8 teams, 48 hours, 6 time zones, and a whole lot of coffee & sugar consumed... that's what went down last week for our Product, Data, Design & Engineering team in their bi-annual hackathon. 

The event was again mostly virtual with teams taking part from around Australia, Vietnam, and Portugal. The challenge was “Experimentation: exploring the art and science of validating assumptions".

Pictured: Our Go1 Judges Amy Wheldon, Jon Ducrou, Jared Goralnick, Anjali Kayal, & Antony Ugoni. 

"I loved the variety of problems that teams chose to work on, experimenting with solutions for learners to our own Account Execs (with their support). I was also really impressed by the diversity of questions asked, and the deep thought that went across all aspects of our business." Anjali Kayal, VP Corporate Development 

"It was so exciting to see that our Product and Engineering teams are always working behind the scenes on our frontline challenges. And loved the innovations that were presented!" Amy Wheldon, Head of Customer Success. 

"I've always been involved in hackathons that have been local, and physical together. But this was my first Go1 Hackathon and I know that these events either succeed or fail based on the enthusiasm that people put into them. So I was really impressed that we are a remote workplace, we had so many people participating and throw themselves into it!" Antony Ugoni, Chief Data Officer.

While many teams wowed the judges and the crowd, the winning team was "Team F5 (so refreshing)" with their experiment to reduce refresh rates by improving the loading experience for customers. 

The team consisted of Technical Lead Margaret Lydon, Senior Developers Alex Bergin and Aung Maw, Developer Guanhau Ding, Senior Product Designer Joyce Sueko, and Content Operations Associate Luke Donohoe. They won the coveted Golden Hoodies and the Hack Trophy, plus some serious bragging rights to boot! 

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Go1 bi-annual hackathon: Exploring the art and science of validating assumptions

There’s no doubt that the impact of eLearning on the education industry has been huge. In just a few decades, the industry has grown to the point where 98% of businesses utilize eLearning as part of their learning and development strategies.

But what are the upcoming eLearning trends that will influence how students learn? In this post, we’re going to take a look at where the industry is headed into 2023 and beyond.

Some of the biggest trends in eLearning will directly impact how students engage with digital learning materials. With more tools at the disposal of course authors, it enables them to create material that means more students will retain more knowledge and information.

What was once technology limited to science fiction, virtual and augmented reality are now tools that can be inexpensively brought into any home, classroom, or office. Even the average smartphone has the relevant tech needed to immerse students in another world.

While virtual reality may not be a tool appropriate for all topics, it can certainly be useful in certain situations. For example, using augmented reality to pre-visualize a design, or virtual reality to take a trip to the surface of the moon.

While students may finish an eLearning course energized at having learned new skills and information, the unfortunate reality is that it’s unlikely students will retain all of that knowledge for the long term.

The curve of forgetting is a model that states that, following a one-hour lecture, just one week later students are only likely to retain 2-3% of what they learned.

Because of this, continuous learning is important to refresh knowledge and keep it at the front of students' minds. Even just ten minutes of revisiting materials can boost retention.

One of the benefits of eLearning is that online courses can be revisited as and when they’re needed. That makes a continuous learning journey easily accessible for students.

Catalog courses, otherwise known as off-the-shelf courses, are eLearning courses that have already been produced by industry experts. As a result, the materials can be purchased and accessed immediately.

Catalog eLearning courses can cover a wide range of topics and skills, from broader topics such as customer services and communication to niche topics including DevOps or language and literature. 

Using catalog courses means a large number of students can learn new skills quickly, easily, and cost-effectively.

In eLearning, content curation is the collation of digital learning materials so they can be reorganized to select specific points and information. By doing this it ensures that students are only learning from materials that are relevant to them and what it is they want to develop.

While content curation benefits students, it does involve more administrative work. As a result, not all organizations may want to adopt this approach. However, doing so can save students from wasting time and energy on learning that doesn’t benefit them.

