The Language of Learning Term of the Week postings begin on October 16, 2003, and continue for one year. Each week, we will post a new term on this site.
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Broadly describes any technology that allows users to immerse themselves in a digital world. Its current iteration, typically delivered via a head-mounted display, allows users to experience situations that are removed from their physical location.
Allowing users to immerse themselves in situations removed from their current physical location opens up a myriad of opportunities for the advancement of learning technology. By employing virtual reality in the learning process trainers and instructors now possess the ability to place learners in a training environment that is analogous to a real scenario without exposing them to risk or incurring the expense associated with real-world training.
Virtual Reality (VR) will increasingly become part of a suite of new technologies that will shape the future of business. Aside from opportunities offered in the training space, it will present new ways of working.
From training to meeting to interfacing with computers in general, virtual reality comes with the promise of a new computing paradigm. Business professionals should know this term as it will increasingly form part of how their organizations operate.
In the learning and development space, virtual reality has the potential to revolutionize how people learn. By taking concepts and technologies that were once the sole preserve of fighter pilots and bringing them to the factory floor, virtual reality offers the potential for deployable simulation training for all.
Virtual reality can be presented in a small, light, and portable form factor via an affordable head-mounted display. These headsets currently track the user’s head and hands as they move in the real world in order to enable them to interact with a virtual, computer-generated world in a realistic way.
Virtual reality is a subset of immersive technology which also includes Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). Immersive technologies can also include non-headset-based options such as immersive projection rooms or wrap-around large-scale visual displays.
The re-creation of a situation, process, or experience to allow a learner to imitate, reproduce, or practice behaviors or actions.
Learning the proper actions and behaviors required in a particular situation before facing that situation in real life could be the difference between success and failure. Replicating a similar situation is a means for learning and exploration in a cost-effective, safe environment. In some cases, simulation may be the only safe way to prepare, practice, and gain mental and muscle memory.
Humans learn best by doing. Committing something to muscle memory and mental memory takes time and practice. Practice is good, but at the moment it matters, your preparation may not be enough. Applying your practice in realistic situations and conditions is what matters most. Knowing how you or others will apply the knowledge at the moment of need or application relies on many factors and variables.
As a business professional you and your colleagues may face many situations, but how do you know how to act in each situation? Simulation assists in that assessment. Simulation replicates as much as possible the conditional environment and potential variables you might encounter.
Conducted in a safe space without real-life consequences, simulations present situations that allow learners to apply their learning in more depth, considering more inputs. Creating a simulated experience to act and learn from may mean the difference between life and death when a similar situation occurs in real life.
Neal Rowland is the Lead Crowd Surfer for The Crowd Training. Neal coaches organizations in the best practices of agility and product management, including instructional design. He is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Agile [SPC, PMI-ACP, CSM], and ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). Neal develops and constructs learning content and resources for a variety of topics, industries, and modalities. Incorporating design thinking he merges pedagogical best practices with graphic design, multimedia, and technology.
Term: Simulation
Email: nealrowland@live.com
Website: thecrowdtraining.com
Twitter: @thecrowdtrain
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/neallrowland/
A methodology for pinpointing the underlying causes of scrap learning associated with a training program using five key metrics.
Ensuring a positive return, of both time and money, on a training program is of utmost concern to C-level executives. It should be of equal interest to business professionals concerned about training. However, research indicates that the amount of time and money wasted on training programs is 45–85%(ATD 2019). This gap between training delivered, but not applied, is known as scrap learning—the flipside of training transfer. Regardless of the percentage, scrap learning is a critical business issue because it wastes time and money.
Decisions based on opinion, intuition, and gut feeling are no longer in vogue. Data-driven decision making is the new norm. Predictive learning analytics, and its use of data to pinpoint the underlying causes of scrap learning associated with a training program, is part of this new norm.
Scrap learning, or the difference between training delivered but not applied back on the job, has been around forever. Scrap learning is the three-thousand-pound elephant in the room whenever business executives and learning professionals engage in a discussion about using a particular solution to address a performance gap or need. It’s the elephant in the room because both the business executive and learning professional are fully aware that scrap learning exists. However, neither one wants to talk about it because, previously, there has never been a way to measure, monitor, and manage it.
