Now that 68 percent of companies expect remote work to be part of their new reality, that means your learners might live on opposite sides of the country or oceans apart. And the coming of age of Generation Z means for the first time ever, there are now five generations in the workforce, each of which relate to the Digital Age differently. This leads to people arriving to elearning from countless avenues with wide-ranging expectations and varying capabilities. How do we make learning and development accessible for everyone?

1. Our workforce is forever in flux, so the ways we learn must be also.

It can be a challenge to know the best approach to learning and development for the world we inhabit now. No two brains are exactly the same. So why should learning ever be one size fits all? We process new information differently  and have different experiences and skills. How we learn should be adaptable to those differences.

There’s no right way to learn. It’s however you learn. By having a diversity of materials that embrace all types of learning styles, you can make sure you’re engaging everyone. That means more opportunities to upskill, reskill and cross-skill—no matter where your employees happen to be in their career development journey.

2. Different learning styles mean we need more ways to capture attention.

The advantages of a wide catalog is you never have to choose between quality and quantity. You can have both. A marketplace like OpenSesame with tens of thousands of courses from many publishers allows you to match the type of content to the type of learner. Instead of elearning content that’s made in identical styles and treatments, you have modalities that are as diverse as your workforce.

It’s commonly understood that there are at least four learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic. This is known as the VARK Model and was popularized by education researcher Neil Flemming in 1987. 

Read six tips and strategies for cementing engagement in your training initiatives.

Visual learners best process information by seeing it graphically represented. So think of charts, diagrams, animations and sketches. Visual aids for these types of learners can be useful in helping them remember what they’ve learned. 

Auditory learners need to listen to someone explain a concept before they can fully digest it. Hearing information out loud or having key takeaways repeated during a course can improve retention. These folks might enjoy podcasts and audiobooks.

Reading/writing learners love the power of the written text. Reading ebooks and pamphlets allows them to really sit with new information or just quickly skim it for what they need. 

Kinesthetic learners might enjoy interaction and gamification. So courses where they take quizzes and collect points throughout would better motivate them to complete each module. 

3. Individualized learning paths help to democratize career development.  

The various learning styles go beyond just what’s above. Someone who has a short attention span might enjoy bite-sized micro-learning that they can do in 10-minute bursts. Someone who is a tactile learner likely would appreciate workbooks and handouts to accompany lessons. Learners don’t always neatly fall into just one column but may be a combination of several modes. 

So it’s important to find a course vendor that can deliver courses in every format you can think of. With a variety of options, you can personalize a learning path for each individual. And with a feature like SmartPath, elearning experts at OpenSesame can curate the perfect blend of courses and styles relevant to each learner at your company. These customized curriculums are based on your specific goals and tailored to your specific learners.

Every mode of learning has a part to play when it comes to unlocking human potential, and utilizing different types of elearning content is what keeps learning interesting. Flexible learning that varies in style, format and even language has the power to bridge the gap between diverse learning needs. By catering to our learning differences, we ensure that elearning can truly be for everyone. 

Book a demo to see how SmartPath can match the needs of every learner!

Spencer Thornton is the Senior Vice President of Curation at OpenSesame. He has more than 20 years of learning and development expertise. Before joining OpenSesame, Spencer served in leadership positions with several global HCM organizations, including SumTotal Systems (SkillSoft), GeoLearning and Dice.

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What is upskilling? 

Upskilling refers to the process of individuals learning new skills. Upskilling, reskilling, retraining, and even new-skilling are used interchangeably for the process. 

By 2030, as many as 375 million workers, or roughly 14% of the global workforce, may need to switch occupational categories as digitization, automation, and advances in artificial intelligence disrupt the world of work. To put that shift into context, it will have about the same impact on the workforce as the industrial revolution did, which means it is a great idea to take a proactive stance when it comes to offering upskilling programs in your workplace.  

Upskilling your workforce isn’t only beneficial to workers learning new skills, it can also help your organization create the kind of expertise your business requires.  A recent CareerBuilder survey found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. employers have job openings that stay vacant for 12 weeks or longer. HR managers say extended job vacancies can cost companies more than $800,000 annually.

Popular courses for upskilling in STEM include: 

• • Supply chain management
  • Graphic design
  • Software development
  • Operations research
  • Systems Engineering

Looking to upskill your workforce but not sure where to start? With courses offered in multiple languages, and available on multiple devices, OpenSesame helps companies like yours develop the world’s most developed and admired global workforces. For more information on how OpenSesame can save you time and money by curating the right courses for your organization, contact us at info@opensesame.com today.

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