The latest trends in eLearning don’t simply affect how a student learns, but they can also benefit how students and administrators organize their learning.

Microlearning tools and platforms help students to learn in small bursts, which helps with knowledge retention. Microlearning is advantageous because it breaks learning down into smaller chunks which are more easily digested.

Adaptive learning allows students to take charge of their own learning and tailors eLearning to each student’s specific needs. With eLearning, adaptive learning is far more cost-effective and ensures that individual students receive the training they need so they can grow in the way they want.

Community integrated learning experience platforms (LXPs)

Learning experience platforms (LXPs) are a great tool for creating learning and development strategies that are highly personalized to each student. A student can use an LXP to outline the journey they want to take, and can then be assigned specific eLearning content that helps them reach their goals.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing quickly to automate processes and make our lives easier. AI is also being used in eLearning to strategize, organize, and create personalized learning experiences.

Since the pandemic started in early 2020, many businesses have been forced to embrace remote working. As a result, those same businesses have also seen that working remotely has many advantages and relatively few disadvantages.

Thanks to the flexibility and accessibility of eLearning, remote learning ensures employees around the world can receive the same consistent, high-quality training which is also highly engaging.

What other trends and changes are happening in 2023 and beyond?

There are plenty of other changes to eLearning happening now and into the future. These include:

Many people are spurred on when there’s a competitive angle, and eLearning is no different. By introducing gamification to eLearning it incentivizes students to engage and retain more knowledge.

We’re spending more time on our phones than ever before, with a vast majority of web browsing done so using mobile devices. As a result, there has also been an increase in students using those same devices to access eLearning courses. That means learning management systems and other eLearning tools must be compatible with all devices.

Blended learning is a great way to incorporate continuous learning into your learning and development strategy. The majority of the learning can be done independently, to then bring students together to discuss what they’ve learned. This also encourages students to ask questions which can further aid understanding.

Where can you learn more about eLearning?

Which of these eLearning trends does your organization plan to adopt to further improve your learning and development strategy?

At Go1, we have a wide range of eLearning courses that can be accessed instantly. To learn more about how Go1 can help you with your organization's eLearning strategy, book a demo with a member of our team today.

eLearning is constantly evolving and improving. Here are some of the biggest learning trends you should know about, put together by the experts at Go1.

eLearning trends to watch out for in 2023 | Go1

eLearning trends to watch out for in 2023

Is anyone ever really ready for December?  If you are looking for a quick win to keep your employees learning, check out our final two playlists for December in our 12 Months of Learning focused on Emotional Intelligence and IT Software Essentials.  These playlists will give your employees a few nuggets of information to take them into the new year.  

What new content partners have we added to the Content Hub?

Coorpacademy disrupts Corporate Digital Learning with a Learning Experience Platform that combines the latest innovations in instructional design, including gamification, microlearning, adaptive and social learning, fully adapted to learners’ needs.

Coorpacademy courses are] created through partnerships with 50 organizations and top industry experts [and designed to] develop employees’ digital and soft skills while boosting their engagement and employability.

Based in Paris and Lausanne, at the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)’s campus, the company is at the heart of Learning Sciences and Educational Technology Research, partnering with EPFL’s Research Centers.

Each Coorpacademy course is available in English, French, and German.

Over 400 courses available now; over a thousand more are on the roadmap for the near future.

A few course recommendations:

What great new content have our current content partners added to the Content Hub?

EasyLlama has added 123 new titles to their collection of smart, highly engaging, and sleek courses. These new titles include sector-specific harassment prevention courses (e.g., Harassment Prevention: US Non-Supervisor, Retail), Wage and Hour Labor Laws, Microagressions, and HIPAA for Covered Entities: Florida.

