being increasingly used by many
organizations for both formal and informal learning." - Asha Pandey,elearningindustry.com
What is it?
Small learning units - often no more than five minutes long - that is designed to meet
a specific learning outcome.
Think of it as.
An effective way to create focussed learning.
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5. Performance support
Cost? Medium
What is it?
Performance support compliments training and aides the operation of a newly
learned skill right when the user needs it so that performance is improved.
Think of it as.
The final piece in the learning and development puzzle that ensures a new
skill is applied in the right way.
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“If you are seeking strong retention and learning transfer, people need
distributed learning and performance support.” – Connie Malamed

6. Gamification
Cost? Medium
“Gamification is the application of gaming mechanics to non-gaming contexts with the aim
of inducing engagement and raising levels of motivation.” - Richard Hyde, Learning Pool
What is it?
Gaming mechanics and design techniques that aide the learning process. Leading to
improvements in learner engagement, productivity, skills, and much more.
Think of it as.
Not solely being about ‘gamifying’, but as way to make your team more efficient, save
costs and drive revenue growth.
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7. Social Learning
Cost? Medium
What is it?
People learn by observing others. In 2017, this readily achievable by using internet
tools - Google, YouTube, TED Talks, Facebook, etc... - and interacting with people
around the world to solve problems or answer questions.
Think of it as.
Making learning feel more like the rest of the web and and utilising the power of the
community in your organisation to add to your learning.
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"Companies have now embraced social learning theory because it has proven itself to be
tremendously effective, over and over again.” - Scott Cooper, elearningindustry.com

8. Video
Cost? Medium
“What Gutenberg did for writing, online video can now do for face-to-face communication. So, that primal
medium - which your brain is exquisitely wired for - that just went global” - Chris Anderson, TED Talks
What is it?
Video enhances the e-learning experience by using engaging rich media that
emotionally connects with your learners and hooks them in. Humans tend to learn
better by example and video makes training easier to absorb and apply to a real
life scenario.
Think of it as.
Harnessing the power of the internet to push your learning to your global
workforce, and beyond.
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9. Adaptive learning
Cost? Currently High
“Knowing what content and resources to provide an individual at precisely the
right time is what adaptive learning is all about”. - John Ambrose, Skillsoft
What is it?
Non linear learning content that adapts to what the
learner knows, doesn’t know and needs to know.
Think of it as.
It's like your sat nav. The content continually readjusts based on the behaviour of a
learner. Take a wrong turn by getting a question wrong and the content will ask an
easier question to boost your knowledge
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10. Virtual reality
Cost? High
“Take your learners to anywhere, at any time” - Donald Clark, Learning Pool
What is it?
Fully immersive training experience that allows learners to become fully
engaged with their training.
Think of it as.
An enhancement of learning by making it 3D, interactive and engaging.
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11. Augmented reality
Cost? High
"Engagement is often the “Holy Grail” of e-learning: If a learner is engaged with the learning
material, then she/he is interested and invested in it, seeks to understand it, and will try hard
to do well.” - Sophie Chaffe, eLearning Industry
What is it?
A mix of the physical and non physical world where elements - such as sound, video
or graphics - are manipulated to enhance the learning experience.
Think of it as.
Computer aided learning in the real word.
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12. Cost? Currently high
“Little and often learning works as it gives the brain time to encode and fix memories, as well
as reinforcing those memories over time.” - Donald Clark, Learning Pool
What is it?
Reminder content that boosts short term
retention of knowledge to drive long term recall
and so, hopefully performance
How do I get it?
Add reminders to your Totara course to send
Spaced practice
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13. Artificial intelligence - AI
Cost? Medium
"Whenever you are online, you are using AI. As the online revolution has accelerated, the often invisible application
of AI and algorithms has crept into a vast range of our online activities.” - Donald Clark, Learning Pool
What is it?
Computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence,
such as speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
AI is normally driven by complex algorithms that allow the system to ‘learn’ through
doing.
Think of it as.
Smart technology that drives real time decision making. You use AI every time you
get a recommendation from Netflix or Amazon
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14. Useful Podcasts
Cost - free
The Elearning Coach
A monthly podcast with Connie Malamed.
Each week a different topic and a different expert.
Trends and issues in instructional design and technology podcast
Abbie Brown, Ph.D. and Tim Green, Ph.D
They do a weekly roundup articles and issues around technology in education.
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