I attended Learning Technologies exhibition with my classmates at Bournemouth University, UK. The trip was full of surprises and I can say I learnt a lot. The first surprise was that University was conducting this trip! I was excited to learn this, as it helped me continue having my positive perceptions toward my university 🙂
The second surprise happened in the morning, when I learnt that Dr Milena Bobeva herself going to drive the Van. I really appreciated that after I learnt that the budget was not enough to cover a Van driver. They say there is a good in everything, if we had a driver, there would be less surprises for me 🙂
On the way to Learning Technologies Exhibition 2017
After solving the parking issue, which is very common in London, we got into the exhibition building. I was very surprised with the crowd and impressed with the diversity of the stands. I noticed there were companies I was already using their websites and their e-learning resources like MindTools (They were very generous to give me one of their branded good quality notebooks), CIPD and others.
I started the day by standing by Nureva’s stand and hear them explain their innovative Span system, which is a visual collaboration system, a system with deep engagement and drag & drop functionalities and also provides a very flexible way of communicating, debating and sharing between teams and groups of people.
Nureva Span – Innovative collaboration system
The next stop was Theater 5, a presentation by Netex in the title of:Â Make your strategy lean and mean for learning in 2017. It was an interesting presentation, although it was more Netex marketing, but my focus was no Netex, but what’s the trend in the e-learning, what innovations they are involved in and what I can learn.
Make your strategy lean and mean for learning in 2017 session
One of the most important thing I learnt in this session was on what millennials most value in todays globalized workplace environment. I found it both interesting but also very true to see that the number one item in the list was training and development. I was able to relate this to myself, especially because software and generally technology is changing in high pace and to cope up with new trends and releases, training and improving yourself is very crucial to be one step a head of others.
Which working benefits do millennials value most?
In the Netex presentation, they also presented one of their projects, LearningCoffee, which is a platform for micro learning. This platform, in the scenario of an employee, helps learn on demand skills faster. Micro learning is an emergent trend as a way to keep u with changing information in todays world. Netex also provides an authoring tool for building smart contents. This tool is consisted of 5 layers: embedded authoring, learning analytics, collaboration, gamification and adaptive content.
To know more about Netex and what they offer in e-learning, you can find their learning technologies exhibition 2017 UK presentation slide here.
The next stop was Theater 11. Imparta presented their virtual sales academy and the story of how they come up with the solution. Here is a short introduction video introducing their virtual sales academy:
The Imparta presenter in a slide directed and explained a question that they asked themselves when designing the virtual sales academy: if we could create the best e-learning in the world… what would that look like? it was both a very interesting question and also, showed how they are determinant and aggressively working on to tackle and solve problems worldwide and think globally. Their learning process model was based on David Kolbs, American education theorist who released his experiential learning model in 1984. His model is based on:Â concrete experience, observation and reflection, the formation of abstract concepts and testing in new situations. He represented these in the famous experiential learning circle that involves (1) concrete experience followed by (2) observation and experience followed by (3) forming abstract concepts followed by (4) testing in new situations (after Kurt Lewin). It is a model that appears time and again.
Imparta, adopting Kolb’s method, implemented this process in their sales virtual academy that is being used by Cisco and many other companies.
Kolb’s experiential learning model in Imparta’s sales virtual academy
The final stop was Theater 1, the Winning Mindset session from SportingEdge company. The presentation was engaging and they presented in a lecture way, meaning there was lots of academic and motivational stuff until the last moments, where I understand which company they are representing. Maybe it was only me, but as you can see the audience below, you may think it was not only me 🙂
Learning Technologies 2017 Olympia, London
In the session, the SportingEdge team presented their The Wining Mindset digital coaching program, alongside the reasons on how they come up with this idea and the Jeremy’s story, a former England cricketer turned international coach and performance psychologist. From Premier League Football, England Rugby to the Olympics, his trusted reputation has allowed Jeremy to embark on a unique research programme, going Inside the Mind of Champions® to uncover the psychology of success.
Below are also the top 3 stands I liked the most, looking at their design, content and their interactions with people approaching them.
1. Pluralsight – Simple and beautiful
Pluralsight stand in the Learning Technologies Exhibition 2017 Olympia, London
2. Video Arts – Unique Design
Video Arts stand in Learning Technologies Exhibition 2017 Olympia, London
3. Focus Group – Unique Experiment
Focus Group stand, Learning Technologies 2017 Olympia, London