Mind Channel, known for whimsical-yet-substantial microlearning courses, has enhanced their offering with 29 new courses. Fresh titles include Carbon Offsetting and Net Zero Explained, Instant Messaging Etiquette, Cultivating Patience, and Finance for Managers: Basic Concepts. Many Mind Channel courses are also available in Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.  

Seven Dimensions, a favorite of many learners around the globe, has added 18 personal development courses to their diverse array of titles. New offerings include Be a Forward Thinker, Controlling Credit Card Debt, Reach Your Potential, and How to Cope in Harsh Times.

The Expert Academy continues to grow their suite of in-depth, expert-led courses. The four new titles from this top Content Partner are Agile Business Processes, Strategic Thinking Tools, Managing Culturally Diverse And Globally Distributed Teams, and Working Across Cultures | Build Trust In International Business Relations.

December is a great time to focus on personal and professional development and find ways to learn more about the things you are passionate about. I like to turn to Mind Tools to read articles or listen to podcasts about those topics that I’m interested in but don’t need a formal training.  This week I took some to listen about Cultural Competency. I enjoyed this conversation about cultural considerations and how to navigate cross cultural communication.  The conversation went into why cultural considerations are so important not only from a business standpoint but also when looking at how small the world is getting and how often we interact with people from different cultures. Not all of the information was new but it’s always good to hear different perspectives.

What content partners should you check out this month? This November edition highlights the importance of Emotional Intelligence and IT Software Essentials.

The Go1 Content Insider - November 2022 edition

In a climate where digital learning content is more diverse than ever before, this session looks at  how content should be deployed to ensure learning sticks, discussing the latest research and rules of content strategy.  

The host Michael Strawbridge, the Global Head of Community at The LPI, was joined by panellists James Frappell, EMEA Customer Success Director at Go1 and Joe Hill-Wilson, Chief Commercial Officer at Learn Amp. The webinar opened with a survey asking the audience how familiar they were with a decentralised L&D strategy, discovering that the majority were unsure what a decentralised L&D strategy looked like and what makes one successful.  

Before diving further into the relevance of a decentralised L&D strategy, the panel spoke of how we’re living in an exponential time of change, due to new emerging technology, hybrid working models, as well as a shift in employee work and culture values. Michael stated that L&D leaders are struggling to keep up with this pace, without solid systems and dynamic approaches in place. Businesses are having to work harder to translate old workplaces into new environments that align with employees’ personal beliefs and expected digital experiences. Research from a recent Microsoft report supported this growing disconnect between teams and their leaders, with 87% of workers stating they are more effective when working remotely, whilst 80% managers disagreed. 

Joe told the panel that with mounting pressure from senior leaders and teams, as well as macro trending concerns of retention and engagement, a role change for L&D departments is vastly needed. Instead of solely being the deliverers, L&D teams need to become product owners, ultimately building capability for product deliveries across the business by using tools and approaches that encourage self-serving behaviours. By acting as a guide and facilitator, time is then freed up for L&D leads to deliver on higher value work with the aim to greater impact and ROI. 

Joe spoke of the importance of a balanced approach when it comes to centralising and decentralising in order to create a self managing culture of learning and encourage individual progression. The learning journey is not linear, and although the employees' progress, as well as company-wide requirements, need to be centralised and structured, the creation of specialist content and the delivery within teams can be decentralised, providing a more fluid approach.  

This balance can take some of the responsibility away from the L&D team, filtering into other departments through practices such as peer to peer learning - with research from the Fosway report revealing that 50% believe this is the most effective way to drive learning adoption.  

So how can businesses ensure their content is engaging and effective across departments? The panel spoke of four pillars central to delivering such key strategies including: in-house, third party libraries such as Go1, user generated and web curated content. 

They then delved into some practical examples from organisations such as Specsavers who utilised a decentralised L&D offering. By using Learn Amp, Specsavers were able to prove ROI on learning, saving $62K in costs within their L&D team, which amounts to a 67% return on investment in year 1.  

