Perspectives onthefutureoflearning

Perspectives on the
future of learning

Emily Taylor
Tony Sheehan

Ashridge Business School http://www.ashridge.org.uk


Contents

Executive summary 1

Introduction 1

Methodology 1

Trend one 2

Trend two 3

Trend three 5

Trend four 8

Trend ﬁve 10

Trend six 11

Trend seven 13

Trend eight 14

Conclusion 16

Sources 17


Perspectives on the
future of learning
Executive summary
Research amongst senior learning and development professionals points to
a future where learning is something that takes place continuously, blending
both just-in-time and just-in-case and formal and informal approaches to
learning. To overcome barriers, learning is increasingly something that is
customised to the organisation, personalised to the individual and self-
managed drawing upon technology to empower the individual.

Introduction
In 2009, the Virtual Learning Resource Centre set out to explore the future
of learning. Our aim being to understand how learning is evolving and what
this means for both organisations and individuals. This research project is
ongoing, but with a good weight of evidence gathered it seemed timely to
report on key findings to date. This paper looks at the shape of learning today
and the evolution and revolutions transforming the future of learning.

Methodology
Research has been conducted in-house and draws on the qualitative and
quantitative feedback of L&D/HR professionals and senior managers/leaders.
Our sample consisted of a broad range of industries drawn from the public,
private and not for profit sectors in the UK, Middle East, Europe and North
America. The research examines both the organisational and individual
perspective to ensure a rounded picture of the learning environment today.

The three stage research process has included:
• Detailed third party interviews with over 25 senior L&D professionals
(Autumn 2009 – Summer 2010)
• 13 online surveys, each with an average response rate of 189 senior
managers and leaders (Spring 2009 – Spring 2010)
• Face-to-face workshops held for the 2009 Future of Learning conference;
The Association of Business Schools and Learning Technologies 2009 &
2010 (Spring 2009 – Spring 2010).

The interviews and face-to-face workshops provide detailed qualitative
insights into the future of learning which were then quantified through online
research with a larger participant base. The findings of this research fall into
eight basic trends which this paper will consider in turn.

1


Trend one
The future is about: supporting a
demand for continuous learning
This will lead to
• The importance of flexible learning
• Learning out of the classroom

For senior managers learning is seen as something that takes place alongside
all other aspects of life with 44% stating ‘continuously’ as their preferred time
for learning. ‘I believe that if people have knowledge gaps they’ll find a way
to learn what they need by exploring online. It’s what we’re increasingly
used to doing, thanks to tools such as the VLRC.’ Wragge & Co.

Learning now has to flex around other commitments with 29% of senior
managers preferring to learn at work, 9% in their lunchtime, 14% at the
weekend and 4% who make the most of time spent commuting. In the current
climate, with improved technology infrastructure and reluctance to be seen out
of the office, there has been increased levels of interest in virtual solutions that
can flex according to individual learning styles and commitments.

Preferred time for learning

At work
Lunchtime
Commuting
Weekend
Continually

2


Trend two
The future is about: overcoming barriers
to learning
This will lead to
• Time becoming an increasing constraint to learning
• Demands for insight in a world of information overload

The challenge of integrating learning into the workplace has become critical
to overcoming barriers to learning and to delivering return on investment from
learning interventions. Our research identifies time as the biggest obstacle
to learning (51%). When faced with conflicting pressures, any time spent
learning must be used in the most productive way. To learn about a given
topic - strategy, for example - one can turn to Google and find millions of hits,
but how can the individual check that the source is credible? Does it matter?
In an age of information overload, Ashridge Library has seen a four-fold
increase in demand for complex literature searches, essentially individuals
needing assistance to find relevant insight from credible sources. The growing
importance of signposting learners is reflected in an exercise which asked
conference participants to visualise and articulate the future of learning in their
organisation:

One response to the visualise/articulate exercise which asked participants how they envisaged
the future of learning. This response shows the importance of coaching individuals to help them
get the most out of the learning experience.

