Just-in-time Learning Best Practice
When you want to offer just-in-time learning, you can do a lot better than offering the same old eLearning. These traditionally bulky affairs can take up to 45 minutes to complete – something that’s not really in-keeping with the philosophy of just-in-time learning. Here are some best practice tips to make your training more effective.
Build a Content Plan
If you plan ahead, you can work out what your key training needs are. Rather than creating and pushing out content arbitrarily, building a content plan lets you deliver the perfect content at the perfect time. Let’s say a new regulation comes into effect in a couple of months which your learners will need to be aware of. Your content plan lets you deliver training just before the regulation comes into effect. This keeps it fresh in the minds of your learners and gives them information they need, when they need it.
Make Bite-sized Content
The whole point of just-in-time training is that it can be accessed as and when you need it. This can happen at any time, often during the working day. In cases like this, your learners won’t have put much time aside for training. Few people these days have an hour to spend on an in-depth eLearning unit. It’s more important than ever before to offer bite-sized chunks of content. These should be easy to digest and cover the essentials of what they need to know. It can also point them towards more detailed information if they need it.
Categorize Learning
Just-in-time learning needs to be quick and easy to access. It won’t work if your LMS has a complicated, unorganised mass of content. The learners will struggle to find what they need in the short time that they have available. Categorising everything will help your learners find what they need. Today’s most advanced learning platforms also let admins tag all the content with keywords. This lets your learners search for a topic and find other relevant content.
Use QR Codes
Offering mobile learning options also gives you access to some inventive uses for smartphones. One is to stick QR codes around the workplace. When your learners scan these using the camera on their phones, it can link them to relevant learning content. For example, if your learners are dealing with heavy machinery, scanning the code could present them with a video showing them how to operate it. Or if they have to handle chemicals, scanning the code could display any relevant health and safety information they need to know.
Use Social Learning Functionality
If you don’t happen to have the right learning asset on your LMS, perhaps one of your learners has that vital piece of knowledge. Just in time learning isn’t just about having a tidy library of learning assets on a mobile platform. You can succeed with Just in time learning by merely improving communication.
Some learning platforms now include discussion groups for specific topics. They also feature live chat functionality and the ability to find an expert on a topic. On the Academy LMS, for example, any question an Expert answers is logged in a FAQ section. This creates a source of relevant information that grows according to the needs of the users.