Surpassing learning limitations may not be easy, but it is possible
Training institutes are continuously developing online learning programs to meet the current increasing demands for distance learning.
Despite the seemingly successful integration of technology to the teaching and training process, there are still limitations that need to be addressed and areas that need improvement. Even if companies were forced to embrace the rapid changes brought by the pandemic, lifelong learning should still be the primary goal of Educational Technology (EdTech).
Accelerating Learning in Preparation for a Remote Global Workplace
The pandemic may have rushed various industries’ timeline to integrate technology into teaching and training their employees newer and more relevant skills. Still, experts are considering this evident change as something that would permanently alter the future of education and career development.
Preparing to learn in a remote global workplace requires education and business leaders’ understanding of the various facets of the learning process that need to be efficiently addressed. Acquiring knowledge through didactical transmission is only one aspect of curricular content that applies to online learning on various digital platforms.
There are boundaries and limitations that should be bridged to offer a conducive platform that would allow the learning process to take place. Constraints, such as access to high-speed internet, technological hardware requirements, and cultural and language barriers, could affect online training effectiveness.
CEOs and business leaders should take note of these barriers in implementing programs that are focused on digital learning and training. Moreover, the trainees’ different learning styles and preferences should also be taken into consideration.
Creativity and Innovation: Breakthroughs in Delivering High-Quality Education
Learning is more than just an isolated and independent process. It requires acquiring knowledge and direct human engagement while obtaining new experiences to be synthesized with previous information.
It’s essential to ensure direct engagement for effective online learning and training to occur. However, engagement doesn’t necessarily mean direct human interaction. Essentially, digital doesn’t also need to be equated to isolation. It is crucial to tap into the innate motivation and drive of each employee. In terms of online learning, engagement means allowing the trainees to involve all their senses, curiosity, and critical thinking skills to propel their careers towards their preferred future.
Online learning is as dynamic and holistic as its conventional counterpart. Creating an effective learning environment requires the full support and involvement of all the stakeholders. Trainers should be given ample time to prepare to recreate a conducive online teaching and training platform. Learners and trainees should also be given enough time and guidance to process ideas through a new medium. Most importantly, education and business leaders should also be able to consistently monitor the programs’ effectiveness upon implementation.
Newer strategies and platforms have emerged and have shown promising results in fostering effective digital learning in terms of training and career development. In the first half of the year 2020, there has been an exponential increase in universities’ and training institutes’ partnerships with Online Program Management (OPM) systems, Bootcamp, and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) providers.
This development has paved the way for the creation of more interactive and innovative project-based training programs that assess digital learners through the competency they have achieved and not by their retention or the time they have spent on the course. Professionals now have access to limitless online training platforms that could transform their careers and propel companies’ productivity towards their full potential.
Achieving lifelong learning through digital platforms is now even more possible with all the advancement that has taken place in EdTech development. Barriers are still evident, as it usually is when a new idea or program is being proposed, but this does not mean that the concept is automatically wrong or that the program is an impossibility.
Online learning has opened countless possibilities in business sectors.
