Many organizations like Boeing and Apple already rely on challenge-based learning to train and develop their workforces. And with the steady pace of advanced technological innovation and automation in the workplace, other organizations are also beginning to implement this type of learning for their employees.
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Here is some key information you should know about challenge-based learning if you’re interested in implementing it.
It relies on interactive experiences. Challenge-based learning is reliant on simulated experiences that encourage employees to learn by doing. Participants are faced with real-time challenges they need to explore and resolve as they learn. As opposed to traditional lecture-based learning, challenge-based learning is highly interactive and requires employees’ active participation.
Whether challenges are navigated in person, collaboratively with others, or via technology environments, challenge-based learning requires participants to apply what they know and learn as they complete tasks in simulated environments.
It encourages critical thinking. Because individuals are learning through completing tasks in simulated environments, they are encouraged to think critically while doing so.
They must figure out how to resolve problems and challenges while interacting with others or learning materials and scenarios in these simulated environments. They are forced to ask questions, think flexibly, and navigate scenarios based on real-time challenges.
It is essential to adaptive and personalized learning. In an adaptive and personalized learning environment, participants should receive instantaneous and personalized feedback, as well as results, regarding the choices they make as they learn and address real-time challenges so they can continue to learn while solving problems.
During a simulated active shooter environment, where employees learn how to enforce safety regulations and challenges in real time, they should receive instant and personalized feedback when they execute unsafe practices, for example.
It delivers real-world results. Most importantly, research and case studies reveal that challenge-based learning delivers real-world results. Organizations that implement this type of learning have employees who perform at optimum levels and are better at acquiring and leveraging adaptive knowledge and information.
What’s more, employees who engage in challenge-based learning tend to be more open to continuous learning opportunities in general at their organizations.
Now that you know more about challenge-based learning, here are some tips on how your organization can implement it.
5 Tips for Implementing Challenge-Based Learning
- Use the right interactive experiences. As employees participate in challenge-based learning programs, it’s important that you use the right interactive experiences to keep them engaged. Be sure to include gamified elements, offer instantaneous performance and assessment feedback, offer live virtual experiences, endorse social learning experiences, and more.
- Make it adaptive and personalized. To make challenge-based learning successful, you’ll want to ensure it engages with and is personalized to each learner’s unique learning style. You’ll also want to make sure your challenge-based learning programs are adaptive to each person’s learning style in real time.
- Rely on storytelling techniques. Storytelling is highly effective in challenge-based learning experiences because it helps learners understand challenges much better and encourages them to think about problems in creative and proactive ways so they can solve or overcome them.
- Continuously analyze learner data. In order to keep the challenges within challenge-based programs engaging, interactive, and highly personalized, learning and development (L&D) professionals must continuously analyze learner and program performance data. They also must rely on technology that will quickly automate and apply those data to each challenge-based interaction or learning scenario. Without continuously analyzing learner and program performance data, it will be difficult to understand which challenges are teaching learners valuable skills in a personalized and engaging way and which ones aren’t.
- Foster a culture of learning at your organization. If employees across your organization are going to successfully engage in challenge-based learning, they must truly value learning. They must be open to constantly asking questions, show enthusiasm for innovation, be able to think flexibly, and not be afraid of failure.
If you want to successfully implement challenge-based learning initiatives or programs at your own organization this year, be sure to consider the five tips above.