Consider the effect scrap learning has on an organization’s average per-employee training expenditure and the average number of training hours consumed per employee. According to the Association for Talent Development’s 2019 State of the Industry Report, in 2018, the average organization spent $1,299 per employee on training(ATD 2019). And the average employee spent 34 hours in training. When 45% or more of that is wasted, it is easy to see how much scrap learning costs the average company.
Predictive learning analytics offers a solution to cut this waste by using data to pinpoint its underlying causes(IBM, predictive analytics)(SAS, predictive analytics).
Ken Phillips is founder and CEO of Phillips Associates and the creator of the Predictive Learning Analytics(PLA) learning evaluation methodology. He has more than 30 years of experience designing learning instruments and assessments and has authored more than a dozen published learning instruments. He regularly speaks to Association for Talent Development (ATD) groups, university classes, and corporate Learning and Development groups. Since 2008 he has presented at the ATD International Conference and Expo and since 2013 at the Annual Training Conference and Expo on topics related to measurement and evaluation of learning. Ken also is a contributing author to five books in the Learning and Development field.
Term: Predictive Analytics
Email: ken@phillipsassociates.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ken-phillips-3420b11/
Risk-free, hands-on learning environments that provide materials, tools, technologies, and support services for learners to transform ideas into projects and products.
Typically set in physical locations, makerspaces foster curiosity and creativity by enabling participants to learn by doing. Consider what it means to tinker—to explore what you have on hand, see how things might fit together, and try your hand at creating something.
Makerspaces provide that opportunity to tinker—individually and collaboratively—and share our insights along the way. They establish risk-free environments that leverage everything good that comes from giving learners agency to initiate their own learning processes and determine their own pathways to success (or failure).
Business professionals can use makerspaces to create environments where employees can envision, prototype, and create business solutions. And employees can participate in some of the many makerspaces that have been created as part of this movement(Makerspace).
Key questions to consider that can guide the impact of a makerspace on your organization:
A makerspace is not just about making—it’s about sharing, modifying, iterating, failing, and re-making. We need more spaces (in-person and virtual) where we can do just that. Many of us learn best by doing, and we need more spaces in our work where we have opportunities to try, and maybe even fail.
Most makerspaces that serve the DIY and builder movements put safety first. This is how, and why failure is ok—nobody gets hurt! Failure can result in iteration, and iteration can result in innovation.
New theories, new practices, and new approaches unveiled in makerspaces can spawn innovations that can shape the future of the business.
Donna Marie Andress has been teaching & learning for nearly 40 years. Passionate about tech integration and professional development (PD), she is a retired member of the Saratoga Springs City School District, where she was a 16-year veteran of the classroom, then moved into the role of Educational Technology Specialist. For 18 years, Donna worked directly with teachers and students, designed PD courses, wrote documentation, produced training videos, and assisted with systems management. She has also been a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) & MIE Master Trainer and a Technology Test Kitchen Chef. Donna is currently a contract trainer and instructional designer with Instructure.
Term: Makerspace
Email: dmandressIT@gmail.com
Twitter: @andressIT
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dmandress153/
The science of making machines intelligent through automated data analysis and model building in a way that requires little human oversight. This type of artificial intelligence (AI) is based on the idea that computers can learn to make better decisions through the analysis of data.
So why is machine learning important today? You are likely interacting with systems using it already. Voice-to-text processing uses machine learning to improve based on the way you speak. Amazon uses machine learning to recommend products, and your email is likely using machine learning to identify spam mail. The rapid expansion of computer power and big data processing has made machine learning accessible for the masses, including the learning and development industry.
Machine learning involves the processing of data to help a computer make better and better decisions. Amazon recommending a product based on your past purchases and your email application determining if a message is spam are both examples of machine learning.
Machine learning is all around us. Business professionals need to understand the potential of machine learning. The development of systems that employ machine learning is complex and requires data scientists with an understanding of data modeling and algorithms.
Instead of focusing on the technical, consider potential solutions. If banks use machine learning to identify clients with high financial risk, can you leverage similar analysis to head off potential dropouts with an early, personalized learning intervention? If transportation companies use machine learning to outline the most efficient route for delivery drivers, can you use machine learning to optimize your work processes?
With additional automation, it is easy to draw your focus away from the end user who benefits from the new process or system. Business professionals must keep in mind data privacy and cyber security. Adhering to industry best practices and clearly communicating how an employee’s data is being used are both critical to minimizing the risk of a data leak and maintaining the trust of employees.
