Reimagining Virtual and Hybrid Learning Inside Companies

Much of the attention and conversations about changes in corporate virtual learning have been framed similarly to the discussion about the past year’s pivot of the events industry to virtual experiences delivered by emerging technology platforms. This oversimplifies the story around virtual learning for which the pandemic served as an accelerant to a metamorphosis that was already underway. Fast-growth tech-enabled companies were grappling with questions around ways to provide learning systems and leadership development (soft and hard skills) to the increasingly distributed teams of their growing spoke-hub-node workforces. 

Rethink and Redesign a More Holistic and Human Approach to Learning

Learning becomes increasing important in rapidly changing environments - and new ways of learning need to relate to new ways of working. Learning isn’t only about communicating facts and knowledge transfer – it’s also central to a feeling of individual empowerment and leading at all levels. Learning needs to be designed from the perspective of the individual as well as for the creation and support of new forms of ‘networked intelligence’ inside the organization.  

A Framework for the Stages of Learning

How do you create highly interactive and engaged experiences - synchronous and asynchronous - in geographically distributed environments? It’s important to start with a framework for the stages of learning before jumping into ideas about virtual or hybrid learning systems.

1. Knowledge Accumulation and Theoretical Understanding  

This is about the purely cognitive aspect of learning that too often garners the bulk if not the entirety of people’s attention. This is the stage in which the focus is on the dissemination and accumulation of acts, figures, and task-related skills. It’s also the part of learning that is easily and quickly forgotten if it is not followed by the development of personal context and social application.

2. Application, Experimentation, and Engagement 

This is where it’s important to coordinate initial knowledge accumulation with repeated real-world opportunities - personal applications of cognitive knowledge.  There’s a great opportunity here to blend technology-enabled knowledge systems with ongoing real world ‘apprenticeship’ moments inside an organization.  Repeated relevant and time-spaced experiences is where habits and memories can be built - as we are periodically exposed to, and apply, information that may have initially may have felt theoretical. In neuroscience, the ‘generative effect’ tells us that information is better remembered if it is generated from one’s own mind (and practice) rather than if it is simply read or heard.

3. Reflection, Relationships, and Refinement

Learning and the application of that learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It involves our own - and others’ - experiences in the learning application process.   There are important social-emotional aspects relating to developing and understanding our own strengths and weaknesses - particularly in relationship to how we create a sense of ourselves at work and develop our relationships with, and impacts on, others.  A deepening of empathy can be a natural by-product of this part of the learning process.  A lack of emphasis on this element of learning can significantly diminish the cognitive – knowledge gathering benefits of the first stage.

How to Evolve Learning

Given these three important stages, how might we now evolve the world of continuous learning inside organizations? 

1. Move away from using virtual as a poor simulation of the real world

As in the case of the events and experiences industry, the question needs to move from: ‘How can I best simulate what we have lost’ – to – ‘What can virtual or hybrid systems uniquely deliver?’ The response to this question cannot simply be framed by what current technology platforms offer, as these have not even reached a a strong version 1.0 yet.

Regardless of the pressures of the pandemic, an increasingly geographically decentralized workforce demands a thoughtful response.

 2. Design learning for knowledge accumulation and social-emotional interaction

Think of designing and developing a portfolio of learning technologies that not only drives knowledge accumulation, but fosters more emotion, memory-building applications, and collaboration – that, in the end, results in greater retention.  Create experiences with ebbs and flows – as opposed to a consistent beat and pattern that drones on.  Greater interaction through polls, Socratic processes, breakout rooms, hangouts can be inserted between smaller bites of thoughtful content and ‘knowledge.’

3. See learning as a form of storytelling

Think of learning experiences as storytelling narratives. What’s the creative and emotional initial hook that drives motivation and receptivity, and also overcomes the inevitable distractions for a number of sources – both physical and digital. 

 4. Mix centralized and decentralized approaches to learning

Learning can be both uni-directional and collaborative. Offer opportunities for blended systems where there is room for both ‘the experts’, as well as peer learning opportunities.

 5. Value post knowledge accumulation phases and soft skills development as much as the cognitive phase of learning

Learning should be both an intellectual and emotional journey – not a facts and figures one-off that is quickly forgotten. The development of soft skills can be a natural part of any learning process if we include elements such as different forms of facilitation and varied contexts for application through apprenticeships and partnerships

The Near Future of Hybrid and Virtual Learning Systems and Culture

Experimentation in virtual learning must be much more than mere simulation of the physical world - with equal value placed on the cognitive and social-emotional aspects of learning. Virtual and hybrid systems that are more personalized, on-demand, and tech-enabled will be the future of how we will help people grow inside organizations and learn how to manage and cultivate their leadership abilities in this new world. It is clear today that learning is no longer an organizational luxury or perk. It is central to organizational transformation.  And it will take courage and creativity to cultivate this new kind of learning culture that naturally curious humans deserve.