Most learning today is transactional: a one-size-fits-all approach used to educate groups of people with the same course materials, regardless of their background or experience.
The transformative learning approach — also called adaptive learning — shifts learning to an engaging, individual approach that can drive improved organizational performance.
During a May 18 webinar hosted by Becker's Hospital Review and sponsored by HealthStream, two experts from HealthStream discussed challenges with learning and development and how healthcare organizations can transform learning:
- Reagan Sanders, senior success manager, compliance solutions
- Deborah Blanchard, success manager, compliance solutions
Four key takeaways were:
1. Transformative learning personalizes the educational content to the learner. Transformative learning enables individuals to become proficient in material they need to learn and to not waste time on the material they already know or don't need to know. "This training approach can reduce the time that it takes the learner to complete the training, getting them back to doing their job faster and more efficiently," Ms. Sanders said.
2. Analytics help identify individual learning opportunities. "Through analytics, a learner receives a personal learning path, which ensures they become proficient in areas where they are struggling," Ms. Blanchard said. This allows the learner to master the gaps in their knowledge, while enabling the organization to become more efficient by just presenting the necessary training information to each person. Ms. Blanchard continued, "If you present training based on an individual's knowledge, their engagement goes up and they tend to pay closer attention."
3. The benefits of transformative training are significant. The shift to transformative learning can be extremely beneficial to a healthcare organization, decreasing not just training costs but associated labor costs and overall time spent training instead of completing essential tasks. Despite the benefits, fear of change will cause some leaders to push back, citing a need for training based on laws and statutes. Leaders can overcome this fear by working with the legal team and accrediting bodies to ensure the new training model meets requirements.
4. Now is the perfect time to shift from transactional to transformative learning. Healthcare organizations made rapid changes in the early months of the pandemic. Training was included in this rapid shift, as healthcare quickly moved from in-person training sessions to online learning. As operations shift back to something akin to normal, it presents the perfect time to reevaluate trainings and initiate a shift to transformative learning. "You want to review the content in your courses to determine what is fluff and what do employees need to know to do their jobs," Ms. Blanchard said.
To view a recording of the webinar, click here.