Learning and education are no longer seen as being solely in the realm of educational institutions. The rapid rise of digital technologies, changes in the nature of jobs, the shift to remote and hybrid work models, and the competitive demand for talent has resulted in an increased focus on building talent from within to reskill and upskill workforces.
Across professional services, healthcare, resources, government, tech, corporate, manufacturing and non-government organizations, employers are increasingly embracing creating a culture of learning to acquire, develop, and retain talent that meets the needs of the 4th industrial revolution.
Supporting a culture of learning
LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report 2021 highlights that “two-thirds (66%) of learning and development (L&D) professionals globally now agree that they are focused on rebuilding and reshaping their organisations.” Moving from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘need to have’, employers are now integrating training and learning as an essential part of the strategic planning or objective setting cycle.
With hybrid or remote workforces here to stay, L&D managers identify that robust online and blended learning solutions provide improved reach, cost-effectiveness and depth of content compared to in-person instructor-led training (ILT). Consequently, they are increasingly being tasked with selecting a robust online learning management system (or as it is sometimes termed, corporate LMS or enterprise learning management system) that can handle diverse learning requirements across departments and deliver insights into learning program effectiveness.
Not only that, learning and development professionals or divisional/department heads are most likely responsible for creating and setting up the online training, professional development or onboarding programs in their LMS.
More than buzzwords: Pedagogy and instructional design in workplace learning
Pedagogy ‘is the art, science, or profession of teaching’ while instructional design can be explained as ‘the practice of crafting and creating instructional experiences that make learning more efficient, effective, and engaging’. Also described as teaching methods, pedagogy consists of the universal principles of learning that underpin any teaching practice, whereas instructional design follows a system of assessing learner needs, designing a process, developing materials, and evaluating effectiveness.
Truly high quality online learning experiences will be a combination of innovative pedagogy that accommodates a variety of learning styles and responsive instructional design. Without a learning management system that supports good pedagogical practices, learning and development professionals cannot create effective and engaging online learning experiences.
A workplace LMS that supports the universal principles of learning
In order to create truly engaging learning experiences, L&D professionals will benefit from implementing a workplace or corporate LMS that supports best practices in online teaching and education.
Moodle Workplace, our learning management system for workplace learning, is built from and replicates the features and functionality of Moodle LMS, the platform that hundreds of thousands of educational institutions, in every country on the globe, in nearly every language use to manage their online learning.
Since its beginnings in 1999, Moodle LMS has constantly evolved through a commitment to pedagogy, open source philosophy and a collaborative global community of teachers and technologists.
This means that Moodle Workplace incorporates features and functionality that support creating truly engaging learning experiences. A toolbox designed for ultimate flexibility where both teachers and L&D professionals can create and arrange a wide array of resources and activities into a rich learning experience. This includes:
Supporting the social nature of learning
At its core, Moodle is based on social constructionism, which is the understanding that people develop knowledge in a social context. This is why Moodle LMS and Moodle Workplace go beyond the basic content features of most learning platforms and provide multiple means for learners to engage with learning materials where they learn “by doing” and by interacting with each other and their instructor.
As an example, both teachers and L&D professionals can use Moodle’s many standard features to encourage deep collaborative learning and experimentation. For instance, they can invite personal responses through Moodle Forum, create learner Groups, provide tasks that allow for active participation, exploration and experimentation through Assignments or Quiz, encourage collaboration through peer assessment with Workshops and allow learners to create collaborative project plans and documents through Wiki.
Moodle’s many standard features, integrations and plugins can be used through both synchronous (face-to-face live interaction) and asynchronous (allows learning to occur in different times and spaces particular to each learner) delivery. Both support the engagement of learners through social interaction.
Accommodating different learning styles – not a one-size-fits-all approach
Learners differ in the way that they perceive and comprehend information that is presented to them. For instance, some learners will understand content more quickly through visual or auditory means rather than printed text. Other learners with sensory disabilities or learning difficulties will have specific needs.
To accommodate all learners’ preferences and improve accessibility, Moodle LMS and Moodle Workplace allow course developers or instructional designers to present learning material in a variety of modalities that learners can interact and engage with. Equally, learners require a range of ways to exhibit the knowledge and skills they have acquired and Moodle tools such as Assignment or Quiz can be used to allow learners to demonstrate the learning in a range of media such as text, speech, illustration, video, audio or interactive web tools.
Want to know more?
Moodle Workplace benefits from Moodle’s grounding in pedagogy and social constructionism and incorporates all of the secure, feature-rich attributes of Moodle LMS. Plus, Moodle Workplace has advanced features designed for workplace learning including automation of common processes, custom reports to evaluate the impact of learning, multi-tenancy architecture and shared programs to maximize content re-utilization.
Want to find out more or need the help of an expert with course set-up, instructional design, implementation or training? Get in touch with us.