James feeds into the discussion, sharing insights on the shift in L&D across the EMEA market and how integrating digital learning content to reduce cost is no longer paramount. Now, 70% of L&D leaders across EMEA deem upskilling and reskilling agendas as critical to supporting cultures and hybrid working.  

Touching on the evolution of technology, the panel discussed the emergence of augmented reality as well as virtual reality providers to create a fully immersive experience for learners. The quality and breadth of digital learning content are at an all time high, and as budgets grow, established players in the field are doubling down on high quality content that can be used in a decentralised format. With such a vast selection, James said we will see organisations work both with content aggregator partners as well as more niche learning providers to suffice all customers needs. 

Rounding out the seminar, Michael referred back to the opening question and the key topics James and Joe addressed throughout: namely the importance of balance and flexibility between integrated centralised and decentralised systems.  

To conclude the webinar, Joe advised that technology is not a silver bullet, and it ultimately boils down to how you apply it. They reiterated that learning outcomes need to be closely aligned with a businesses’ overall expectations in order to be effective in employees’ professional development. 

Check out the full presentation in full here:

Tackling the biggest issue in L&D

Digital learning is more diverse than ever. This session looks at how content should be deployed, discussing the latest research and rules of content strategy.  

Go1's time at Learning Live Digital: The Rules of Content Strategy

If there’s one thing we’ve all had to realise over the last few years, it’s that the world is changing faster than ever, whether we like it or not. And the world of work is not exempt 

As a result, no one wants to be caught out and left behind if their workplace hasn’t been able to keep up with these changes. Especially not Millennials. 

With the youngest Millennials turning 26 in 2022 and the oldest of the bunch turning 41 in 2022, Millennials are in a crucial phase of their careers. Many have already established themselves in their career beyond entry- level positions, but they’re certainly not ready to retire just yet. 

They’re well aware of the crucial nature of skill-building in order to keep up with the changing workforce. In fact, a new study conducted by Amazon found that 74% of Millennials and Gen Z are planning to quit their jobs in 2023 due to a lack of skill-building opportunities. That is a staggering statistic and one that workplaces simply cannot afford to ignore. 

Luckily, we’re here to help, talking you through how upskilling is the key to attracting and retaining Millennials at work. Let’s get started.

Workplace leaders may be thinking: what’s the point of putting in so much effort to upskill Millennials if they’re just going to leave the company anyway? 

While it is true that Millennials are more likely to jump ship and leave a company if they’re unhappy, if a company’s values of match their own and companies show interest in their professional development, they show even higher levels of loyalty than other generations in the workplace. 

Millennials also tend to be confident in the workplace. They are keen to prove themselves and succeed. What business wouldn’t want employees that are driven to consistently improve? 

By this point, we know that Millennials are keen to learn new skills and better themselves in the workplace.  

While they do view learning as essential, they’re not asking their workplace leaders to drop absolutely everything to provide a classroom and a fully structured environment in which to learn. However, they do need to be motivated to complete the learning. 

How can workplaces do that in a way that helps Millennial workers shine without taking away from other areas of the business or from workers of other generations? The answers are right under our noses. 

Millennials entered the world during a boom in video game popularity. Older Millennials likely have fond memories of playing Nintendo NES and younger Millennials will remember begging their parents for the latest PlayStation for Christmas. 

Okay, where is this going and what could it possibly have to do with the workplace? 

Millennials’ love for games has extended well beyond their childhoods and, although it may sound strange at first, this love of games can have positive effects on their workplace learning as well. Enter, gamification.  

Whether it be as simple as animated party streamers that go off whenever a learner reaches a certain milestone or a competitive leaderboard, gamifying learning can be an absolute game-changer (get it?) when it comes to motivating Millennial learners. 

Similarly, while Millennials that are happy in the workplace tend to be more dedicated to their role, they are still big fans of good work/life balance. They know that work is important but also value fun. Gamifying learning for Millennials can help bridge the gap between working and having fun. It is possible to have the best of both worlds. 

