RESEARCH
S
D I G I TA L L E A R N I N G
Too much choice? The vast majority of survey respondents indicated they expected their organisations to expand their use of digital learning over
METHODOLOGY THE THRIVING IN a World of Digital Learning research was conducted under the supervision and advice of Professor Keith Houghton, Senior Academic Research Strategist with Research Coaching Australia. He assisted with the survey design, response analysis, and insight development of this report. The survey was distributed
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HRM ASIA.COM
% 9.5
15%
To ex a s te ma nt ll
% 1.9
5% 34.
the coming 12 months. That might be expected, but it is important to note that this growth will come from a relatively low base of current usage (see: Table 1). Asked to what extent current learning and development programmes already featured digital elements, almost half of
to a selection of HRM Magazine Asia readers via the HRM Asia website, its Daily Dispatch newsletter, and through direct email over a three-week campaign in June this year. After controls for position
and company size, a total of 116 qualifying responses were received. Elementrix has undertaken a similar piece of research with HR and learning professionals in Malaysia – look out for cross-border analysis on www.hrmasia. com during September and a second benchmarking study of both markets in the second half of 2019.
8% 30.
15%
Do n’ tk no w
la To rg a e e ve xt ry en t
8% 19.
1% 12.
% 6.5
0%
Co m pl et el y
% 0.9
m T exodeo a te ra nt te
4% 22.
8% 30.
% 0.9
To ex a la te rg nt e
Table 1
No ta ta ll
Yet change – as Stacy and the majority of respondents to the study agree – is the only strategy that makes sense. Technology-led innovations, including gamification, microlearning, and even augmented and virtual reality tools, are set to redefine what an effective training experience is, throwing out many of the benchmarks that organisations currently base their traditional efforts against. George Aveling, “Chief re-imagineer” for Elementrix, says this was one of the key drivers behind the research. “We sense a growing urgency in the learning and development community around the world to ‘get into’ digital learning,” he notes. “However there is little evidence-based thinking on these issues as yet, and little guidance on what to do next.” He says the study aims to fill this knowledge gap using reliable data and analysis, and through that, will further strengthen the learning and development community in Singapore.
CU RR OF EN DI T A GI ND TA E L E XP LE EC ME TE NT D U S SE
tacy (not her real name) is the HR leader of a Singapore-founded company with operations in four Southeast Asia markets, and a total workforce of more than 500 people. Her responses to the Elementrix and HRM Asia Thriving in a World of Digital Learning survey in June were typical of the wider national population – and she later shared with HRM Magazine Asia some of her frustrations with the process of implementing new learning technology at the enterprise level. “I know options like video and micro-learning are where the industry is heading, but that will require a wide-scale transformation of the entire organisation,” she said. “Our current learning outcomes measure up well against the corporate benchmarks, so it is difficult to justify the necessary resources and effort to change.”
Current Expected in 12 months
the survey population (44%) said these options had little to zero influence over their current learning strategy. At the other end of the scale, less than 1% of the respondents were from companies where digital had “completely” taken over the learning function. Contrast that with the expected vision for in 12 months’ time and you’ll see a significant movement to the right of the graph. Only 16.9% of respondents expect to face little or no digital elements in their learning programmes, while 6.5% expect these tools to make up 100% of their learning programme by this time in 2019. Another of the issues identified through the survey was the broad notion of digital learning today, and the many different elements that it consists of. While basic e-learning initiatives have been leveraged on for some time now, the future of digital learning includes much more than this alone: social learning, gamification, libraries of video content, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and video simulations are all expected to play a role. But many learning professionals have had difficulty analysing which of these, if any, or indeed which combination, would be best for their organisation and situation. After all, a
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