A final warning to keep in mind is that machine learning has the potential for bias. Bias is an incorrect assumption in the learning algorithm that can skew results. Review and validation are critical to minimizing the potential for bias.
Duncan Welder holds a master’s degree in educational technology and has more than 20 years experience implementing solutions, domestically and abroad. Duncan, an xAPI enthusiast, is passionate about leveraging data to personalize the learning experience. He presents regularly at industry conferences on learning standards.
Duncan has held faculty positions at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and the College of the Mainland, Texas. He has been published in Learning Solutions, Training Magazine, and US Business Review.
Term: Machine Learning
Email: duncanw@risc-inc.com
Twitter: @duncanwiv
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/duncanwiv/
A full 360-degree digital environment that merges interactive 3D digital assets, along with audio and haptic feedback, with your real-world environment. Augmented reality overlays a virtual experience with the real environment, for example, allowing you to view an item in the real world with an explanation virtually overlaid.
Augmented Reality (AR) gives you the ability to have a virtual presence anywhere and share 3D assets through a headset, mobile device, or computer.
Organizations use AR for recruitment, on-boarding, learning, insurance, and marketing; safe handling of dangerous objects; and to bring objects from the past into the present. Many mobile devices contain LIDAR technology making it possible to create digital 3D assets on the fly.
As they have done with most technologies, younger learners in K12 and higher education have embraced AR technology and are using it in their classrooms as an educational tool and also as a way to socialize with each other. It’s a glimpse into how your future workforce will communicate, team-build, collaborate, and pass on knowledge.
As a marketing tool, AR goes beyond consumerism. You can use it to share your mission statement with your workforce and to create employee evangelism within your organization, and it can even help with things like social responsibility and company sustainability efforts.
AR can be used as a powerful storytelling tool that can improve KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) through empathy, and it can even supercharge your employee training in industries such as medicine, education, advertising, healthcare, retail, construction, film, journalism, travel, art, home DIY, automotive, farming, food, and many more. There is literally not a single industry out there that AR couldn’t help.
The technology is changing how we interact with employees, but it’s also changing how brands interact with their customers and even changing B2B interactions.
As a new generation of employees enters the workforce, organizations should be prepared to understand how virtual tools like AR play a role not only in their education efforts but also in the way employees socialize. You need to be current with technology if you want to hold on to your new hires and be competitive in your industry.
Augmented reality is a companion technology to virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR).
A methodology for improving the performance of individuals and organizations. Human performance improvement (HPI) looks for performance gaps, analyzes root causes, and helps you create a plan that produces sustainable performance improvements.
HPI is a systematic process that improves your ability to identify and address the root causes of performance issues. It helps you build effective partnerships and allocate resources to create lasting solutions to performance problems. The HPI process is multidimensional, addressing issues such as learning gaps, organizational culture, leadership issues, rewards and recognition, and other barriers to desired performance.
In today’s highly interconnected, fast-changing organizational environment, addressing pressing challenges and opportunities requires a multi-faceted approach. Enter human performance improvement, a process that enables you to better understand root causes and deploy a systems approach to create end-to-end solutions that produce sustainable performance improvement.
Overview of the process:
Engaging in a human performance improvement project can solve organizational problems more effectively, build traction, and create productive win/win relationships.
Marjorie Derven is a change management consultant with RGP, a global consulting firm that enables rapid business outcomes by bringing together the right people to create transformative change. Marjorie has worked with many of the world’s best companies to align people practices with strategic imperatives. She has served on NY HR Strategy & People, ATD, and the OD Practitioner boards and as a senior fellow at The Conference Board. Marjorie is a frequent presenter at global conferences and has authored dozens of articles.
Term: Human Performance Improvement
Email: marjoriederven@gmail.com
Website: rgp.com
Twitter: @mderven
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marjoriederven/
Information, solicited or unsolicited, that provides an opinion on how a person has performed something.
We are a work in progress. Each of us is at a unique point in our personal and professional journey, and we all have things that we can improve. Feedback is an important source of input to help us improve. Ask: How am I doing? What might I do better? Depending on self-awareness level, feedback is an excellent way to start on a journey of self-improvement.
Feedback is a gift. Sometimes it is criticism. It is still valuable information from which to operate. Ask: Is this a belief I want them to have? If not, seek ways to change that belief. Don’t filter feedback. Ask questions to clarify.
And always say thank you.
