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Wikipedia and Massive Open Online Courses Are Growing in Popularity
By 2023, 84% of the technologies on the list will be used as frequently as they were ten years ago. However, some tools have significantly increased their popularity. Document sharing services such as Google Docs and Dropbox lead the way. In 2014, only a third of Mind Tools respondents used them, but today this figure has reached 91%. Corporate social networks, which will be discussed below, are in second place. Virtual classrooms, which are online platforms for organizing educational activities, round out the top three in popularity.
In conclusion, the rating highlights two key aspects related to access to knowledge. Firstly, there has been an increase in the popularity of open resources such as Wikipedia and YouTube, where usage has increased from 38% to 66%. Secondly, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in massive open online courses, which has grown from 15% to 41%. Although Mind Tools specialists do not focus on this trend, it can be assumed that it reflects the increasing need for working people not only for continuous learning, but also for active involvement in the educational process with an awareness of personal responsibility for their development.
Corporate training still has not learned to use social networks
Corporate social networks continue to gain popularity, while traditional communication platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn, which are blocked in Russia, as well as TikTok and Reddit, are losing their appeal in the field of learning and development (L&D). In 2014, 46% of L&D teams used these social networks in their work, but by 2023 this figure dropped to 38%. A particularly noticeable decline has been observed in the last year, which highlights the changing preferences of L&D specialists and the need to adapt to new conditions.
Mind Tools experts emphasize that large online platforms are a natural environment Social media platforms offer a vibrant environment for users and can be effectively used for learning. For example, social media streams can be used for virtual office tours or to introduce key company employees during the onboarding process. Hashtags are becoming a useful tool for connecting people and sharing knowledge. Messengers open up new opportunities for collaborative learning, allowing participants to interact and share experiences in real time. The use of these tools contributes to a more integrated and effective learning process. Interestingly, users actively use public social media for personal learning, but are significantly less likely to use them in a corporate environment. According to a Mind Tools study, in 2020, 83% of respondents used YouTube for personal learning, while only 41% used it for professional development. The situation is even more pronounced with popular social media platforms: about one-third of employees use them for personal learning, while only 2-6% use them for work. This highlights the need to integrate effective learning platforms into corporate environments to enhance learning and employee engagement.
Data shows that fading social media represents a missed opportunity for learning and development (L&D). By 2023, 86% of L&D leaders are unaware of how their employees share knowledge and ideas on these platforms. Three years ago, the situation was similar, but with the onset of the pandemic, many companies struggled to engage employees in social media use. Despite a lack of clear understanding of the need for this process, observing the growing popularity of social media, organizations tried to integrate it into their strategy - but without significant success. Simply put, learning professionals were disconnected from the actual employee experience and the strategies needed to achieve business goals. This highlights the importance of a deep understanding of social media and its role in learning for the effective implementation of L&D initiatives.
Technology use is not growing as quickly as expected
The negative rating of technologies that have not found widespread use in corporate training also included expensive solutions. For example, in 2023, only 16% of respondents use artificial intelligence tools, while a year ago this figure was 19%. Interest in augmented reality (AR) tools has also declined: their popularity, which had previously grown steadily, fell sharply from 21% to 15% in 2023. These trends highlight the need for a more thorough analysis of company needs and the adaptation of technologies to real-world conditions and user expectations.
The situation with online platforms for content curation and bookmarking was similar. Blockchain technologies, which demonstrated sharp growth last year, were the main outsiders, but interest in them has now significantly decreased. The popularity of gadgets such as smartwatches has also plummeted, with their use halving in a year. Interestingly, some experts in the field of learning and development predicted a significant future for these devices.
The situation with smartphones in the workplace shows interesting trends. According to a Mind Tools study, in 2014, 53% of respondents used smartphones in their professional activities. The company's experts predicted that this figure would grow to 78% by 2015. However, as of 2023, smartphone use at work is currently 66% among respondents. This indicates that the rate of adoption of mobile technologies in work processes has been lower than expected, which may be due to various factors, including the development of alternative technologies and changing approaches to work organization.
Although smartphones were not included in the negative rating, their use for work and corporate training has not demonstrated significant growth. Mobile learning has yet to reach the expected level of popularity, despite numerous predictions about its growth.
The victory of online learning is not yet complete
Every year, L&D leaders predict significant growth in online and blended learning. In 2022, 57% of survey respondents expected an increase in blended learning over the next 24 months. However, according to the report, in 2023, the number of organizations using a combination of online and in-person learning will decrease by 2%. This highlights the need to revise training and development strategies to adapt to changing conditions and expectations of educational process participants.
According to statistics, the popularity of blended learning has remained stable since 2016, with approximately 25% of respondents continuing to actively use it. Meanwhile, offline learning saw a significant decline in popularity in 2022, reaching 13%. This same year, there was a sharp increase in interest in the online format, indicating a shift in preferences toward digital educational technologies.
Research conducted by Mind Tools indicates that the development of corporate training is lagging behind. The industry is still trying to catch up with technological progress. British experts identify two key reasons for this phenomenon, which we will examine below.
Why Change in Training and Development Is So Slow
The main reason for resistance to change in an organization is resistance from employees and the corporate culture as a whole. Experts note that such problems have existed for several decades. A significant reason for this resistance is the insufficient involvement of training and development specialists. They rarely involve key stakeholders in the change process and do not develop effective communication strategies to engage all stakeholders. This creates a situation in which specialists themselves find themselves disconnected from the corporate culture, which hinders its transformation. Successful change implementation requires active engagement with employees and creating conditions for their involvement in the process.
The second reason is that training providers, according to the report's authors, are not fully exploiting the potential of the online format. The teams of most L&D specialists surveyed have significant skills in developing face-to-face programs. This is understandable, as training and traditional courses have long been in demand, and this experience will not disappear until an entire generation of workers changes. However, the problem is that an overabundance of certain skills limits the development of other, more relevant ones. Thus, the market is effectively frozen in the past, while it faces modern challenges, such as the integration of artificial intelligence into educational processes.
The report emphasizes the importance of digital intelligence for learning and development professionals. L&D expert Ross Stevens comments that in today's digital world, understanding and using the latest technologies is becoming essential for successful work in this field. The study confirms that to achieve high results in learning and development, organizations need to effectively integrate technology into their processes, which opens up new opportunities to improve the effectiveness and quality of training.