Hi Sterre,
An adaptive learning platform can indeed prevent a lot of user frustration. Imagine you are sitting in a restaurant and the waitress asks the question if you are “familiar with the concept”. If you don’t know the concept, you would like to receive the explanation. But if you say that you’ve been here many time and thus know the concept, it would be very crazy if the waitress then goes on to explain the concept. It works the same way with learning: it’s downright frustrating when you have to learn something you know all along.
We have several clients whose employees need to take a particular learning solution multiple times (e.g., annually). Suppose someone has worked at such an organization for five years, that person has seen that same module five times. The first time all the content is probably new, but the third or fourth time there are parts you will know with by now. But yes, taking that learning solution is mandated, so you still have to spend half an hour to an hour gaining knowledge you actually already have. Waste of the participant’s time and waste of the organization’s time.
Adaptivity within our learning platform inSight
Our learning platform inSight offers a solution to this problem: adaptivity. We can set up the LMS so that participants first receive a questionnaire to test how well they master certain topics. So a pre-test, that gives insight into your personal level of knowledge. If on a subject your knowledge is in order, it will automatically be checked off. And haven’t mastered a subject? Then you follow the learning solution on that particular topic. Goodbye frustration, hello motivation.
Okay, this requires a little preliminary work. You may need to set up your learning solution(s) in adifferent manner, which is by subtopic. Moreover, you should then put together an appropriate pre-test, with questions that are sufficiently representative to test the level of knowledge. (De you find this difficult, I know another party that can help with that!)
The adaptivity of the inSight LMS then provides you with an extraordinary amount. Not only for the employee (that reduced frustration), but also for the organization. People spend less time (having to) follow a learning product because they can work purposefully on their knowledge gaps. And time is … right! Moreover, adaptive learning provides many insights. You can see in the back of the learning platform, for example, which subjects are scored well and which subjects score not so well. That way you’ll immediately know which topics you need to pay extra attention to. And you can make clear which topics employees have mastered to perfection (an internal and external showpiece). Data can be analyzed down to the demand level, so you can even use this data to further hone the content of your learning solutions. Update your content in a data-driven way!
Different mindset
In terms of functionality, adaptivity of a learning platform is obvious: it makes sense that you don’t need to learn things you already know, right? In case you want to use our learning platform inSight, the technical hurdle has already been overcome. The function exists and so your organization can start using it right away. Now it’s just a matter of acceptance. Accept that a representative pretest is good enough to earn a certificate in a subject that someone has already mastered. That requires a different mindset as well as unconditional trust in your employees.
Curious about the adaptivity feature of inSight as well as all the other features of our learning platform? Just send us a message through the contact form and we’ll get back to you!
Hey @Sebastiaan, you’ve been the captain of inBrain for ten years this month. Congratulations on that anniversary! How do you look back on that period? Besides technological developments, are there any other things you’ve seen change within the industry? I’d love to hear about it
Kind regards,
Sander
Sander Wilson is manager of technical operations at inBrain. As a musician with two right hands, he harmonizes technology and innovation on a daily basis.
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