What role can workplace leaders play in upskilling millennials?

Having learning material available for Millennials to use is an essential step in upskilling that generation. But, remember, it is just that: a single step. There’s a lot more for workplaces to do if they wish to see optimal results from their upskilling. As always, workplace leaders play an essential role. 

Millennials are massive fans of workplace communication. While they value autonomy, they expect frequent communication from leaders. When it comes to workplace learning and development, this could be things like checking in to see what they’re enjoying/not enjoying about the learning they’re completing.  

Another way to help your Millennial workers thrive through communication is by updating them on their progress towards a bigger goal. For example, congratulating them on the completion of a course module before reminding them that they only have X number of modules left until they complete the full certification for that course.  By doing this, you’re not only encouraging them to continue and reminding them of how far they’ve come, but also allowing workplace leaders to prove that they really care about the career development and goals of their team members. 

With support from their workplace leaders and content tailored specifically to suit their generation, Millennials are far less likely to be part of the 76% that are planning to change jobs in 2023. In other words, when businesses provide their workers with the opportunity to progress and move in meaningful career directions, it actually prevents them from moving to other companies. It might sound ironic, but it’s true! While upskilling is essential to retaining Millennials at this critical stage of their careers, it’s not just Millennials that benefit from upskilling opportunities. The positive knock-on effects of upskilling can benefit members of all generations in the workplace. 

For more insights into how you can use generational skills to help benefit your workplace overall, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs. 

The world of work is changing faster than ever! Join us as we explain how engaging upskilling is the key to attracting and retaining Millennials at work.

Why upskilling could be the secret to attracting and retaining millennials in the workplace

Another insightful webinar with GO1, as part of the World of Learning series, delving into the most effective ways L&D professionals can empower busy managers when driving learning impact. 

Hosts James Frappell, Customer Success Director of Go1, and Laura Overton, Co-Founder of Emerging Stronger, explored how high performing learning teams are enabling busy line managers to support learning in the workplace, especially as teams find themselves more geographically dispersed. Laura begins by encouraging an open discussion with the audience around words that come to mind that sum up their experiences dealing with managers so far. Results included ‘challenging’, ‘hard work’ and ‘frustrating’.  

We learn that despite L&D investment in new programmes, platforms, and content - supporting learning in the heart of the workplace is the key to delivering business impact. And it’s by engaging and enabling line managers in the first instance, that will then lead to an increase in bottom line success. This is supported by the fact that ‘managers don’t make time for learning’ being named the number 1 barrier to L&D progress in 2022.

In support of this, Laura shared that when conducting research with learners, it was extremely surprising to see the people whose opinion mattered the most when it came to them engaging with learning in the workplace. 50% said the individual’s manager, vs the 4% who answered L&D teams, amongst other responses.

James, as a manager of a team himself, delved into the reality of working with managers and covered the various factors that managers have to account for in their day to day workstream, in addition to team learning and development. For example, challenges around hybrid working as well as employee retention and engagement. He suggests that it is key for L&D professionals to work to managers’ timeframes and priorities, as opposed to the other way around.   

Additionally, he emphasises that managers are relied on to drive business outcomes and output and therefore it is easy that they become bombarded with multiple business priorities at any one time, and are across different work streams that the business needs their team to work on. As a result, managers will often seem disengaged at points.  

With so much on their plate, is it realistic to expect them to prioritise learning and development? Laura suggests that perhaps it is on L&D teams to reposition their mindset. Laura begins to share results from her studies as well as wider studies as to why managers are so critical in this learning process. 

Results from a survey of high performance learning teams reveal that managers in these teams are 13x as likely to make time for their team’s learning, and 32x more likely to help their teams learn collaboratively.  

But how can we equip managers to build and support a culture of learning? The answer is to work smarter with them.  

