Learning Technology Adoption in European Businesses

Learning Technology Adoption in European Businesses 2011, the Europe-wide report carried out by Towards Maturity in partnership with ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, has found that a growing number of organisations are turning to new learning technologies to help them increase their business agility. The report, which highlights statistics and data on what is driving investment and key trends in learning technologies, will be discussed in detail at this year’s ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN.

182 organisations took part in the study and gave comprehensive insights into how businesses are adapting to the economic climate and integrating learning technologies in their workplace. Learning technologies are in widespread use across Europe, and mobile training, currently employed by 46% of organisations, is gaining ground and expected to rise to 78% by 2013.

The use of social media to support workplace learning is a growing trend: 35% of organisations now actively encourage and make time for social and informal learning, and 52% of organisations are now comfortable with unblocking and leveraging third party sites such as Facebook to support learning, a move that is understandable since in-house social networks have registered a decline in popularity. Within the next two years, it is predicted that workplace learning will also see an increased use of cloud-based content and Web 2.0 tools.

Interestingly, the barriers to the adoption of new technologies for workplace L&D have changed over the years. While the cost of IT infrastructure and staff reluctance were cited as key obstacles in the Towards Maturity Benchmark reports in the early part of the century, the Learning Technology Adoption in European Businesses 2011 study found that in 2011, lack of knowledge about the use and implementation of ICTs and inadequate staff skills are holding back the new learning technologies.

Organisational culture and maturity impact how e-learning, mobile learning and social networking are incorporated into L&D. The research team has found that those who are more mature in their use of e-learning technologies are better able to reap the rewards—from increased productivity and financial success in a precarious economic environment, to staff satisfaction and retention.

To find out more, please visit the OEB website to view the full report, and join us in the Business EDUCA sessions to dig deeper and gain practical insights into the report’s findings.