Always Learning – Jim\’s Blog

Jim Breen our Chief Executive Officer has recently returned from an extended business trip across the US, Australia and Europe. Below he shares some of his trip highlights and lessons learned along the way………

I am now back in Tralee, having returned from one of the most interesting and inspiring trip in over 14 years with PulseLearning. It was more than a business trip; it was an adventure and an opportunity to meet with old friends and make some new ones! It took me across 3 continents, 17 cities, into 50 client meetings and lasted 33 days. I travelled on planes, trains, ferries, boats, bikes, and cars to cover a total of 48,730 kilometers or 30,280 miles.

Listening carefully to what people are saying and doing, I believe that we are on the cusp of an eLearning industry revolution. I want to share some of my highlights and lessons learned from my recent rip.

The Shift from Content to Context to Community
Over the past 14 years, we have evolved from content being king to an emphasis on context being the kingdom and communities of learners being the Holy Grail.

Although content duration is shortening significantly, this is not the trend in all cases. Many organizations are still benefiting from multi-hour, multi-week, and multi-year educational programs. The introduction of video and engaging interaction has reduced the overall content duration, but there is a growing awareness that one size does not fit all. Even organizations of similar sizes and business needs often require uniquely different approaches.

Enter the learner! Our Clients are increasingly aware that learner buy-in, participation, and motivation are critical to success. Put another way, those who do not design a learning solution for learner buy-in are failing spectacularly. With robust communities and a focus on meaningful context, we are seeing real, tangible opportunities for engaging learning that can change the way we do business.

The March to Mobile
Organizations are quickly joining the march to mobile and are becoming smarter and more effective in deciding what type of capability works for them.

Beyond technology, Clients are looking at human considerations, including learner tolerance for errors, patience, distractions, and the Twitter effect of brevity.

A picture is worth a thousand words and Clients are increasingly using media to efficiently communicate in a world where there is a battle for learners’ attention.

Some of the most successful programs are taking into consideration that mobile is not synonymous with smart phones and mobile learners are simply people who access learning on multiple devices from various locations.

It is an exciting time to be in eLearning and we have an immediate opportunity to change the landscape of our industry together.

Jim