At this point, James shared an example of this in practice through a case study with Go1’s customer, Lumanity. Lumanity looked to bring together their entire business, which was initially made up of fragmented tech stacks, onto one platform - Microsoft Teams. At this point, the hosts proceeded to share their insight on how an L&D team is able to use this as an opportunity to develop a culture of learning across the business.  

Lumanity were able to successfully utilise a platform that already existed within managerial work streams which meant that this business shift was not going to take up further learning time. Along with Go1, it was ensured that each business unit had a tailored approach as well as open and constant communication to ensure any problems were able to be fixed in real time. As a result, managers remained engaged throughout the process which ultimately resulted in successful, effective output and adoption. 

Laura then rounded out the session, turning the discussion to Go1’s L&D playbook and multiple plays that are included in this. One of the plays mentioned, reiterated that it is crucial any L&D plays fit in with the flow of manager’s work. More specifically, the ‘Go to Gemba’ strategy which recommends L&D leads spend an hour a week just sitting with a manager’s teams to observe and absorb their ways of working.  

There was then an opportunity for the audience to download the L&D playbook through a QR code.  

Part of the World of Learning series, this webinar delves into effective ways L&D professionals can empower managers when driving learning impact. 

Go1's experience at the World of Learning Webinar

Picture this. It’s Friday afternoon, and you have an important presentation due first thing on Monday. You’re about to put the finishing touches on your work, but you’re feeling a bit unsure ​​⁠— you’ve never given a presentation this big before. Have you done enough? Should you add an extra slide? Will people be engaged? 

Who do you turn to for advice? Your boss has already left for the weekend. Your colleagues are keen to help but are just as unsure as you. And your partner has already heard you practising every night this week. Time to turn to your mentor to ask for their perspective. After all, they have plenty of experience with this sort of thing! 

This situation is tailor-made for workplace mentorship. Despite this, workplace mentorship has gone out of fashion in many industries recently. Currently, only 37% of professionals worldwide say they have a workplace mentor. We think it’s high time that number increased, allowing everyone to enjoy the full benefits of workplace mentoring.

With this in mind, we’ll shine a light on workplace mentoring, defining both formal and informal mentoring, before analysing the benefits of both mentoring styles. But first, let’s examine six benefits of workplace mentoring to set the scene. 

70% of Fortune 500 companies have formal mentoring programs, while 67% of businesses saw an increase in productivity due to mentorship. 

Nine out of ten employees with a workplace mentor say they are happy with their job.

More than 40% of employees who don’t have a mentor have considered leaving their job to seek greener pastures. In contrast, retention rates for mentees (72%) and mentors (69%) are significantly higher. 

Research shows that employees who have been mentored receive promotions 5x more frequently than their peers.

Despite these benefits, only 37% of professionals worldwide currently have a mentor. Women are disproportionately missing out, with 63% saying they have never had a workplace mentor. 

According to eLearning Industry’s 2022 State of eLearning Report, 58.2% of L&D teams plan to increase funding for coaching and mentorship programs over the next year, representing a positive step forward. 

Accordingly, workplace mentoring is vital for many reasons, such as increased productivity, retention, and happiness. So, the question becomes, which type of mentoring is right for my business: formal or informal? 

Formal mentoring usually involves a business creating an explicit, structured mentorship program, where mentors and mentees are paired up and assigned to one another. From there, the business will typically allocate time for mentors and mentees to meet and discuss any questions or concerns, as well as set goals and targets for upcoming projects. 

As Together explains, “Formal mentoring is when an organisation starts a program where employees and leaders can opt-in as mentors or mentees. The administrators of the program then pair up mentors and mentees. With formal mentoring programs, a schedule is set up for both mentor and mentee to meet up regularly and discuss factors affecting the growth and understanding of the mentee.” 

