The new normal of training: resources and tools

All the deep changes of the last few months forced us to cope with new scenarios in the training world: in this article we will try to list all the characteristics of this “new normal”, of needed resources and key tools to manage it, starting from LMS platforms. 

THE NEW NORMAL OF TRAINING: WHAT HAS CHANGED?

They often talk about how training, among other things, has been affected by recent changes in people’s habits: the spread of smart working on a large scale and, more in general, the use of social network and Cloud solutions in everyday life, both by digital natives and older users. 

What are the implications of this “new normal” for training? For sure, the principles of self-concept, problem orientation and intrinsic motivation described by Andragogy are becoming increasingly important: adult students today need a tailor made training, with practical uses and that they can manage autonomously, because they feel the urge to. Therefore lifelong learning comes into play, meaning on one hand to have the constant need to learn to keep up with all the changes in every area of knowledge; and on the other hand the possibility to access valuable training resources in every moment, to meet real needs related to one’s personal and working life. 

RESOURCES OF THE NEW TRAINING: SELF-PACED LEARNING

We are all accustomed to searching information on the Internet: most articles on the Web fall in the category of “how to” do something. It is also true that not everything on the net is the result of a quality check to guarantee that it is good or, at least, true. 

How can a company ensure that resources available to its employees are controlled and compliant with corporate policies? One possible solution is for sure to manage training first hand, carefully choosing teachers and designing with them an instructional program based on defined needs and goals. 

However, we cannot forget that nowadays training is becoming more and more shattered and less related to “official” shared moments, deeply changing the traditional meaning of “lesson”. Instructional resources, then, need to be placed within specific training projects, but with free access: it is the so called asynchronous training, accessible by users in self-paced mode, choosing autonomously time and place for learning. 

RESOURCES OF THE NEW TRAINING: LIVE LESSONS

Which is the role, within this scenario, reserved for synchronous training?

Without any doubt, we cannot think of eliminating the possibility to have moments of synchronous face-to-face training, both in a real classroom or in an online video lesson. On the other hand, the lack of time and resources forces us to use these events for activities that cannot be done alone, either for instructional or social reasons.  

Live lessons will be used for discussions on presented topics, group activities to put learnt concepts into practice, clarifications and supplementary information, or meetings and exchange of opinions. 

This blended organization of training allows to use time more effectively and efficiently, at the same time exploiting the need to be autonomous of adults who can feel free, even within a limited and supervised set of resources. 

TOOLS FOR THE NEW NORMAL: LMS PLATFORMS

So far we have talked about types of training in relation to different ways to access it: asynchronous or self-paced, or synchronous or face-to-face. With the spread of this new normal, though, a change is called for, both in the way of thinking of training and most of all in the way of managing it: blackboards, books and PowerPoint presentations become parts of a broader ecosystem available to users. 

In particular, LMS platforms seem to be the best tool to meet all the needs of these new training dynamics. They are, in fact, sort of digital twins of schools and allow to assign preset training programs to students, but also to leave resources and materials – including recordings of live video-lessons – available for following use, facilitating a free access based on contingent need. 

LMS platforms, then, allow to have different roles and responsibilities, which again helps to optimize everyone’s resources, especially teachers’. They can, in fact, manage their classes, and also stay in touch with students even after the end of the official program, extending the training time according to lifelong learning principles. Teachers turn from holders of knowledge, to be passed to students within defined moments, to facilitators who help to build a set of competencies and resources for training in the long run. 

Do you want to know more about the role of the teacher in this new normal of training? Read the following articles! 

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