I’ve been reading the latest Fosway 9-Box reports for learning technologies and strongly recommend you have a read of them to get a sense of what the learning technology market is doing right now.

There will be many more informed people than me with views and opinions but I wanted to highlight some areas worth considering before we get to the Learning Technologies Exhibition and Conference in a couple of week’s time.

Firstly, there’s a lot of overlap – as you would expect – between the Digital Learning and Learning Systems reports. Both speak to the obvious AI and skills emphasis. These will be the hot topics for the next couple of years as we a) pivot to more skills based learning support and b) understand just how to use new AI technologies effectively.

The reports both highlight the complexity and dynamics of the market. Economic instability in the UK and further PESTLE pressures have created shifts in buyer behaviour, vendor strategies, and the overall competitive landscape. This is reflected in a trend towards more nuanced, targeted offerings. The growing importance of adaptive learning and personalisation means we are finally seeing a move to what I call the ‘just for me’ and ‘just enough’ approach.

Lastly, the reports both focus on integration and ecosystem connectivity. They agree this is essential if we are to move to more interconnected and interoperable learning technologies. L&D needs to think about how we connect with the rest of the organisation to improve data transfer, performance analysis, and effectiveness reporting.

What I didn’t see in the reports were a few elements which, in 2024, we should be reflecting on. If you’re going the Learning Technologies Exhibition and Conference don’t be afraid to ask vendors the following.

Firstly, sustainable learning initiatives need to be promoted more. Organisations are becoming more environmentally conscious, and an emphasis on sustainable learning practices (including focusing on digital solutions which reduce carbon footprints) could be an important part of this analysis.

I would like to see more on AI and data privacy. As AI becomes more embedded in learning systems, ethical considerations and data privacy are likely to gain prominence. How vendors are addressing this, what policies they have in place and how it improves their performance would be good to know.

Lastly, understanding how systems integrate with non-traditional learning tools would be good to see. Many organisations have complex and complicated technology stacks, and understanding how these tools work with the consumer tools organisations use every day would be worthwhile.

What do you think? What stood out for you? Fosway are running a live online ‘Ask The Analyst’ session on 22 April 2024 where you can ask them. I will.