The last few years have seen unprecedented changes in content consumption. Not only has the time people spend consuming content like podcasts and videos increased, the way in which they consume them has also undergone a significant shift. Thanks to platforms like Netflix and Spotify and the rise of artificial intelligence tools, users have grown accustomed to a personalized experience, tailored to their needs and interests.
This trend goes beyond popular series and playlists. We are also seeing these changes reflected in the learning and development industry. In fact, respondents of a US survey revealed their companies personalized 75% of the content they provided.
But how does personalization of the learning experience work in the context of training? In this post, we explore the answer to this question, along with strategies and tools you can use to develop your own custom learning content.
What is personalized learning?
Personalized learning puts the students at the heart of the training to offer them the best learning experience possible. To what extent that training is personalized, depends on the company and their resources. The possibilities, however, are diverse, with company, role, and individual training need being just a few of the parameters companies can adapt their learning to.
The learning environment itself is also customizable, meaning training can be offered in a way that replicates the format of popular streaming platforms through recommendations, progress reports, and more.
Benefits of personalized learning
Personalizing the learning experience might seem like a daunting task but it’s one that’s well worth the input when you consider the different advantages it brings to both a company and its workforce.
Engagement
Providing a customized learning experience encourages active participation since employees are more likely to take part in training designed with their needs and interests in mind. This has knock-on effects for metrics like completion rates and performance too.
Talent retention
By making your employees feel considered in the training process, you’re also demonstrating their value to the company, something which is likely to have a positive impact on retention rates and overall job satisfaction.
Accessibility
Personalizing your content also means you can cater to any accessibility needs your workforce might have. An important consideration with 1 billion people living with a disability globally and only 20% of online programs currently being accessible.
Strategies for personalized learning
So what steps can you take to customize your content with these advantages in mind?
1. Get to know the needs of your employees
The first step to creating personalized learning is to understand the training needs of your team. Start by looking at the skills gaps and opportunities for professional growth before diving deeper into more individual considerations. Where do your teams work from? In what countries and in what languages? Do they have any particular accessibility requirements? These are just a few of the factors to explore to make sure the final product achieves its intended purpose.
2. Choose your e-learning tools
Depending on the level of personalization you want to apply to your training, choosing the right tool is key. A Learning Management System (LMS) can be a great way to develop a personalized learning experience, as we explore in this whitepaper. It’s not the only one though. An authoring tool can also be an asset for bespoke content creation. Later in this post, we take a look at these tools and others in more detail.
3. Experiment with design
Design is one of the most impactful methods for personalizing your content. Incorporating colors and typography from your brand book is a way to make the training recognizably yours and foster a sense of identification between the employee and the company. It’s also important to think about optimizing your designs for different devices, with 6.8 billion people worldwide using a smartphone.
4. Personalize your content
But, of course, a well-designed course is nothing without its content. Consider your brand’s tone of voice, and the interactives and resources you use to develop bespoke e-learning content based on what you learned about your employees’ needs. Then use design to bring it to life.
Tools for personalized learning
A content factory
If you’re new to the world of personalized e-learning content, a content factory is a great place to start. By outsourcing your courses or documents to the professionals, you can save time and production costs and make the most of the latest techniques and technologies to develop bespoke content.
- Authoring tools
An authoring tool allows you to develop custom content in-house. The best ones on the market offer preconfigured templates, and interactive resources, among other features, to create content that truly engages your employees and meets your company’s training needs in line with your branding.
- An LMS
Traditional Learning Management Systems provide extensive management functionalities designed with the trainer in mind. But a new generation of LMS is emerging that puts the employee experience at the center of learning, converting them into the protagonists of their training experience. The modern LMS is also a great way to improve your personalized content over time with evaluation functionalities meaning you can track progress and adjust your offering accordingly.
- Employee apps
Employee apps are a must-have solution for modern employees who need to be able to access company information and learning remotely, whenever and from wherever they are. isEazy Engage,for example, offers you the opportunity to provide training, communication, task management, and more via your staff’s smartphones.
It’s just one of the e-learning solutions offered by isEazy. Discover how we can help you develop personalized content that encourages maximum engagement. Ready to elevate your online training?
