High attrition rates in online workforce training and development programs suggest that practitioners continue to struggle to develop relevant learner-centric experiences for their workforce. One ...strategy to increase learner engagement and make training more relevant is through personalizing learning. While there are several efforts to understand personalized learning within K-12 and higher education contexts, there are few published studies that focus on the use of personalized learning within workforce education. In this qualitative study, leaders in training and development (
N
= 10) were interviewed to uncover (a) the current operating definition of personalized learning, (b) whether or not personalized learning initiatives are occurring within the workplace setting, and (c) what obstacles exist in implementing personalized learning as well as (d) what opportunities for personalized learning exist from an organizational standpoint. Design and implementation considerations for future programs, resources, or tools that incorporate personalized learning as a learning strategy in online workforce training and development are discussed.
A review of the literature reveals there is a gap in the research regarding how students currently perceive PLEs and how they structure their PLEs to support their learning goals. The purpose of this ...study was to establish an understanding of college students’ perceptions of PLEs and what digital tools are currently being used to structure PLEs in order to facilitate personal growth and development. Participants (N=109) were asked to share their perceptions of PLEs and what digital tools, devices, and services they use to create PLEs. Analysis of blog submissions revealed similarities and differences between the ways that undergraduate and graduate students perceive PLEs and how they characterize these learning spaces. Students reported using a variety of digital tools for learning however their expectations of digital tools were to foster discussion, collaboration, and interaction, organization, planning, and resource management, experiential learning, personalization and a desire for effective technology. The findings of this study have important implications with respect to the competencies and skills needed to create effective PLEs and the affordances of digital technologies needed to support PLE development.
In this study, college students in a large public university in the U.S. were surveyed regarding what technologies they use most frequently for learning, what technologies they value for learning, ...and how they perceive technology effectiveness to support their learning. The results revealed that technology use and value were closely aligned with laptops and these were detailed as the most used and valued for learning, which underscores the importance of mobile and portable devices in supporting anytime anywhere learning. In terms of using software for learning, search engines, file-sharing tools, digital libraries, videos, and wikis obtained the best results, suggesting that students are adopting self-directed, approaches to their learning. Additionally, collaboration tools were perceived as the most important for learning which highlights the need to design better teaching strategies and learning interactions to support collaborative practices that use technology. Overall, the majority of participants perceived that technology was effective in fostering discussion, collaboration, and interaction. This enable experiential learning, supporting organization, planning, and resource management, and facilitating a personalized learning experience. The results also revealed statistically significant differences between the experiences of undergraduate and graduate students about the effectiveness of technology. Implications for integrating Web 2.0 technologies into teaching and learning practices are discussed.
With the ubiquitous use of mobile technologies and the increasing demand for just-in-time training, there is a need to prepare and support instructional designers and educators to meet the ...pedagogical and technological development requirements of their target audience in the most effective and efficient way. This paper reviews the iterative design, development and testing of the Tech Select Decision Aide, a mobile recommender system designed to align instructional strategies with learning technologies based on the pedagogical affordances of the learning technology and the cognitive level of the learning objective. Focus group and survey results show that the Tech Select Decision Aide is a useful and usable mobile app that provides just-in-time performance support to assist instructional designers and faculty in the development and creation of pedagogically sound instructional and training materials using technology. Future areas of mobile development are discussed.
En este estudio, los estudiantes universitarios en una gran universidad pública en los EE. UU. fueron encuestados con respecto a qué tecnologías utilizan con más frecuencia para aprender, qué ...tecnologías valoran para el aprendizaje y cómo perciben efectividad de la tecnología para respaldar su aprendizaje. Los resultados revelaron que el uso y el valor de la tecnología estaban estrechamente alineados con ordenadores portátiles y teléfonos inteligentes, éstos fueron detallados como los más utilizados y valorados para el aprendizaje, lo que subraya la importancia de los dispositivos móviles y portátiles para respaldar el aprendizaje en cualquier momento y lugar. En términos de uso de software para el aprendizaje, los motores de búsqueda, las herramientas para compartir archivos, las bibliotecas digitales, los videos y los wikis obtuvieron los mejores resultados, lo que sugiere que los estudiantes están adoptando enfoques autodirigidos para su aprendizaje. Además, las herramientas de colaboración fueron percibidas como las más importantes para el aprendizaje, lo que destaca la necesidad de diseñar mejores estrategias de enseñanza e interacciones de aprendizaje para respaldar las prácticas de colaboración que utilizan la tecnología. En general, la mayoría de los participantes percibió que la tecnología era eficaz para fomentar el debate, la colaboración y la interacción. Esto permite el aprendizaje experiencial, apoya la organización, la planificación, la gestión de recursosy facilitar una experiencia de aprendizaje personalizada. Los resultados también revelaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las experiencias de los estudiantes de pregrado y posgrado acerca de la efectividad de la tecnología. Se discuten las implicaciones para integrar las tecnologías Web 2.0 en las prácticas de enseñanza y aprendizaje
Currently there are several efforts to implement and research personalized learning within K-12 and Higher Education that suggest that personalized learning may be a promising strategy for offering ...students a sense of ownership over the learning process, developing new skill sets, scaffolding the development of lifelong learning practices, reducing time spent on learning tasks or locating relevant materials, and managing information overload. Despite the promise of the K-12 and Higher Education findings, limited research has been conducted on the use of personalized learning strategies in the realm of Workforce Training and Development Programs. Further complicating the matter, a review of the literature revealed that definitions and implementations of personalized learning vary considerably based on what is being personalized (distribution channel, interface, content, functionality), who conducts the personalization (user, system, blended format), how the user, system, blended format personalizes, and the type of learner data collected. Using the Delphi method, this research sought expert feedback in identifying the variables, characterizations, priorities, and applications of personalized learning in Workforce Training and Development Programs. Three rounds of iterative surveys revealed that experts conceive of personalized learning as a flexible and learner-driven strategy facilitated by content and social interactions. A 5 Level Personalized Learning Framework building upon Moore’s Theory of Interaction is proposed to structure personalized learning for Workforce Training and Development Programs.
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