Leveraging the Neural Networks of Learning
By: Shaakun Khanna, Head of HCM Applications, Asia Pacific, Oracle
This year we’ve seen more challenges and changes than ever before. We have been forced to transform the way we work, learn and behave. Most of us are working remotely full-time and many are simultaneously helping their kids with the new home-schooling model. The need for essential digital skills has never been more apparent as the world attempts to grasp this ‘new normal’.
The world today has evolved from a knowledge worker era to the age of the learning worker. In our rapidly evolving digital environment, learning agility is the most valuable asset as people are having to navigate unknown challenges, in unprecedented situations, using undiscovered skills. This new dynamic will require a new type of worker – the Learning Worker.
The Asia Pacific region is touted as the second largest education technology industry in the world, with market value expected to reach $5 trillion by 2020. Countries such as India, China and Japan are seeing a tremendous growth in the education sector and start introducing technology in classrooms. AI is one of key technologies that can make digital experience truly intelligent. To achieve this, information needs to be accumulated from multiple sources into AI based algorithms that can learn, evolve, and provide the most comprehensive experience to the users. We call these the Neural Networks and they enable deep learning in machines.
Much like machine learning technologies, individual self-learning has become imperative for professionals and organizations alike to achieve success. In order to not only survive but thrive, the digital society must also be an active learning society. Organizations and individuals both need to be connected to the ‘Neural Networks of Learning’ to stay relevant, updated and adapt a continuous learning mentality.
So, what exactly is the Neural Network of Learning?
In simple terms, the ‘Neural Network of Learning’ is an ecosystem of different approaches to learning that helps people create new neural pathways in the brain. These will work to enhance retention, learning, unlearning and relearning.
This learning approach enables all workers to develop new skills. With organizations now being forced to reevaluate their business models, the ability to adapt — whether that’s learning new skills, new technologies, or new ways of working – and maintain an ‘always on’ approach to learning is essential to defining what’s next.
Here are 5 best practices to leverage the Neural Networks of Learning:
1. Add human touch to organizational stories: Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone, so they are the most potent tool of learning. Unfortunately, for many organizations across the globe, it’s hard to know how to plug the right organizational stories in the right way. And often, the most impactful stories are lost when key actors leave the company. Most of the time, the best stories do not get shared broadly and the educational value is often overlooked. In order to create a story that drives the learning engine, organizations should help their teams realize the potential of an anecdote as a tool of learning.
2. Encourage volunteering and gigs: People learn a lot and very quickly when they try new things. Whether it is as volunteers for causes they feel passionate about or a gig project where they apply a new skill that they may haven’t fully mastered yet. Organizations that want a culture of learning must create an environment that encourages both volunteering and career growth through gig work for all employees.
3. Incentivize reading and instructor-led learning: An organization that incentivizes reading books beyond the scope of a traditional role, and ultimately instills the habit of reading in its people, will have significantly better nourished learners. However, in the current times when the world is overloaded by virtual learning, fake news and rumor mongering, it’s easy for a learner to get lost and overwhelmed by the amount of content available. In this instance, instructor-led presentations can help provide more focus for learners on the subtle and the most relevant points of a subject.
4. Allocate time for mental awareness: In our fast-paced lives, we rarely act mindfully and specifically while trying to learn new things. Learning is not something to be consumed as fast as possible, it is to be cherished and contemplated. Organizations need to help individuals develop mental awareness so they can dedicate the time and focus into learning that is needed to be successful. I personally learned consciousness-based learning many years ago and found it extremely powerful for retention and behavior change.
5. Provide digital learning platforms: The best digital learning platforms enable continuous learning in the most efficient and engaging manner possible, allowing employees to direct their own paths to edification and expertise in a single platform accessible by all.The sooner organizations adopt best practices of learning approaches, the faster they will be able to succeed in this rapidly changing and complex world. Oracle Learning Cloud is the only system of its kind that allows an organization to seamlessly integrate all components of an effective learning ecosystem and create the most comprehensive and agile Neural Network of Learning.
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