New digital learning trends for India Inc. in 2019

The emergence of e-learning, mobile learning, AR & VR and gamification in today’s times has created a lot of disruptions. There are a number of platforms providing personalised education for people. People can now learn new things anytime anywhere using multiple devices, such as laptops, tabs and smartphones.

Technology is growing at a rapid pace, and modern learning platforms have made content very much accessible to learners these days.

Many corporates have included digital learning as part of their learning and development practices. The need for curated content is quite high because of the increasing skill gap in the workforce due to digital disruptions. The answer to this problem also lies in digital learning.

A few trends will be witnessed in 2019 in the e-learning technology space, which can make a big difference in the learning experience of employees.

Offline mobile learning

All platforms promise to offer learning anytime and anywhere. But are they truly living up to their so called ‘taglines’? If people decide to take up a course on an e-learning platform, they will need access to the Internet as well, but this, unfortunately, is not possible every time. Then how does it qualify as learning anytime? The e-learning digital platforms will include features of offline learning, where the learner can access the content anytime making the availability of Internet connection at all times unnecessary.

Culture of collaboration and competition

Using the gamification feature to encourage competition amongst learners increases the RoI of learning. Learners will try to beat each other to set new learning benchmarks at the workplace. This tool can also be very beneficial to engage Gen Z in learning.

Integration of microlearning with mobile, gamification and AR & VR learning

Microlearning is becoming popular with the passing time. It focuses on very specific topics, which can be completed in two to three minutes. It covers very small and specific topics, such as ‘How to close the sales successfully’ or ‘How to start a machine’. Microlearning will be integrated with mobile, games and AR & VR technology to skill the workforce.

With the introduction of microlearning with AR & VR, learning managers can teach the workforce practical subjects, which can be a little dangerous in real time. Topics covered under this can be ‘How to handle a lethal chemical’, which will reduce risks while learning. It can also act as an engagement tool.

Speech recognition technology

Another emerging trend that we can witness is speech recognition technology. It can be used to train employees in call centres to handle customers in real-time scenarios. Rather than watching videos and listening to recorded conversations, leaders can use voice technology to train employees to handle different kinds of customers. It can also be used to train people in sales, who are constantly handling clients and customers on calls.

There is a big problem of skill gap in every industry and digital learning can reduce that gap to some extent. This makes it difficult for organisations to find relevant talent.

Recently, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) joined hands with betterU, a global education to employment platform to upskill the youth in India.

betterU did an extensive research analysing the educational systems in rural and urban India.

Not just the corporate workforce but others, even commoners require upskilling in India to land good jobs.