I’m intrigued and excited about the potential of new learning platforms and approaches that can help organizations pursue digital maturity (or digitally transform). The organizations I work with are taking on the challenge of changing how they think, operate, organize themselves, lead, and use new innovative approaches and technologies to survive and thrive in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. To survive, corporations need to learn quickly, effectively and at scale (that is, across the organization).

You can listen to my Analyst Report on HT2 Labs at Anchor. As you listen, you’ll see this excitement for digital maturity throughout the podcast. Further, you’ll come across an emphasis on informal learning and social learning. This builds on previous work that I’ve done, in particular a recent paper focused on Team-based Analytics for Informal Learning (aka TAIL).

At the core of my thinking is a philosophy that “small and simple scales”. Learning at scale needs to be small and simple. A legacy approach of formal, large learning interactions cannot keep up with the pace of change nor can it scale. Because of the large size and lengthy timelines, legacy approaches often miss out on the learning that happens day-by-bay, hour-by-hour, and minute-by-minute as we work, collaborate, share and serve. Further, informal learning, at its core is decentralized – allowing for quick responses and allowing those closest to the problem or knowledge to seek/share. A centralized approach is too big, too slow and too far removed from the problem/solution to respond quickly.

Learning Record Stores (LRSs) such as Learning Locker will be a key construct in scaling learning. By accepting all kinds of activities, we can now get a richer and more holistic view of learning activities and their impact. But having the platform and specification is just the foundation. Approaches such as those detailed in TAIL, highlight the depth and thoughtfulness needed to parse the data from informal learning and derive information upon which we can introduce interventions.

All of this leads into an A3: Venture pitch that focuses on solutions for leveraging informal learning in the workplace. Solutions such as Learning Locker will play a key role – as it is open source, easily deployable to the cloud, and can integrate with many tools (input and output). The software tools and platforms will be a foundation for the offering, but there will need to be analysis, configuration and deployment work that is custom to each organization. A one-size-fits all solution won’t be possible.