The L&D Global Sentiment Survey 2019, Donald Taylor.

Why read this report?
When nearly 2,000 L&D professionals share what they think is a hot technology for the coming year then, as a learning professional, you might find it useful to see what peers think, what technology is hot and what’s in decline. This is one of those studies that provides a picture of the current and future state of learning technologies. As it is an annual report and has been running for a few years, the insights provide a view of what’s changing.

About the research
Executive chairman of the Learning and Performance Institute, Donald Taylor, gathered insights from 1,953 L&D professionals across 92 countries voted. The survey works by Taylor providing a list of options and asking respondents to vote on what they think will be hot in the coming year. Respondents cast a total of 5,332 votes for the following options:

  1. Artificial intelligence
  2. Collaborative/social learning
  3. Consulting more deeply with the business
  4. Curation
  5. Developing the L&D function
  6. Learning analytics
  7. Learning experience platforms
  8. Micro learning
  9. Mobile delivery
  10. Neuroscience/cognitive science
  11. Performance support
  12. Personalization/adaptive delivery
  13. Showing value
  14. Video
  15. Virtual and augmented reality
  16. Other

The L&D Global Sentiment Survey has been running for six years.

Standout stats
The most interesting thing about this research is the chart and what is at the top, what’s new to the list and what’s in decline. The top three hot technologies for the year ahead are persona;isatin and adaptive delivery, artificial intelligence (AI) and learning analytics. As Taylor points out in the report, the one thing common to all three is data. That marks a sea change for L&D, away from content creation to using data and technology to better support employees. It is worth noting that personalisation and adaptive delivery have been top choice for three consecutive years.

As respondents are not asked why a technology is in favour or in decline it is hard to know the reasons one technology is more popular than another. In his commentary, Taylor provides his thoughts. He suggests that if a technology is no longer hot it might suggest it has become mainstream not that it is out of favour. These caveats are important in order not to bolster the significance of the findings.

Final word
This research provides a useful snapshot of the hot technologies for L&D professionals in the year ahead. As it is in its sixth year, the research also gives sense of the technology trends in the sector. Use it to get a sense of what technologies the sector is embracing and to help you consider the technologies and related skills development you and your team will need now and into the near future.