Therefore, the key characteristic of formal mentoring is that it is a highly structured, organised approach to mentorship. Accordingly, there is no risk that anyone who wants a mentor will miss out, as mentors are assigned to anyone who signs up for the program. As mentioned above, women disproportionately miss out on workplace mentorship opportunities compared to men, so this level playing field is a significant benefit of formal mentoring. 

On the other hand, there is a greater risk that a formal mentoring relationship won’t be a good match, as it is assigned, rather than developing naturally like an informal mentoring relationship. This can potentially lead to mentors and mentees not seeing eye to eye, and the mentee having to have an awkward conversation where they ask the program administrator for a new mentor. 

To avoid this pitfall, we recommend asking screening questions, where both mentors and mentees define what they want to get out of the relationship. By getting a clear picture of both parties’ goals beforehand, organisations can create better, more informed mentorship matches.

In contrast to formal mentoring, informal mentoring relationships develop naturally in the workplace, rather than being assigned. Informal mentoring can either be intentional (i.e. a junior employee seeks out someone they trust to mentor them) or unintentional (i.e. two employees befriending and learning from each other). 

Often, informal mentoring can be as simple as a friendship blossoming into a mentorship. Common scenarios include a junior employee befriending a senior employee, with the senior employee eventually taking them under their wing, or a junior employee finding a senior employee who they feel is safe to ask important questions.

As Together explains, “Informal mentoring is when employees find a leader or peer they learn to rely on and want to share the experience…when this happens unintentionally, an employee may learn that they can get good advice or guidance for personal and professional growth by going to a particular leader…In this way, a mentoring relationship develops naturally, and they may never call themselves mentors or mentees.” 

This final point is an important one. With informal mentoring, you can get all the benefits of mentorship without necessarily labelling the relationship as such. 

Unfortunately, the primary downfall of this approach compared to formal mentoring is that the onus is on employees to seek this relationship out, leading to a greater risk that someone who wants a mentor will miss out, as they lack the time or opportunity to find an informal mentor. 

Now that we have defined formal and informal mentoring, let’s examine the critical differences between each mentoring style.

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) contrasts formal and informal mentoring, explaining, “in an informal environment, mentees set goals, but they are usually not measurable and the relationships are unstructured. For a formal mentoring relationship, there are actionable and measurable goals defined and set with determined requirements.” 

An academic review of mentoring styles from the Journal of Leadership Education expands on these ideas, adding, “informal mentoring is the natural coming together of a mentor and protégé. This is done in friendship, through personal and professional respect and admiration from each to the other. It is usually a long-term relationship. Formal mentoring differs from informal mentoring in that the organisation develops a program and process for mentoring to take place.” 

As such, determining whether you are in a formal or informal mentoring relationship is primarily a question of structure. Formal mentoring is a highly structured relationship, while informal mentoring is an unstructured, naturally-developing relationship.

With informal mentoring, you are more likely to develop a natural, open relationship. However, you may also be less likely to find a mentor in the first place. With formal mentoring, no one who wants a mentor will miss out. However, the highly structured nature of this relationship may feel creatively stifling for some, or lead to situations where mentor and mentee don’t see eye to eye.

It is also worth emphasising that formal and informal mentoring don’t have to be mutually exclusive ​​⁠— you can have the best of both worlds with an assigned, formal mentor and an informal mentor who you naturally seek out.  

Ultimately, both formal and informal mentorship have advantages and drawbacks, so it is worth evaluating your organisational structure, business goals, and employee needs to determine which mentoring style is best for your team. 

To get started, check out Go1’s vast array of mentorship content, including this world-class Mentoring Module. 

Or, for more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter today to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. 

We’ll shine a light on workplace mentoring, defining both formal and informal mentoring, before analysing the benefits of both mentoring styles.

The benefits of formal vs informal mentoring

Technology in schools! What could go wrong? 

Though technology is often a cause for concern, many educators are at the forefront of future thinking: implementing devices to benefit their students…and their own work productivity as well.

