Elliot Masie is a VERY expensive training/learning consulting to large corporation. To get a sense, his November Learning 2013 soiree in Orlando has Hillary (Clinton of course) as the keynote – you can see more here. His newsletter today contained the following:
I regularly scan and analyze the various data bases of learning, training and performance colleagues. Recently, while looking at titles, I noticed two phrases that are decreasing in presence:
* “e-Learning”
* “Instructional Designer”
I was surprised by the size of the shift but not by the vector. Let’s take a look at each trend shift:
eLearning: Fewer corporate workplaces are using the phrase eLearning actively. Many are just calling the full range of opportunities “learning”. Others are moving towards greater definition of the process, e.g. Virtual Classrooms, Webinars, eBooks, MOOCs or OnLine Courses. We are using Learning for all of our programs rather than adding the “e”. Ironically, I am credited or cursed with helping to introduce and popularize eLearning in the mid 1990’s. But, times change!
Instructional Designer: There are many fewer instructional designers as full time employees at major corporations. Some of this has shifted to suppliers and vendors. And, some of the content is being curated, organized and published by people who are defined as content focused but not trained or tasked as “instructional designers”. Some organizations want to produce learning and performance content but not in a traditional instructional envelope.
I have been using Learning Producer as one of the alternative titles – that focuses on a wider range of content elements, including video, mobile and social/collaborative. And, we hope that colleges and universities bring their language to a closer alignment with the greater job and career opportunities for colleagues that have design and analysis skills