LMS Trends in 2016

This is the time of year when people in learning technology like to have a little fun by examining current trends and prognosticating what will happen over the next year. Some like to opine on what leaders need to do about the trends. Others like to speak to what the trends should be. We keep up with trends to know what new ways might develop to solve business challenges.

Here are some of our thoughts on the trends going into 2016.

e-Learning

Using e-Learning continues to expand, and it is moving into other areas of business. The technology is finding its way into onboarding and benefits administration. Interactive learning and game mechanics help to make the experience more engaging and easier to understand. We expect more e-Learning in HR functions whenever the need arises to present new information and ask people to act on it.

Mobile Learning 

There is a lot of excitement about mobile learning, but almost all of the growth is in the academic and consumer markets. Brandon Hall Group reported only 10% of companies in 2014 were using mobile learning,  and we expect any rapid changes. Mobile apps don’t solve a problem for workers who are at a computer workstation all day or have one within arm’s reach.

Content Curation

Content curation will continue to mature. Short instructional videos are very useful, and they are easy to share. The issue, of course, is filtering what users share and how. We expect to see better curation tools for administrators to control content. Vendors are beginning to provide the ability to attach metadata to content to make it easier to catalog. It is now possible to capture mobile video of someone doing a task, upload it to an LMS, and make it available in course catalogs or push it out to users.

Gamification

Gamification is maturing, and we see more practical application in game mechanics as a platform rather than a solution. What excites us in the combination of the power of spaced repetition and game mechanics to reinforce learning over time. Working people are busy, and it is much easier to find a three-minute chunk of time to do a training activity than two hours for a training course. It works nicely with the power of game mechanics and spaced repetition to overcome memory decay.

Data

We expect to deploy better use of data as solutions become more capable and cheaper. In addition to providing better business intelligence, data mining has possibilities in helping to refine the personalized learner experience (PLE) that has been developing over the past few years. We expect development beyond widgets into self-directed learning, but the majority of learning curricula will still be in the administrator’s hands.

The LMS industry continues to grow at about a 25% annual rate as companies replace less capable legacy systems. We can expect them to begin taking advantage of these technologies as they grow into it.

Phenomecloud is a full-service technology company dedicated to helping clients solve business problems, improve the capability of their people, and achieve better results.