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4 Impactful E-Learning Trends for 2023

SarahHodge's avatar
SarahHodge
Former Staff
2 years ago

E-learning has evolved over the years, which is great! As we discover more about the industry and how people learn, we can improve the way we deliver online content to better the lives of those who consume it. So, what current learning strategies are proving successful for other organizations? Let’s look at the top e-learning trends for 2023 that will have a lasting impact on the future of learning.

1. Data-driven decisions

Since reporting tools have advanced over the years, we now have access to more learner insights than ever before. So instead of creating courses based on what you think learners need, you can use data to drive your online learning decisions. Taking the time to analyze and evaluate learner metrics will help drive meaningful changes to your learning strategies. 

2. On-demand content

Organizations are realizing the need to empower employees by creating content learners can pull from when they need it. Let’s say you’re a sales manager who plans to hire three new employees. There are a lot of details these new team members will need to do their jobs. Giving them all that information at once might make them feel like they’re drinking from a firehose and will probably guarantee most of it will be forgotten. Creating a series of microlearning courses that walk them through your processes will prove to be more effective and a better use of everyone’s time. Plus, if they need to refer back to anything later, they can! So, designing content learners can access when they need it is definitely something to consider implementing.

3. Accessible experiences

You may have seen accessible learning as a trend in previous years. Well, this repeating trend is here to stay. That’s because it’s becoming a standard, as it should! We want all learners to understand, navigate, and interact with the content. If you’re new to accessibility, it might feel like creating accessible learning experiences is more work. But as Elizabeth Pawlicki put it, “Accessibility isn’t extra steps. It’s the steps you missed.” Now, course creators are designing accessible courses right from the start rather than building a course and retrofitting it to make it accessible later on.  

4. Continuous development

With a record number of people leaving their jobs, it’s important to show current employees you value their contributions and want them to grow with the company. One way to do that is to provide them with more opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills in a changing world. By creating and offering training on a variety of topics to help them advance their careers, you’re showing them you value their contributions. So if you want to retain talent and help employees thrive, creating and providing lifelong learning opportunities will help you (and them) succeed. 

Wrap-Up

With so many lessons learned from the past and an abundant amount of resources to move forward, e-learning designers are bound to make a difference in the learning space this year. As we dive more into data, create content learners can pull from when they need it, design courses that everyone can access, and provide opportunities for continued growth, we can all positively impact the lives of our learners. Of course, there are more ways to improve learning outcomes than just the ones listed here. So if you’ve spotted any other trends you think will make an impact in 2023, please share your ideas below!

Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.

Published 2 years ago
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  • Accessibility has always interested me. I worry who should make the decisions on what is to be presented to whom at what time. When I was working on a PhD, I had a Professor who warned, "Learners choose the path of least resistance."

    Oftentimes, as I teach at Baylor University (Waco, TX USA), I watch students jump on every shortcut they can, i.e., peruse the PowerPoint slides over reading the textbook. We confronted that dilemma by giving tests more based on the reading materials as 60% of the final grade. I have seen the difference this twist has made, and I like it. Learning is work.
    • JaneBrooks's avatar
      JaneBrooks
      Community Member
      I'm with you on the interest in accessibility. For the audiences and leaders I serve, visual/auditory disabilities are not a high priority, but for me it's worth the lift to provide any assistance I can for cognitive differences like ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergences, as well as emotional reactions - the variety of different ways brains manage cognitive load even among non-disabled learners.

      Additionally, I have one audience for whom English is almost always a second language, which adds a significant cognitive load for those learners.

      So I'm focused right now on providing these things more often (and building them into my templates/production routines so they're a no-brainer):
      * text captions for audio
      * ALT text for images
      * uncluttered visuals and visual conceptual models (e.g., simple process diagrams instead of listed steps)
      * options for changing speed or zoom/display for videos and audio
      * for job aids, providing both documents and micro-videos that teach the same thing
      * like you, focusing testing on applying knowledge/skills and creating an incentive to fully engage.

      The good news is that a lot of these techniques assist with both cognitive load and sensory disabilities, and they support better localization, too.

      I'm preaching to the choir, clearly. :) I just find the topic fascinating, and I'm finding that it's easier to get my leadership to prioritize cognitive load assistance instead of simply framing it as disability assistance - which they consider a luxury sometimes.

      All of that being said, the challenge for me is to build all of this into my team's processes, so that it's faster to do and harder to skip during a time crunch.

      Best of luck with what you're doing at Baylor!
      Jane
    • BillyvanderMerw's avatar
      BillyvanderMerw
      Community Member
      In my experience with ABET (Adult Based) in the workplace, terminology (verbage) plays a large part as well including the frequency with which we change the terms we use. Using terminology aligned to accessibility, has definitely made a positive impact of maintaining a balance of interest in engaging with the 'lean' content vs the 'traditional' content available on the part of the learner. This relieves some of the pressures on the learning practitioner.