conference report
Perception check F
Peter Williams hears some reflections on what we know about learning and how we’re coping with technologically inspired disruption
or the first time in many years the Learning Technologies conference met at a time when the statistics suggest that the UK economy is growing. So it was perhaps not surprising that conference attendees – in a completely unscientific shout out at the opening
keynote – seemed to think that the prospects for 2014 were better than 2013. As conference chairman Don Taylor noted a rising tide floats all boats. With the economy recovering companies could find themselves in a search for talent which they struggle to find externally. That does mean there is an opportunity for L&D to prove that it can grow the required talent internally. The question is whether L&D is prepared to step up.
The conference had two contrasting keynotes. On day one the delegates heard
Brian Solis, who asked the question: what is the future of business? If you felt that question was tough enough perhaps it was capped by the second – Beau Lotto, who challenged our perception of reality.
Solis – who described himself as a digital anthropologist – has worked with thousands of startups mainly in his native US and he has made a study of the way technology has disrupted our business and our lives and indeed has become such a part of our lives. He admits like many he suffers from SOS, shiny object syndrome. How does this near-universal desire for these tools – or is that toys? – impact on what, for instance, we choose to read or what we choose to share? Solis said we need to do some rethinking. Technology has caused physical changes in our behaviour: many are not expert at thumb typing. However, maybe it is more profound than that. Instead of employees being given technology to use by their employers, workers want to bring the way they use the technology, social media and apps in their private lives into their work situations. Technology has had such an impact on those entering the workforce – the Gen Y or Millennials – that Solis questioned whether those in charge of L&D understood the people they were trying to teach. Perhaps it could be argued that this has always been the case but Solis suggests that if business is not careful technology will become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. His view is that the future of workplace education is
If the L&D profession doesn’t have some understanding of brain function can it really help people to learn?
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