3


The diagram demonstrates the need to support learners and help them to
ask the right questions to navigate through the wealth of information available,
a challenge which resonates with Astra Zeneca: ‘Our aim for this year is to
work with Ashridge to prioritise the resources we offer to meet each of our
key competences. With access to more information than ever before, the
VLRC is one way we can help professionals to navigate through the depth
and breadth of resources available.’

4


Trend three
The future is about: ‘just-in-time’
learning
This will result in demands for
• Learning packaged in a way to support work challenges
• Demand for learning in bite-size chunks

Faced with the challenges of a shortage of time and a surplus of information,
just-in-time learning now plays an important role alongside more traditional
forms of ‘just-in-case’ learning. The ‘just-in-case’ learning that takes place at
school might lie dormant in the brain for many years until one is triggered to
recall it in a work situation. At that time it can become necessary to unlearn
ﬁrst, and re-learn the same principles in a new work context (Ball, 2009).
Now the real value of learning in the workplace is to support current work
challenges: ‘We want just in time, instant access learning. For example,
“I’m going into a meeting in half an hour where I’ll have to deliver a difficult
message. I need the tools to help me do that.” Against this backdrop, self-
development will become increasingly more targeted. Five years ago the
basic unit of currency was a five day residential programme. Today a two
to three minute intense hit of knowledge tailored to a specific challenge is
more useful.’ Bovis Lendlease

A faster pace of learning, and of life, is now driving the demand for learning
in manageable chunks. This trend is not unique to learning, but is reﬂected
in many aspects of daily life. Rather than buying a whole music album, the
preference is now towards downloading single tracks ‘bite size’ chunks
and mixing and matching to the tastes of the individual: ‘Learning and
development is already evolving rapidly. I believe the pace of business and
life will become ever faster and people’s attention spans will continue to
decrease. People will want to learn in increasingly smaller sections and at
a time that suits them, in other words “just in time” learning.’ BUPA

When workshop participants were asked to visualise and articulate the future
of learning in their organisation, the integration of learning into work and life
was a key theme:

5


Responses to the visualise/articulate exercise which asked participants how they envisaged the
future of learning. These responses show the importance of learning as something that takes
place anywhere and must integrate with the needs of the organisation.

Far from replacing ‘just-in-case’ learning and the more structured classroom
experience, our research shows that bite size, ‘just-in-time’ learning
complements more formal provision. 58% of senior managers favour a mix of
both. ‘The future of learning is global and ‘just-in-time’. The learning needs
of our ‘YouTube society’ will increasingly be knowledge in small chunks,
accessed quickly from a mobile device that we can carry around. In the
hospitality sector, online and self-paced learning must also work hand-in-
hand with face-to-face learning – which is such an important aspect of our
business’ Marriott

In November 2009, Ashridge ran two events. The ﬁrst was a traditional face-
to-face event, the second was a virtual conference which brought together
delegates from the UK, Australia and the US. What was interesting was the
level of demand for the two events. Essentially a similar invite list for both, but
ultimately the face-to-face event was cancelled due to low response rates,
whilst the virtual conference received very positive feedback: ‘Worth getting
up at 4am for. The event really helped crystallise my thinking’ Mercer US.
Whether or not this represents a trend towards favouring virtual, or just
an insight into behaviour in the current climate with senior managers not
wanting to be seen away from the ofﬁce, it does show a willingness to try new
approaches to learning and collaboration.

6


‘With more people working remotely and time becoming such a scarce
resource, learning will become increasingly virtual and bite-sized. We
recently tried to run a two-day performance management workshop - it
didn’t work. We condensed the material down to 90 minutes and it was a
big hit. People want instant solutions - they don’t want to have to wait for a
course. The VLRC meets this need.

As technology evolves, we’ll see people learning electronically via Wii,
iPhones and so forth. Classroom learning will be a smaller percentage of
the learning picture. Instead classrooms will be taken over by network and
community learning where people discuss a topic that is important rather
than learning about something new.’ NS&I

To meet these challenges, learning providers are increasingly focusing on bite
size content and mapping online resources according to time, signposting the
individual to the most appropriate solution for the time they have available to
learn.

