How to Choose an Online Learning Solution
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How to Choose an Online Learning Solution The 14 Most Important Questions That You Need to Ask “How can I identify and close critical skills gaps?” This is one of the most pressing questions on the minds of nearly every C-level executive these days. And, it’s no surprise. With the tight labor market and the rapid pace of technological change, organizations are under tremendous pressure to acquire the necessary skills to stay competitive. You Need the According to PWC’s 2019 Global CEO Survey , the CEO’s who were extremely concerned about the availability of key skills stated that not Right Learning having them could have two big business impacts: the inability to innovate effectively and an expected rise in people costs. As a talent developer, you’ll be happy to know that they believe retraining and upskilling was the most Solution to Close important way to close skills gaps at 46%. Critical Skills Gaps Traditional Learning Management Systems (LMSs), or what Josh Bersin , global industry analyst, calls the “learning and training ERP system,” are not evolving fast enough to help solve the skills gap problem. As a result, hundreds of new learning technologies have emerged which makes your job of selecting a new learning platform more challenging today than ever before. How to Chose an Online Learning Solution This Guide Will Help You “It’s time for learning professionals Select the Right Online to think about LinkedIn differently. Yes, the company is the largest Learning Solution for Today professional network. Yes, it’s a fantastic platform to find jobs and Tomorrow and people. But now it’s a serious learning solution, and one with When choosing an online learning solution, there are so many some pretty interesting competitive factors to consider: content quality, convenience, ease-of-use, advantages.” 1 relevance, recency, applicability, and the list goes on. Not only do you need to think about what your organization needs today, but Josh Bersin, you also need to anticipate about what it will need in the coming Global Industry Analyst years. After all, enterprise software decisions are typically a multi- year investment. That’s why getting it right is so important. How to Chose an Online Learning Solution Learning Content Considerations 01 The 14 1 Is the learning content relevant and up-to-date? 02 2 How broad and deep is the content? 03 Questions 3 How credible and expert are the instructors? 04 4 Is the content professionally produced? 05 You Need 5 Can you add content from other sources? 06 to Ask 6 Does it prepare your employees to earn new professional certifications? 07 Learner Engagement Considerations 08 Whether you have just begun 7 How easy is the platform to use? 09 the evaluation process, or you 8 How personalized are content recommendations? 10 are getting ready to make a final selection, this guide will 9 Is learning social and interactive? 11 equip you with 14 of the most 10 Does it offer both micro- and macro-learning? 12 important questions that you 11 How user-friendly is the mobile app for learning anytime, anywhere? 13 should ask each technology provider on your short-list to help Learning Administration Considerations 14 you make the right decision for 12 Is it easy to manage a large number of learners? 15 your organization. 13 Does it give you skills insights? 16 14 Does it have robust analytics and reporting tools? 17 How to Chose an Online Learning Solution Learning Content Considerations 1 Learning Content Considerations 1 Is the learning content relevant and up-to-date? This is one of the most important factors that can help you decide which learning solution to purchase. Here’s the rub. Every learning solution provider says that their content is relevant and up-to-date, but is it really? It’s worth double-clicking and finding out exactly what up-to-date means. With over 14,500 courses taught by real- Interestingly, Microsoft Office applications “The change Action Item: Ask each learning solution world experts—and more than 60 new are consistently the most watched courses sales representative the following in usage and courses added every week—the LinkedIn on LinkedIn Learning. Because LinkedIn questions and make sure that their freshness of the answers will meet the learning needs of Learning library is always up-to-date with is now owned by Microsoft, we deliver your business for years to come. the most in-demand business, technology, refreshed courses on Excel, PowerPoint, content has been and creative content. and the rest of the suite on the day a new night and day. • How many courses are added per week? version of Office launches. The relevancy of • How relevant is their content to your Before we even select an instructor or the material has industry right now? produce a course, we start by analyzing Also, many of our learning paths are been striking. It • How do they keep up with the rapid, LinkedIn data from 630M+ members officially endorsed by highly respected was just so on point ever-changing demand for hard and soft and 20M+ job descriptions o guide our professional organizations and companies skills? and applicable to decision-making about what skills are including the American Marketing employees across • How do they choose where to invest in most in-demand. A team of content Association, Google, and CompTIA. content creation? managers then look at industry trends and the organization.” • How do they decide which content to what our customers have requested to Subscribe to the LinkedIn Learning blog retire and how often? create a content roadmap for each library. to find out what courses we release Jodi Atkinson, • Have their learning paths been endorsed every week. Global Learning by professional organizations? Director, Deltek How to Chose an Online Learning Solution | 02 Learning Content Considerations 2 How broad and deep is the content? You are looking for an online learning solution that everyone in your organization can use—from the employees in your corporate offices to your front-line workers around the world. So, it’s important that you understand what’s included in each learning library that you’re considering to ensure that it will meet the needs of all learners. LinkedIn Learning has over 14,500 courses across three “For the sheer number of courses and Action Item: Here are a few libraries: business (4.3K courses), technology (4.3K courses), dimensions to consider: subjects offered, and the fact they’re and creative that includes architecture, engineering, and constantly updated, it’s very good value • Is there a wide spectrum of hard construction (5.4k courses many of which were part of the and soft skills content? Lynda.com library). Courses are available in 7 languages: for the money.” • Does it address the most in- English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Manderin, and demand skills ? Portuguese. On average, 60 new professionally produced Lance Whitworth, courses are added every week to ensure that learning Organisational Development and • How many courses are available in Learning Consultant, the languages you require? content is always up-to-date, relevant, and applicable. Special Broadcasting Service How to Chose an Online Learning Solution | 03 Learning Content Considerations 3 How credible and expert are the instructors? Think back to your school days. You hopefully had some great teachers whose wise words still resonate and you probably had some who made class feel like a big waste of time. The same is true for online learning. Even if the course content is excellent, if it’s not delivered in an engaging, credible way, then the skills that both learners and companies want to build won’t happen. At LinkedIn Learning, we recruit real-world experts with real- “The quality of the instructors is great. Action Item: Sample a broad world expertise, who are also outstanding instructors with spectrum of courses and then ask And, there are so many of them, that it’s a knack for connecting with learners. We don’t use actors, each learning solution provider the easy to find one that resonates with you. following questions: and in most courses our instructors speak directly to learners, emulating 1:1 instruction. Find someone who’s speaking to you and • How are instructors vetted? listen to what they have to say.” • Are your instructors actors? If so, Our Content Managers scour best-selling books, schools, then who creates the course industry websites and conferences, industry associations, Quay Eady, Director, content? community forums, and social media to find the best-of- Table Games Analytics, MGM Resorts International • Are they professors? If so, then do the-best. they have real-world experience outside of academia? We ultimately select our instructors based on their credibility in the industry, their passion for the topic, and how well • Are they real-world experts and what are their credentials to teach they can articulate complex topics in a way that’s easily a course? understood. They also have to communicate in a compelling way on camera. As a company committed to diversity and • Do they represent a diverse set of perspectives and backgrounds? inclusion, we also make sure that our instructor community is representative of the LinkedIn community as a whole. How to Chose an Online Learning Solution | 04 Learning Content Considerations 4 Is the content professionally produced? Your learners are sophisticated media consumers. Even if learning content is extremely compelling, a learner will disengage if it’s hard to see, hear, or if it is filmed with a low-grade computer camera. You might expect low-quality content on YouTube, but not on an online learning solution.