Is Technology really helping us to become active learners or are we just overwhelmed with all the options we have?

 Coursera, EDx, Data Camp, Skill share, Cloud academy, Codeacademy, Udemy..

 

Do you recognize these names? I bet you do. These are just few of the platforms out there that can help you to learn new skills no matter where you are. Coursera and EDX are the most popular ones as they have a big variety of courses from  learning Chinese to Digital marketing from top universities around the world.

 Then, you have more specific platforms like DataCamp where you can learn R, Python and Tableau to increase your analytical skill. SkillShare is another website where you can learn different skills that can be your next hobby or even become a possible business. These includes photography, creative writing, how to do a podcast. We have plenty of choices outside the regular classroom to learn something new, but according to Salomon’s reflection the Internet is not making the big transformation everyone thought it would do.

I do agree with him that just having access to these platforms it’s not enough. You need to find the space to practice these techniques to truly master it, also you need to be really disciplined to complete the course on time. This article made me think how many corporations are thinking on scaling up their employees to be prepared for the future. During the pandemic Unilever became a role model on how to scale up employees successfully to avoid layoffs. They made sure to create learning plans with skills that people needed to learn, but at the same time they would put into practice. Once the pandemic hit, it was easier to transition people from the factories to other projects, because they have been developing these new skills.

One way Unilever did this was using a new learning platform called Degreed. This platform allows you to curate content easier and assign pathway according to the skill you want to develop. Here is a short video explaining what Degreed is.

 

My company just launched Degreed as well with the same effort of providing more flexible options to all colleagues to learn from everywhere. In our case we are integrating external platforms that we already had a partnership with, such as: Coursera, Udemy, DataCamp and Cloud Academy.

For a big nerd like me this is legit heaven.

Actual picture of me when they launched Degreed 😂

But going back to Salomon’s point having these offerings are great, but if people don’t put it into practice how do we know that they really master the skill?

In our company we have always been able to deliver excellent in-person learning opportunities. Participants are able to disconnect, learn new skills and increase their network. But once the training is over many participants complain that are not able to put into practice what they learned because they don’t have the time or they don’t have the support from leadership. With virtual self-paced learning, we encounter the same issue, people are eager to learn but they do not have the time and if there are no urgent projects that requires them to learn a new skill, they won’t do it.

Being able to learn from everywhere at your own time has always been an advantage that technology has provided, but in reality, it is harder to do. Even though Salomon’s focuses only on higher education, I think it is also important to mention that corporate education still has not find the balance between having access to these tools and having the support from leadership.

One potential solution could be to provide people with learning days. You will need approval from your manager and on those days, you will fully dedicate to learning. No work in between. But like I said that it is easier say than done.

What about you? Do you work in corporate? If you do, how is your experience?

PS: Here is a short article that explains how Unilever scale up their employees: 

https://blog.degreed.com/5-steps-unilevers-learning-transformation/