‘Life seems to flash by and it’s hard to find the time to take a day or two
out to attend a course. People will want learning to be easily accessible,
like the VLRC, available anywhere there is an internet point and broken
down into bite-sized chunks so that you can have a quick 20 minute hit of
learning as required.’ Dubai Aluminium

This trend creates a major dilemma for educators’ is it possible to embed
sufﬁcient learning into small chunks? How can people be alerted to the need
to explore further?

7


Trend four
The future is about: customisation and
personalisation
In many ways, these trends have always been present, but the dawn of
mass customisation and the personalised experience expected by today’s
consumer have made this a critical requirement for learning. In keeping with
the trend towards maximising return from the time available for learning,
there has been an increased interest in customised solutions. Customisation
enables individuals to prioritise their learning in areas of importance to
the organisation and the individual. Our research shows that mapping
resources to the priorities of the organisation helps to embed learning and
in turn secures usage rates, on average, 75% higher than an off the shelf
solution. One respondent, NS&I, cited a 93% increase in usage as a result of
customising learning to the needs of the organisation.

‘The strategy at Airbus is to move away from workshops as the only way
to learn. Blended and e-learning is definitely progressing. What’s more,
learning will need to be more consistent with the strategic needs of the
organisation by being aligned to the organisation’s key competencies. In the
future we’ll see learning tailored to fulfil these competencies as a matter of
course – Ashridge is one step ahead of the game on this one!’ Airbus

If one size doesn’t fit all organisations, then it certainly doesn’t fit each individual.
To meet individual learning styles, learning is increasingly drawing upon multiple
modes of delivery, be they audio, visual or text. Video is now the third most
popular content stream on the Ashridge virtual platform, the VLRC.

‘People will increasingly expect training to be flexible and designed to meet
a broad range of learning styles. Virtual learning will become the norm.’ EDF

A recent online survey asked senior managers how they like to learn. As one
would expect responses were split, reflecting the different learning styles of
the respondents. Interestingly, the slight preference was towards learning
through case studies and examples to bring a topic to life (35%) reinforcing the
need to make learning relevant to specific work scenarios.

Preferred time for learning

On screen
Print out resources
Through discussion
with others
Through case studies
and examples

8


‘Learning will become increasingly self-managed and less contingent on
people going to a physical location. There will be more virtual learning
communities within which individuals will manage their own learning
journey according to the style and timescales that suit them. Learning will
also become less prescriptive.’ Transport for London

The theme of learning becoming less prescriptive and far more about the
individual is reinforced below:

the future of learning. This response shows the importance of the individual at the heart of
learning.

‘Society has changed drastically. To engage busy people, learning will
need to be continually evolving to make it sexy, intuitive, relevant and
presented in a variety of ways to meet multiple learning styles.’ Royal
College of Nursing

9


Trend five
The future is about: identifying ways to
do more with less
This will lead to
• Virtual solutions offering learning opportunities to all
• Focus on maximising ROI

In a period of economic uncertainty, it is encouraging to see that the
majority of senior managers taking part in our online research said that their
organisation focused more on learning in 2009 (48%), whilst 28% maintained
their current level of learning and 24% reduced their focus. It seems
management learning can help in today’s ﬁnancial turbulence, with 87%
positive about the impact learning can have.

However, with cost repeatedly stated as a barrier to learning, there is pressure
on learning professionals to do more with less. Virtual is one way of achieving
this, eliminating the need for travel, time out of the ofﬁce and supporting the
learning of far more individuals. Not surprisingly therefore, interest in electronic
resources and virtual delivery is increasing: ‘We are trying to make personal
development fairer. There are costs associated with classroom learning
which means it isn’t accessible to all. Online, self-paced learning is more
flexible and puts the emphasis on the employee. This means that everyone
has the same opportunities whatever their role. With resources like the
VLRC, people have the freedom to learn what they want, when they want.’
Buckinghamshire County Council

Response to the visualise/articulate exercise showing electronic resources and virtual delivery as
a way of doing more with less.

