Do you work as an (upcoming) Learning and Development professional? Are you curious about Learning Technologies and innovations? Our learning adventure in London is a must read for you. After reading our story you will know who we are and what we did in London.

What is Learning Technologies?
Learning Technologies is a two day Learning Technology event in Excel London, the biggest in Europe. It shows how learning and technology are used to support learning in the workplace. They do this with over 200 free Learning and Development (L&D) seminars guided by experts, exhibitions, an exhibition hall packed with the latest technologies, innovation in learning and world leading L&D organisations.

Why did we visit Learning Technologies?
We wanted to meet Learning and Development professionals with knowledge of technologies, for us this seemed a good place to do that. And last but not least, it was exciting to see how L&D technologies are applied in international perspective, because every culture has a different approach on learning their workforce what they have to learn.

Who are we?
We are three Learning and Development in Organizations bachelor students from the HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen:

• Edwin, 24, “Value by learning makes the difference in result.”
• Sytse, 19, “I’m all about inspiring learners for their development.”
• Jelle, 24, “Let’s face challenges and move forward in an innovating way.“

Left to right: Sytse van de Wal, Jelle Buiting, Edwin van Cranenbroek.

Okay, good to hear… But what did we do at #LT19UK when we actually had to be in class those days? We…

1. met L&D’ers who are very good in the work they do;
2. had dinner with the Dutch/Belgium delegation;
3. went to seminars and different company stands;
4. saw the release of a Towards Maturity’s research;
5. had drinks and lunch with inspiring L&D Professionals;

That didn’t go as planned…
We wanted to see all seminars, but that wasn’t possible because of the massive size of LT19UK. This story isn’t big enough to describe all the things that we have learned. That’s why we made our top 4 of the most inspiring things:

1. Release of Towards Maturity’s research presented by Laura Overton
   Towards Maturity released an independent research in a very interactive keynote. It really inspired us that the insights and data of 7.500 learning professionals were used to create value for everyone around the globe. It gave us the insight that data analytics and the current way L&D is working, are going to make a huge impact on the future of learning. It will enable us to get immediate access to what users actually do.
   

   At the launch of the Towards Maturity’s Research.

    

2. The transformation of e-learning platforms
   We found out that there is a big transformation going on in the world of learning. First, there was a Learning Management System (LMS), but it seems that there are more upcoming types of platforms. Learning Engagement Platforms (LEP), Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), Mobile Learning (M-Learning) are being developed quickly. Why? Because a learning company needs to focus more on the learner’s needs.
   .
3. M-Learning, Micro Learning and Artifical Intelligence (AI), combining ‘The Big Three’ presented by Alex Mackman.
   Nowadays there is too much content to choose from. There are many e-learning platforms, poor quality of data and content libraries are used to ‘fill’ instead of ‘to learn’. By combining ‘’the big three’’ you can focus on the learner. By using AI you can fulfill the learner’s needs. Combining this with Micro Learning, the learners can focus on the subject they want to focus on. M-Learning provides a learner to have access to the content whenever, wherever. We think this is a great way to put the learner in the first place.
   .
4. The future of work in L&D: Are you ready? Presented by Egle Vinauskaite
   Egle gave us the insights where the industry is going: facilitating collaboration, learning technology and infrastructure, data analytics and many more. She told us: “make sure you keep improving, not only as a professional, but also as a person”. To do that she gave us some great tools to use, such as: online communities, resources, Spotify podcasts and also to look outside of the L&D workplace.

Our conclusion
In the two days at Learning Technologies we discovered how learning is changing. That AI is gaining ground in our current way of working. We experienced new technologies and learning platforms, and we saw how the L&D world is adapting to the new upcoming technologies.

How do you think about technologies in learning? Let us know!
Our gratitude goes out to everyone who helped us to make it possible to go to LT19UK. All teachers of our study ‘Learning and Development in Organisations’ who treated us as real colleagues combined with a lot of fun. Everyone who took the time to have a chat and showed us the real story behind L&D and technology. We will definitely not forget the Dutch/Belgium delegation, who were really curious about us as students in the L&D workforce. We enjoyed every aspect with a lot of inspiring people. Thank you all!

Wrapping up Learning Technologies 2019 with a part of the Dutch-Belgium delegation.