HRM Five: Tips for effective digital learning

So you want to develop your own digital learning platform, whether through mobile apps or videos (or both!) – here are a few considerations to keep in mind to make sure that your organisation gets the most return on investment in this up and coming area.

1. Make it available on multiple platforms

The experience should be positive regardless if an employee uses their laptop, tablet, or smart phone. This doesn’t mean it should be the same, just that there should be optimisations for each type of device size, interface, and so on. This makes it easier for people to access according to what is comfortable for them, and when it’s easier, people are more likely to use it.

2. Keep your content short and relevant

This is the era of the 24/7 news cycle. Everyone is battling with sensory overload as content threatens to overwhelm us. Don’t let your learning and development materials get lots in the crush  by keeping it short, sweet, and clearly related to people’s everyday work.

3. Make it interactive 

Many platforms offer options for micro-polling and mini-quizzes. These are “quick wins” to keep your people engaged in their learning content. If you want to bring it along the next step, discussion forums and leader boards are proven ways to get people to taking a greater interest in proceedings.

4. Ensure it is accessible

Everyone learns differently. There will also likely be people who are visually impaired or who have particular accessibility needs. At a base level, accessibility means adding captions, subtitles, voiceovers, annotations, and links, as necessary. If this requires more manpower than you are able to spare, consider enabling it for just the most important content to begin with.

5. Integrate it with your other systems

Nobody wants to figure out yet another tech system – especially one that has no relation whatsoever to anything else. If possible, link up or integrate your e-learning system with your employee system where they file their leave applications, performance reviews. Who doesn’t like a “one-stop shop”?