10


Trend six
The future is about: blending formal and
informal to embrace ‘gen y’
This will demand
• Packaging of solutions to align with culture and the 70/20/10 approach to
learning
• Blurring the boundaries between working, learning and playing

Organisations that give prominence to the 70/20/10 principle of leadership
development (Lombardo & Eichinger 2000) emphasise both the formal and
informal aspects of learning. The principle suggests that 70% of learning
at senior levels is derived from experiential learning, 20% through reﬂective
techniques such as coaching and 10% through more formal learning such
as programmes. This approach emphasises the role of the peer in the
organisation, and, as such, can be seen as a further way of doing more with
less.

‘We subscribe to the holistic 70/20/10 rule of development as the most
appropriate way for people to learn: 70% of development is on the job
(such as via a project which stretches you), 20% is relationship based
(learning from a coach or manager) and 10% is off the job through face-to-
face learning. The VLRC is a broad and flexible resource which supports
this holistic approach to development.’ AstraZeneca

The degree to which this approach is adopted by an organisation depends
upon its culture. In an edgy, forward thinking environment such as Nike,
this approach has been well received (Matthews 2010). In more traditional
organisations the link between the classroom and learning is stronger. This is
very evident in the split between organisations that have embraced web 2.0
as a learning tool and those that have kept it at a distance as something that
cannot add value in a work context.

‘There will also be more collaboration as social networking and learning
networks evolve. We are starting to build a business networking space
called BUPA Live offering real time discussion and virtual classrooms – it’s
a very powerful learning methodology.’ BUPA

11


Another trend that has come out of interviews with participants is the blurring
of boundaries between learning, work and play, reinforcing the trend towards
continuous learning identiﬁed at the start of this paper: ‘Generation Y is
growing up and with that will a come a blurring of division between life and
work. In addition, Generation Y will be fixed to a laptop or iPhone which
will give them an expectation of having access to training resources at their
fingertips, when they want it, not when their organisation dictates. There is
also a rapidly growing older generation of learners who are increasingly IT
savvy.’ Young People’s Learning Agency and Skills Funding Agency

Response to the visualise/articulate exercise showing the importance of informal learning.

Discussion around gen y highlights their potential to revolutionise learning:
‘Young people practically live online and the potential is huge; we’ll be
seeing webinars and virtual classrooms accessed from mobiles, people will
be dipping into resources like the VLRC while waiting in queues. There will
be very little downtime, no boredom!’ Grant Thornton.

The overwhelming feeling is that gen y are changing the workplace for the
better (69%) and there’s a willingness to embrace change: ‘Although there
are still some industries that love paper and are shy of online learning,
we’ll soon be seeing gen y joining the work force. Current online learning
will be too pedestrian for them. If we are going to win them over (which
is essential for business success) we need to keep pace with them. The
new generation expects media rich content, games and simulations. It’s
a generation with very high expectations that we need to be aware of. We
need to continually evolve our technology and expand our bandwidth to
suit.’ Bovis Lendlease

12


Trend seven
The future is about: self-managed
development
This will result in
• Individual responsibility for learning
• Creating the right blend for the individual

Our research shows the onus is shifting to the individual, with the future of
learning all about self-managed development (63%) and coaching/mentoring
(27%) and a smaller role played by more formal qualiﬁcations (10%). This is
in keeping with the 70/20/10 model introduced above and with participant
feedback: ‘The future of learning will be increasingly individualised and
learner driven. We’ll see a more blended approach with formal workshops
to support self-managed learning.’ Brakes

Certainly the trend is for a ‘blended’ solution in which the individual is
empowered to manage the right ‘blend’ to meet their needs: ‘Over the next
two years we want people to use resources like the VLRC to become
increasingly responsible and accountable for driving their own careers. A
blended learning solution is the future: virtual and face-to-face sessions
working together to create a learning journey tailored to individual needs
and styles whilst focusing on the competencies which will ultimately grow
the business.’ Kellogg’s

When workshop participants were asked to visualise/articulate the future of learning, the need to
create the right blend for the individual was a key theme.

