Video Course Platforms: Accessing Continual Development in Your Home, Office and Community

We are living in a volatile and uncertain moment in history. Across the globe, many organizations are moving to remote work in order to protect their employees’ health and contribute to public health. As employees settle into their new, in-home workspaces, it’s important to keep business running as close to usual as possible — which includes continuing to emphasize the importance of personal and professional development.

Not only are video courses increasingly relevant in our current climate, but video course curation platforms and subscriptions are a great means of encouraging continual development, both on an individual and an organizational level. Moreover, video courses are powerful in their ability to increase accessibility to development opportunities for individuals and underserved communities without access to continuing education and development.

Here are a few ways video course curation platforms are increasing access to development opportunities in our homes, in our organizations and in our communities.

For Individuals

Holding oneself accountable for learning is a critical aspect of both personal and professional development. As Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report states, “The half-life of learned skills continues to fall to only about five years.” In other words, members of today’s workforce will need to reinvent and reskill themselves nearly 10 times over the course of their careers. Video course curation platforms empower learners to take their development in their own hands.

With video courses, learners can select the courses they believe will be most beneficial to their advancement. These platforms “help people learn the latest technologies and essential skills to compete in today’s job market, to get that promotion at work that they’re hoping for, to upskill themselves so that they can prepare for whatever comes next,” says Yvonne Chen, vice president of marketing at Udemy.

Managers should play a role in helping employees identify skills gaps with coaching and feedback; employees may also take a personal inventory of their skills gaps by considering their professional goals and identifying the skills they’ll need to accomplish them. With their strengths and gaps defined, learners can then seek out the video courses that fit their needs.

In Organizations

Organizations are tasked with closing technical and soft skills gaps to ensure the success of their business. “Professional skills, technical skills, soft skills, as well as personal wellness and health, [are the] skills that an organization really wants its employees to have to continue to succeed and remain competitive,” shares Chen. Video course platforms enable organizations to help employees develop new skills while also creating a more motivated, happier and healthier workforce.

According to Mordy Golding, director of content at LinkedIn Learning, leaders can most effectively develop their workforce and drive performance by “building a culture of learning in their organization.” By subscribing to a video content curation platform and then offering its employees access, organizations can foster cultures of continuous learning.

Moreover, after providing access to development resources like video courses, organizations may also see an uptick in employee engagement. Golding shares that when people see “their organizations are investing in their own development, they realize, ‘My company cares about me,’” directly increasing engagement. When employees are engaged and happy in their work, they are more focused, productive and inspired to find creative solutions.

In the Community

The world and the world of work are quickly evolving. As we speed up and seek to adapt in order to avoid being left behind, it’s important that we glance over our shoulders to see who’s struggling keep up. Accessing development may come easily to someone in an organization with a healthy learning culture but may not be an option for someone without a computer or high-speed internet at home. Increasing access to online video courses is integral to encouraging development and meeting the global talent shortage on a larger, communal scale.

For example, Gale, a Cengage company recently partnered with Udemy to offer a curated collection of video courses called Gale Presents: Udemyto library cardholders at participating public libraries. Video platforms, says Gale product manager Angela Doolin, fit “in beautifully with [libraries’] mission to support lifelong learning and to help their communities grow.”

Accessibility is a critical component of any video course platform, and many platforms are seeking to increase accessibility. The courses on Gale Presents: Udemy, for example, can also be downloaded and viewed offline through a phone application and an access code provided by the library. “The ease and accessibility” of these courses makes them a popular resource among public libraries’ already rich educational offerings, says Leigh Ann Cusack, Gale’s senior director of public and consortia products. Learners don’t have to be in the library to access content; they can learn in their homes and on the go.

In times of uncertainty, individuals, organizations and communities cannot stagnate and wait for a clear path or solution to reveal itself. Otherwise, you risk falling behind more agile and innovative companies that continuously prioritize growth. It’s time to leverage technology to develop our people, our organizations and our communities.

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