Next week (11th July 2019) sees the Learning Technologies Summer Forum Exhibition at the ExCel in London. Attending these events is a must do for some learning professionals whilst others find the whole experience bewildering. There are 45 free seminars and 40 plus leading L&D suppliers, even for the most tech savvy and prudent buyer the experience can leave you with more questions than answers.
Josh Bersin in his recent article highlighted the extent of the problem. The learning tech space is both booming and fragmented which creates a problem for the buyer of solutions and more importantly the end user of learning products.
UX or user experience should be everything, in our day to day consumer lives we expect frictionless and personalised service, yet the world or corporate learning generally has a long way to go to on this journey. Bersin talks about the move to integrated platforms and this is certainly the direction the industry is heading in, but it is not there yet and the challenge faced by many is how do we create great user experience through our multiple current systems and which if any do we hire or retire!
The challenges beyond system selection for learning professionals are many, whether it be driving learner engagement, demonstrating business impact, influencing internal stakeholders, or just keeping up with the latest buzzwords.
Now coming back to Learning Tech and other similar events they are great for seeing what is out there in the market and networking with peers. Some of you will walk away with buyers’ remorse as another more sparkly solution than your current one catches your eye.
Before, during and after Learning Tech the important thing to remember is that learning tools and technology are there to support business performance and a great employee learning experience. This is the holy grail and what we should all be striving to achieve.