13


Trend eight
The future is about: harnessing
technology to empower the learner
This will demand that learning designers
• Make learning addictive
• Ensure technology is a catalyst for embracing learning

Technology is having a positive impact on the lives of senior managers. 47%
believe that technology is enabling them to work more ﬂexibly, and 35%
say it has improved communications. Certainly when asked to visualise and
articulate the future of learning, conference participants were interested in
interactive learning and the ability to harness technology for the beneﬁt of
learning:

the future of learning. This response shows a future of technology driven learning.

There have been sad accounts of the death of virtual world gamers who
became so immersed in the online experience that they forgot to eat. Could
technology ever make learning as addictive? In fact, the boundaries between
playing and learning are increasingly blurred; a fascinating glimpse into the
future comes from one participant who suggests: ‘People are increasingly
engaging with the virtual world, playing games online, immersing
themselves in virtual worlds via sites such as Second Life where they are
interacting and engaging with others across different time zones. If we
broadened our definition of learning to include virtual worlds and online
simulations, people would find the time to learn for themselves - they
would put their headphones on without waiting to be sent on a training
course or reminded. And then they would still meet face-to-face back in
a classroom. But the classroom experience would be used to discuss the
online experience, to practice and to engage in coaching’ Wragge & Co.

14


Technology looks to be a catalyst for widespread self-managed development
in organisations. Certainly virtual learning is playing an increasingly important
role in delivering L&D strategies and the trends identiﬁed throughout this paper
only point to a strengthening of this in the future.

‘In the future, as more people work remotely and the emphasis on time
efficiency increases, we’ll see more virtual classrooms and the use of
technology in learning will definitely increase.’ Arqiva

When asked their reason for using online learning, the response from senior
managers is that it is an essential tool to enrich learning (47%) and provides
the best ﬁt with today’s way of working (36%). ‘Our ‘learning 2.0’ strategy
centres on technology. We’ve started to run virtual classes based around
different topical issues. Because it’s more flexible, accessible and
financially viable, we are also growing self-paced e-learning. For example,
so far, about 300 people across Europe have completed the ‘Managing
in Uncertain Times’ module we created in 2009. The future is virtual. The
whole range of online insights from the VLRC will be indispensable in the
delivery of these programmes.’ Xerox

15


Conclusion
This paper has painted a picture of today’s information rich, time poor learner
who is embracing more informal ways of learning and, with the help of
technology, is increasingly taking charge of their own development.

The learning landscape will continue to evolve, but our research shows that
gone are the days of pushing learning out to a classroom of passive recipients
as depicted in Charles Dickens Hard Times “NOW, what I want is, Facts.
Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in
life.”

Instead the ‘push’ of the formal learning is transitioning to the ‘pull’ of ‘just-
in-time learning’. The individual is now empowered to manage their own
development, and technology is leading to a paradoxical situation where the
boundaries are blurring between learning, work and play. So much so that as
we look to the future, learning draws upon another of Charles Dickens works:
‘Please sir, I want some more’.

16


Sources
1. Lombardo and Eichinger, The Leadership Machine, 2000
2. Christopher Ball, Attention – The pre-requisite for successful learning,
Training Journal, January 2009
3. Vikki Matthews, Head of Learning and Development, Nike. Speaking at
Learning to Learn in the 21st Century, March 2010.

For further insights into the future of learning, visit:
www.ashridge.org.uk/virtualthoughtleadership

17


Design by: Ashridge Design Studio

Ashridge, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 1NS, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1442 841155
Fax: +44 (0)1442 841306
Email: vlrc@ashridge.org.uk
www.ashridge.org.uk/vlrc

Printed on a paper from well-managed forests and other sustainable sources Registered as Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust. Charity number 311096.


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