Learning is an essential part of life. The 2023 learning landscape is full of exciting and transformative trends that can help improve and evolve education and edtech.
It's important to note that trends should directly respond to learners' needs and business demands. Chasing the latest trend won't guarantee success.
1. Personalized Learning
Personalized learning is one of the biggest trends in 2023. It will continue to grow as companies need to upskill and reskill their employees.
Providing learners with flexibility and freedom to learn at their own pace is important in personalizing the learning experience. It increases engagement, knowledge retention and the ability to apply new skills on the job.
Whether it's an individual student choosing how they approach a project or a whole class participating in student-led conferences (SLC's), students having a greater voice in their learning can help create a more personalized experience. But this is only one part of the puzzle. To truly make learning personalized, it must connect the student's existing knowledge, experiences and abilities with training materials that build connections to the new information.
2. Blended Learning
A well-designed blended learning (BL) program combines classroom instruction, often through presentations or lab sessions, with tech-based tools that help learners achieve their outcomes. It can be synchronous, happening at a set time or place, or asynchronous, allowing students to work independently.
This approach allows fast learners to advance at their own pace, while ensuring that struggling students are not left behind. Using data, teachers can offer content and activities that challenge students at the appropriate level for their skill sets.
Many of the expert interviewees highlighted the need for ongoing institutional support to enable staff and students to access and use BL technologies. This support should be reflected in institutional strategic plans to ensure that the full potential of BL is realized.
3. Hybrid Learning
In the aftermath of the pandemic, L&D is facing new challenges that aren’t necessarily a result of the virus itself. Two examples are the need to support remote employees and upskilling/reskilling.
In addition, learners are increasingly seeking bite-sized lessons. This is largely because people’s attention spans and patience have shrunk in an increasingly fast-paced world.
The key is to ensure that the hybrid learning experience is as seamless as possible for students. It should be easy for them to keep up with their work even if they are working from home, and it must be easy for them to communicate with their peers (in person or online) in order to stay engaged. Piloting hybrid experiences and iterating on the results is important for education providers.
4. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
VR and AR are a growing trend with the potential to improve learning through immersive, interactive experiences. They can help learners learn complex models, develop skills in virtual environments without risk, and share augmented data with their peers across distances.
When learners are able to get the information they need without having to sit through hours of videos, two-day training courses or in-person workshops, it will make their work lives much easier and more effective. This type of microlearning is already becoming popular amongst millennial workers and those who have busy schedules. The popularity of this format will continue to rise as companies realize the need for upskilling, reskilling and right-skilling programs to meet business demands. A user-friendly, intuitive LMS will be the key to this success.
5. Moments of Need
This trend will see learners seeking out learning resources to expand their knowledge and build upon existing skills. This could take the form of eLearning modules, resources, or even help desks to answer questions that arise during work.
Millennials are also putting greater importance on receiving feedback and wanting to choose how they learn and when. This has led to a rise in user-generated content, which is any learning content that employees create themselves.
Another trend that’s expected to grow in 2023 is micro-learning or nano-learning, which refers to learners accessing short, easily-digestible lesson content exactly when they need it. This is a response to modern learners' shorter attention spans and patience. This trend is all about enabling learning on demand, and it’s an essential part of the performance support pyramid.
