- Do you listen to music as you work out?
If you do, you're using technology
to meet you where you're at,
you want that music to customize your experience.
It's similar with digital learning,
like that playlist of tunes you crank as you work out,
digital learning has the ability to fit
a learner's wants and needs.
When it comes to customized learning,
K through 12 education is more advanced
than corporate learning.
For example my daughter's seven and she's been
doing customized digital learning for two years,
her reading level is assessed using a diagnostic tool
and based on those results, her teachers
recommend books and articles from the appropriate level
of a leveled reading program.
There are a ton of stories for each level
and she reads the ones that match her interest.
Technology allows us to tailor educational material
to a learner's wants a needs and because of that,
they're more engaged and dig deeper into the content,
it totally makes sense doesn't it?
Corporate education is catching up though
and no surprise that personalization often happens
within the context of digital learning.
In a high quality elearning module for example,
learners are often allowed to choose the content
they want to explore, they are also given
extra practice exercises if they want them.
They are also allowed to choose the path
through the content.
In a more complex elearning module, a learner
may work through a mini assessment at the beginning
and as a result of the assessment, the learner
receives content at a level that matches their knowledge
of the subject.
Let's take it up a level,
in learning experience platforms which are a modern
take on the LMS, the learner has quite a bit of choice.
In certain platforms, a learner can often
choose the format of the content, you know,
do they want a video or an article on the topic?
There are often prebuilt learning paths
mapped to core competencies that the learner
can explore and there's almost always the ability
for the learner to rate the content which generates
the hallmark of digital learning, a customized
playlist such as Linkedin learning offers you.
Related to the concept of customized learning
is social learning.
Social learning is sometimes called collaborative learning
or a community of practice.
Social learning occurs when a space is create
online and people are invited into that space
to create knowledge.
Ever post something on a wiki or on an online forum?
That's digital learning.
Or maybe your office uses a tool like Yammer
or Slack to streamline communication.
That's digital learning too.
When collaborative learning really gets cooking,
participants start creating assets.
For example they might whip out their phone
and create a video on a better way to create
a chocolate moose if they work for a restaurant
or they might post a screen recording on how to build
better elearning scenarios.
If this digital collaborative space is sophisticated,
the viewers of the content can rank it
which makes it more visible.
Alright we just covered a decent amount of ground there
so let me sum up.
Digital learning allows us to customize learning
to a person's wants and needs.
It also allows us to use collaborative spaces
to create and share knowledge.