Top Trends in eLearning for 2022

What's on the horizon for the eLearning industry in 2022?

Below, we've compiled eight top trends for eLearning that we think you should have an eye on in this year. Some are tools and technologies that will serve organizations, and some are eLearning formats that learners are going to demand.

We had a little more to say this year about the benefits and best practices of these trends so check out our Top Trends 2022 ebook for a more in-depth look at how you can put these trends to work for your organization. We'll also give you a peek behind the curtain at relevant dominKnow | ONE features.

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eLearning Trends for Organizations

As an organization that creates or delivers eLearning, you're usually keeping an eye out for ways to make the process more effective and efficient. Here are a few trends to help you make that happen in 2022.

Cloud-Based Authoring Tools

Organizations can get stuck in a rut like any other entity. Since the oldest and most well-established eLearning authoring tools are desktop software, it can be tempting to stick with "what's not broke."

Here's a secret: your desktop software is broken and you don't know it, because most organizations would see significant gains in productivity and efficiency with a robust cloud-based tool.  

The right cloud-based eLearning authoring tool can make everyone's lives easier with centralized storage, secure anywhere access, improved collaboration, straightforward version control, a smoother review process, increased transparency and accountability, and better safeguards for eLearning assets and valuable intellectual property.

Download our ebook to learn more about how your workflow could improve!

Off-the-Shelf Courses

The economy has been a bumpy ride for…well, a while now, so "unnecessary" expenses are always on the chopping block. When push comes to shove, you have to admit that with some topics, custom content isn't really necessary.  

Off-the-shelf eLearning can create the budget cuts your C-suite is looking for.

In 2021, we saw an explosion of something that makes the prospect even better: editable off-the-shelf courses. This model makes the most of off-the-shelf courseware while minimizing the downsides.

Partnerships between top eLearning content providers and authoring software make it possible to customize off-the-shelf courseware for your purposes.  

Download our ebook to learn what's possible, how it will benefit you, and the available products you can choose from.

Responsive eLearning

Mobile has been majority for internet usage since 2019, according to Pew Research Center. For some demographics, up to a quarter of adults are now "smartphone only" at home – they skip the broadband bill. Desktop still has its place, but in recent years, it's had to learn to share with the smallest screens.

The best way to accommodate this trend is to author responsive eLearning. It looks great on desktop, and it works great on mobile. The options for authoring responsive eLearning used to be inferior in terms of interactivity and engagement, but these days, there are responsive authoring tools that don't make you sacrifice creativity or learner experience.

Check out our ebook for more on why you need responsive eLearning, other technologies to help you make the most of mobile learning, and the wide array of content you can author in dominKnow | ONE's responsive option.

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eLearning Trends for Learners

Organizations that deliver or create eLearning are always challenged by learners' top trends. In the world of eLearning, as in so many other cases, the things people want aren't necessarily what they need.

But to butcher The Rolling Stones, if you try sometimes, you might find you can give them what they want and need. Here are a few trends learners love that you might just be able to leverage.  

Microlearning

Who doesn't enjoy cutting to the chase? Microlearning is a trend with universal appeal, because we're all just trying to get what we need and get on with our lives.

You probably think you know the arguments for microlearning. Unfortunately, many of the benefits are based on myth, but it does have its uses when it's one part of a larger eLearning strategy.  

An eLearning authoring tool with robust content reuse can help you leverage microlearning alongside macrolearning without much duplication of effort.  

In our ebook, we discuss microlearning myths, smart strategy for its use, and how dominKnow | ONE's content reuse is different from the other options out there.

Gamification

Learners love gamification because it makes learning fun. As adults, the things we have to learn are often devoid of that characteristic.

There's some compelling research to the idea that gamification backfires if you gamify learning in the wrong way. Learners can feel manipulated or controlled, which can actually reduce their motivation to learn.  

There are plenty of ways to add game elements to learning content in a constructive way, and they don't even require an in-depth understanding of game theory. Check out our ebook to learn more about existing research, hear what gamification techniques are effective for learning, and the authoring features you need to get it done.

Virtual Reality (VR)

How long have they been promising us VR? Decades.

Until fairly recently, virtual reality (and its friend augmented reality) was restricted to the most extreme of situations. NASA has been using VR training since 1990 – despite astronomical costs at the time, VR was still cheaper than making an error in space.

The earliest adopters of VR used the training for similarly high-stakes situations. Flight simulation, naval ship maintenance and emergency protocols, airplane mechanics, and first responder situations. As costs crept down, it went from the domain of federal agencies and contractors to organizations like police departments with more modest budgets.

In the mid-20teens, costs came down enough that the likes of Walmart could use VR to train their employees for Black Friday crowd control. VR training is highly scalable, which made VR economically scalable for companies with millions of employees, even if no one was risking life or limb.

In 2022, we're finally crawling closer to VR and AR training becoming common. Rapid authoring tools for VR started popping up a few years ago, and the cost of hardware has been coming down. Off-the-shelf courses are putting VR training within reach for even small and medium businesses (SMBs).  

It's still far more expensive than "traditional" eLearning development, but with future technological advancements, better rapid tools, and a larger number of experienced VR training developers, it will only get cheaper from here.  

Learning in the Flow of Work

Some of the most effective learning you can do is "just in time" or in the flow of work. When you learn in the flow of work, application of knowledge is immediately apparent, and since you go through the motions right away, you naturally reinforce what you've just learned.

Learning in the flow of work has been around for years, even if that's not what we called it. Call center decision trees are one example. They're an explicit job aid, yes, but through repetition, employees learn the steps from memory.  

Knowledge bases are another example. Providing learners with a convenient and searchable body of information empowers them to learn what they need when they need it.  

Software often helps users learn in the flow of work with tips, inline instructions, and the integration of searchable help databases. There are even a growing number of third-party applications that let you add customized flow-of-work learning into popular software systems. These allow you to suggest relevant (and org-specific) information that will help employees follow your company policies and processes.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Personalized Learning  

The L&D industry has been talking about personalized eLearning for years now. The holdup has been artificial intelligence technology.  

Are we there yet? Maybe. We're certainly getting closer in at least three areas.

The current capabilities of intention-based search engines and chatbots provide a preview of the ways AI could assist in eLearning, particularly for time-of-need learning.  

Linkedin's course recommendation algorithms give a glimmer of personalized learning paths.

Advances in speech-to-text AI also open up possibilities for accommodating learners' format preferences. While learning styles have largely been debunked, individuals certainly have opinions on how they like to process information. Some people prefer video tutorials, while others want a transcript they can skim. Auto-transcription is becoming effective and accurate enough to support both without much additional labor.

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dominKnow | ONE Can Keep You On Top

Want to seize on these trends without breaking the bank?

dominKnow | ONE can help you:

• Gain all the benefits of cloud-based authoring, including native tools to optimize collaboration, stakeholder review, content management, user management, and project management.
• Author true-responsive content that looks gorgeous everywhere, engages learners fully, and doesn't hold you back from developing out-of-the-box eLearning.
• Extensively edit and customize award-winning off-the-shelf courses for the best of both worlds: cost-efficient content that suits your purposes completely.

• Leverage dynamic content reuse of elements from media files to entire learning objects so your learners can have their in-the-flow microlearning and engage in formal learning, too.
• Gamify your content with branching scenarios, flip cards, and other no-programming interactivities (or create something new with advanced customization options).

Ready to learn more about these critical trends and how dominKnow | ONE can help you stay on top of them?  

Download our 2022 Trends in Elearning ebook right here.