Every solid business professional acknowledges the importance of feedback. It should be something that you seek out for personal and professional growth. It is also something that a good business professional is willing to proactively share with others in an effort to help them learn and grow.
Providing good feedback should be a pleasure! As a practice, you might want to mark your calendar every week for some time to send positive feedback and thank you notes. Regularly sharing good feedback and appreciation will build trust and respect with your colleagues and staff.
Providing constructive feedback should be done tactfully and with care. It’s important that the recipient of the constructive feedback understand your motive. If someone trusts you and believes you care about their success, they are more likely to receive and use the feedback. If they question your motive, they may not appreciate the feedback, and in some cases, might get defensive. As best you can, make it safe, and ensure they understand your intention. Like all things, practice makes perfect. The more you share feedback, the better you’ll get.
The most successful business professionals are adept at both giving and soliciting feedback. It’s worth the time and effort!
Theresa is an award-winning comedian, having won two Emmys for her work on the PBS talk show, “Counter Culture.” She is a well-respected training professional and performance consultant. Known for her lively and interactive presentation style, she is a frequently requested speaker on leadership, career management, organizational culture and workplace communications. She has been a featured speaker at numerous regional and international conferences.
Term: Feedback
Email: tkrallinger@highfiveperformance.com
Website: highfiveperformance.com/
Twitter: @theresahk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tkrallinger/
Facebook: facebook.com/theresahkcomedy
The methodology by which we validate the results of a given learning strategy.
There’s no greater challenge for those that have the great responsibility and privilege to support organizational performance than to show the effectiveness of their efforts. More often than not, learning and development (L&D) teams are very efficient at developing solutions but not so much at evaluating them. Evaluation is critical to demonstrating whether your learning efforts are worth their cost.
Business professionals need to justify educational programs. In addition to measuring learner performance, evaluations can form an important tool for making a business case for your learning programs.
You can use evaluations in two roles. Formative evaluations (is it working?) take place while content is being designed or delivered. They can take many forms, including surveys and tests. They determine whether things are going well. Summative evaluations are an after-action report on the learning content (did it work?).
In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick created the four levels of training evaluation, with the aim of guiding the evaluation of educational courses (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006, p.21). The four levels are Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results. Here is a summary of the levels:
Evaluation results are only as good as the objectives they refer to. Without a proper analysis of needs, most efforts will suffer from GIGO (Garbage-In, Garbage-Out) problems. Regardless of the model and scope of the evaluation, it is good to use both formative and summative approaches.
Alexander Salas is an award-winning instructional designer with over 15 years of experience specializing in the blend of learning technologies and gamification for performance outcomes. Since 2007, Alex has worked in every facet of corporate learning and performance enablement for Fortune 100 enterprises such as Philips Healthcare, Centene Corporation and Dell Technologies. When he’s not creating amazing learning experiences, you can find Alex giving back to the industry at large with articles, workshops, conferences, and podcasting.
Term: Evaluation
Email: asalas@stylelearn.com
Website: stylelearn.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stylelearn/
The degree to which a learner pays attention to the content and interactions, reacts to and participates in the activities, and responds to the instructor, other learners, and technology throughout a learning experience.
Engagement traditionally is one of the first indicators of whether learning has a chance to be effective. Engagement does not need to be connected to liking something or disliking it, though disliking something may lead to disengagement. It’s important to understand how engagement is connected to retention and application, how it differs among learners, and how to build it into learning programs in ways that appeal to a variety of learners.
Ask a learning and development professional what’s most important in a training initiative and their first response is likely to be: engagement. The participants need to be engaged, the trainer needs to know how to engage them, and the topic needs to be put together in a way that is compelling.
Research has repeatedly shown that engagement is directly connected to retention(Stephenson 2020)(Korobova 2015). A learner must respond to the training content and then remember it for any training experience to be applied on the job.
Here are 5 simple ways to create engagement and motivate learners:
Kassy LaBorie is the principal consultant at Kassy LaBorie Consulting. She is a professional speaker, author, and facilitator who specializes in virtual engagement using web conferencing technology to connect around the globe. She’s known for believing that being online is certainly equal to, and in some cases, better than, being in-person! She has authored Interact and Engage! 75+ Activities for Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars, and Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars with ATD Press.
Term: Engagement
Email: kassy.laborie@gmail.com
Website: kassyconsulting.com/
Twitter: @KassyConsulting
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kassylaborie/