We rely on technology for just about everything — to get quick answers, remind us when and where we must be, and keep in touch with those we don’t see daily.
The last couple of years have caused everyone to lean on technology a lot harder, giving some of us no choice other than shifting to virtual learning and remote work. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The shift has unlocked many opportunities and benefits for employees and managers alike.
Technology has allowed us to move from traditional passive learning to active training. Instead of watching a video, reading an article or sitting through a how-to tutorial, we now can put learners in situations where they can practice the skill at hand and facilitate learning by doing. And the benefits learners get by experiencing something instead of just taking it in are plenty. We’ll focus on three of these benefits in this article.
Benefit No. 1: Improved Safety
Picture this: You need to train 100 employees on how to operate a forklift properly.
Now, operating a forklift is something that takes a lot of practice, precision and skill. But above all, it needs to be done safely.
That’s a lot of pressure on all parties involved. The learners need to ensure they don’t get injured, hurt anyone, or damage the equipment and facilities. Employers are in the same position — they need to secure the safety of employees and the equipment at large.
Here is where technology comes in to save the day. Various tech-enabled training methods, like virtual reality (VR) and interactive videos can create safe, risk-free environments for learners to practice and fail without any external implications.
In a virtual world, learners can make as many mistakes as needed without costing their company a dime (or, better yet, any injuries). More times than not, people remember their mistakes over their successes. The 85% rule actually encourages making mistakes 15% of the time. If you’re taking a course and breezing through, you aren’t maximizing your learning opportunity.
Immersive training goes beyond just potentially hazardous training situations. For instance, video-based practice allows learners to rehearse their scripts or presentations out loud before going into the real deal. Maybe it’s a salesperson practicing negotiating a sale or a customer service agent figuring out how to handle an irate customer. Instead of flubbing their words in front of a key stakeholder, they can practice until they feel comfortable and submit their practice scenarios to their managers for immediate feedback.
When employees feel safe, both physically and emotionally, they can thrive.
Benefit No. 2: Increased Confidence
Being put on the spot to learn something new can be anxiety inducing, especially with peers and managers watching. Sometimes, this can shake a learner’s confidence, leading to self-doubt and skewed performance results.
But that doesn’t need to be the case. A critical underlying benefit of virtual learning is the self-confidence it instills in learners. In one study, people who went through an immersive experience felt 275% more confident to act on what they learned during the training.
Whether navigating compliance risks or simply nailing the material itself, when given an immersive, low-stress environment, learners can assess their strengths and weaknesses without the fear of failure.
Having opportunities to perfect the mock scenarios before their manager reviews them also motivates the learner. They become invested in mastering the material, making multiple attempts, if needed, to conquer the challenge.
Some video learning platforms also feature an artificial intelligence (AI) coach giving on-the-spot feedback, like recognizing keywords or calling out how many times a learner said “um.” These digital coaches are only there to help learners improve. And who doesn’t want a personalized mentor and cheering squad with them as they learn?
Benefit No. 3: Better Problem-Solving
When given multiple choice or true-or-false questions, learners typically lean on the process of elimination or educated guessing to get by.
With immersive learning, however, learners are put in the center of the action, forcing them to think both creatively and critically. Instead of jotting down a memorized answer and calling it a day, they have to think on their feet, strengthening their problem-solving skills.
For example, Fendi needed to train over 1,800 employees worldwide on managing critical and costly in-store situations like shoplifting.
A VR course was created to develop Fendi employees’ spatial awareness. Virtually placing the learner in a Fendi store, staff were tasked with spotting all the different shoplifting risks, such as open drawers and unattended dressing rooms.
The same goes for situations that aren’t so cut and dry. Immersive learning brings concepts like unconscious bias, diversity and inclusion issues, and empathy to light.
In the case of unconscious bias, immersive learning can show people firsthand how biases affect different employees. For example, in a simulated environment, learners can experience the challenges that an employee who uses a wheelchair encounters daily helps, which helps to build empathy. When biases occur on the job, their learning experience will help them appropriately intervene (or change their behavior).
Technology will continue to transform our lives. Through tech-enabled learning experiences, learners will benefit from their risk-free environments as they fuel their confidence and problem-solving skills on the job. Putting learners directly in the environment where they’ll be applying the skills they gained from training has the power to ensure that lifelong learning will stick. As a result, your learners will be ready to take on whatever challenges come their way.
