This is why Audio is the new Social Learning

In elearning we have seen a trend towards video, moving away from the traditional online PowerPoint presentations with bits of animation and games. One of the most successful companies providing video learning on demand is Lynda.com, with over 2 million subscribing users.

But …are we missing something?

Video is a great learning tool, but it’s still the traditional model of going online to watch something, pause, take notes etc. This is perfect for specialist roles where you just need to learn something quickly.

According to a recent report by Towards Maturity, the modern day employees’ main interest in learning is being able to do their jobs faster. With the current economic climate, this is more important than ever, companies are valuing their workforce’s curiosity and persistence.

How does curiosity and persistence come about?

Curiosity and persistence to do something comes about from our interactions with peers and our experiences on the job. The most famous model developed by the Centre for Creative Leadership, is the 70:20:10 model. Many training organisations are aiming to crack the 70% by incorporating modern technology to support experiential learning on the job.

We all know the easiest way to learn is from other experts around us, yes, this can be on the job through shadowing, but also via social learning.

How does audio fit into Social Learning?

According to Harold Jarche, the global thought leader in Social Learning, the model is about connecting working teams who are able to share complex knowledge, meet deadlines and co-create value. He goes on to explain how this creates communities of practice and becomes a social network.

According to Jarche, radio is also a useful way to deliver education content, commenting in this post that ‘Video is far from killing the radio star’.

What are the benefits of audio in social learning?

According to Donald Clark, the elearning thought leader, there are numerous benefits using audio, these include:

• listening is a universal skill
• note taking is easy
• imagination has to be used
• great for the visually impaired
• easy to deliver in multiple languages
• good for language learning
• obviously essential for music

The rise of Mobile Learning, putting social learning in your pocket…

The statistics about mobile usage are astounding, Ofcom reported in 2015 there were 91.5M mobile phone subscriptions in the UK alone. With this in mind, many companies are building software which is ‘mobile-first’ or app driven. This means they are developing for the mobile phone, before the desktop or laptop user.

There’s a lot of potential for corporate learning teams by putting learning in someone’s pocket.

• Reduce IT spend by allowing access via app’s to learning content
• Reaching the workforce quicker
• Sharing updates and learning content at the speed of need

Corporate learning needs a refresh, we need to move from the traditional transactional learning content to mobile/ social learning connected teams.

In a competitive market, corporates need their employees to learn faster than ever to stay alive. Learning needs to be part of the culture, not something that is ‘given’ to you as an employee by the Learning and Development team.

We need to break down the barriers, make learning accessible, employees need to connect and find the knowledge.

This is why we built Sound Branch, a tool to do precisely that…

Sound Branch is a mobile app, which can cater for more than 1 million users. The app can be cloned for your enterprise and integrated with Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS).

You can have ‘connected communities’, think about international teams working on projects. The app is easily accessible with push notifications to alert learners. For managers, they can run clever reports on what is being discussed in teams, and identify some of the common challenges which improves communications.

If you’re interested in how Sound Branch can connect your teams to improve knowledge sharing and acquisition, please contact us.