With the growing popularity of e-learning platforms and remote work options, it’s easy to forget that informal and blended learning approaches are still on the rise in the modern-day workplace—but they are. And in 2019, you’ll want to know how to design learning spaces that are more appropriate for the modern-day learner.
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Here are a few ways to design more active and engaging learning spaces for your more socially astute and empowered learner in 2019.
Ensure that Furniture Is Easy to Move
In your training rooms and meeting rooms, make sure all furniture is easy to move around—essentially, that it’s lightweight or has wheels. Allow employees to move around rooms where learning takes place with ease as they interact with and engage with one another about whatever it is they’re learning.
More fluid spaces will eliminate any form of social hierarchy and will allow employees to relax and feel more comfortable interacting and collaborating with one another and their instructors or managers as they learn. It also makes learning spaces more accessible to those with physical handicaps and allows for brainstorming sessions, group projects, and other social learning and collaborating learning to occur more naturally.
Use Virtual Reality (VR)
Use VR headsets and experiences to offer employees more active and hands-on training experiences. With VR, learners can walk through different physical environments, learn how to interact with avatars acting as customers, operate complicated machinery, and so much more. Using VR is a great way to offer a truly blended learning experience for an entire class of workplace learners that is engaging, active, and effective.
Offer Hands-On Learning Labs
Offer employees access to learning labs that have a healthy blend of online and in-person learning options to keep them engaged and to further accentuate their self-service learning offerings. Employees should be able to engage with virtual learning tutorials, on-demand seminars, in-person workshops, etc.—all on demand and as they see fit.
(For more insight, read “Understanding Learning Labs in the Workplace” and “Tips for Hosting Learning Labs in the Workplace.”)
Emphasize Inclusion
In 2019, workplace learners will be more engaged when their work spaces and learning spaces emphasize inclusion. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that your learning spaces don’t favor one type of learner over another and that they offer a welcoming and inviting area for all employees of all backgrounds to learn—and, more importantly, that they recognize how learners actually prefer to learn and interact.
(For more details, read “3 Ways to Inspire a More Inclusive Work Space.”)
Overall, if you want your learners to be more engaged this year, be sure to design learning spaces that are engaging by following one or more of the best practices mentioned above.