The Future of Learning

The future of learning is getting what you need, exactly when you need it.

Have you ever binge-watched an entire season (maybe multiple seasons) of a show? Have you done it in under a weekend? I am going to bet that 9/10 folks said yes. But, of course, we all have binge-watched shows on Netflix or your favorite streaming service. I did this for "You," the widely strange and engaging show on Netflix.

Hello, You!

According to a 2019 survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American watches 2.8 hours of TV per day or nearly 20 hours each week. Much of that time, we binge-watch — Deloitte's 14th edition Digital Media Trends Survey found that among 2,103 U.S. consumers, 38% of them were binge-watching weekly for an average of 4.2 hours per session.

So why do we binge-watch? It's simple - it makes us feel good. In fact, according to one study, 73% of us have positive feelings about binge-watching TV — feelings that Dr. Renee Carr, Psy. D, a clinical psychologist, attributes to our body's own natural response to enjoyment. It's that dopamine hit and the conscious decision to keep that feeling going that gets people hooked on watching just one more episode as the clock ticks past midnight. Powered by algorithms, the technology understands your specific behaviors and interests and serves you shows that it knows you would like to watch. They KNOW you'd be interested in watching. Learn more here -> The Social Dilemma.

How about TikTok? TikTok's technology has more to do with the combination of human behaviors and algorithms. TikTok is really good at the algorithm part. The algorithm studies your view habits and serves you content relevant to your interests. Since this algorithm is in place, it provides you content directly (even trending content), so you don't have to go searching for the content you'd like to see. Unlike the binge-watching behavior of streaming shows, TikTok has short videos (30 seconds to 1 minute). This short run time makes it so easy to immerse oneself in the never-ending content, and even in, say, 10 minutes, you can watch 10-15 videos. And thus, you never want to stop. Since the content is user generated for the most part, though some companies and comic book characters (yes! Ella the Engineer has a TikTok page), the content is always "fresh" and new.

How do Human Resource professionals, People Leaders, and heads of Learning and Development bring these key behaviors and engagement into learning? Well, to steal something from Professor Galloway, we think the future of learning is A-Learning or algorithmic learning.

Here are a few ways:

• Quality content - content needs to be "studio" quality. While we make a point of user-created content, there needs to be a level of content that is "behind the paywall" type of content you find at Netflix or within the Wall Street Journal. Content that is curated and created by professionals. Content is king.

• A-Learning - develop algorithms that understand the person's role within the company, their performance to date, various inputs from engagement surveys and performance tools, and serve them content directly, so they don't have to search. Think of this as "watch now" or trending on TikTok

• Agile Content - content must also be user-generated. To create a show like YOU takes a whole lot of money, production, and time. The only way you see that content is if someone at the studio says yes. The gatekeeper model limits the amount of content produced and removes some of the "real-time" nature of the changing skillset landscape. User-generated content needs to be small clips (think TikTok) of things people need to know. They watch, learn, and move on to their "to-do" lists.

• Content Freshness - a good show is like a secret local brewery. Once you discover it, you want to tell all your friends. The fresh and new content allows for discovery and recommendation. It also allows folks to stay ahead of skillsets and changes. The new content will enable people to upskill on the latest trends.

So if you are a Head of Learning and Development or a Founder/CEO at a learning experience or management platform, the times are a-changing. People want both long-form, studio-quality content that they can binge-watch ala Netflix. They also want fresh, quick, and relevant content, ala TikTok, to stay up on the latest skillset trends and movements.

This new world is called A-Learning or Algorithmic Learning.