With these amazing courses, you will be coding like a master, implementing technological devices to assist with accessibility in the classroom, and even blasting through spreadsheets and emails to decrease administrative tasks and enhance your quality teaching time.

Which awesome content partners have we added to the platform?

Microsoft has thoroughly entered the education space, with interactive courses and curriculums to support educators in becoming adept at implementing programs to enhance their daily work lives. We have over 50 educator courses from Microsoft which cover topics ranging from student engagement during online learning, to implementing Minecraft as a tool in the classroom. Uncover a digital transformation and undertake professional development which will boost your technological confidence at school.

Coding isn’t as scary as it seems! Learn how to begin coding, then teach your students. Zenva makes learning coding simple, and they have recently uploaded ten courses for teachers on Python, Pixel Art, Scratch, Excel and JavaScript. You will learn, and teach, real industry skills by building games, apps and websites.

Steven Kolber is a secondary English teacher who uses technology, instructional video and assistive technology in his teaching as much as possible. In his video series, he unpacks how to implement devices to assist in student engagement and technologies including read-alouds and captioning services to make learning more accessible. He even outlines the best techniques to use technology to improve the productivity of teachers: get yourself a stylus and clear your inbox!

Which great content partners are coming soon to EC Premium?

Amplify Music Education is democratising music education so that ALL teachers have the confidence to teach music in the primary classroom. This course provides hands-on activities to try in the classroom immediately, without instruments needed, as well as simple tips and tricks for getting creative in teaching music.

Orenda Learning is a pioneer for service learning. They are delivering an online program called Be The Change, with a focus on global citizenship; their mission is to enable young people and communities to connect, collaborate and learn together. With a robust service curriculum, engaging lessons and a selection of carefully curated resources, this course will support teachers and young people to learn everything they need to know about engaging wholeheartedly in incredible service experiences.

Experimentary is a new way to experience science; it’s online and hands-on. Hosted by TV presenter and former CSIRO scientist, Dr Rob Bell, the Experimentary courses are filled with engaging teacher professional development, curriculum-based science experiments, lesson plans and reporting tools.

Check out a short preview of Tracey Ezard’s school leadership course, Ferocious Warmth, based on her newest book!

Ferocious Warmth - Tracey Ezard

Our Featured Playlists are included in all schools’ Learning Hubs and are a great way to see a variety of high-quality content from different providers, all with just one click! 

This month, we are featuring a playlist to support the wellbeing of our students and young people. In this playlist, hear from a variety of experts in the wellbeing field. Whether it is developmental psychology for the early years, wellbeing science for educators, feeling more confident when supporting students who have experienced trauma, planning school initiatives, or future thought-thinking about technology’s impact on wellbeing, this playlist has something for you!

Located in West Wodonga on the border of Victoria and New South Wales, Victory Lutheran College was one of the finalists for Regional School of the Year in the 2022 Australian Education Excellence Awards. Supporting and investing in all of their staff (not just teaching staff) has been key in their Learning Hub setup, and they have had one of the most successful launches to date! 

Kicking things off with an exciting Pilot Group launch breakfast event with fresh coffee, some EC merch and excitement buzzing around the room, their Hub Champions explored their new Learning Hub. These Champions then helped to launch to the rest of the staff by sharing their favourite course at a full staff meeting (with nibbles of course!). Within the first 48 hours, VLC had a massive 70% staff uptake with over 700 minutes of learning completed and they plan to embed the Learning Hub into their school culture more formally next year. Excellence indeed!

As Chief Innovation Officer, Aaron supports our team and partners to continually improve and innovate, ensuring you can access the best possible learning for your K-12 staff. 

Aaron is a proven social impact innovator and for more than a decade has led and scaled education and impact projects across the world. These projects have included co-founding EC, co-founding the impact organisation ygap.org, and leading global education projects for Microsoft. Aaron holds three master’s degrees (Cambridge, UNSW, Deakin) and is the co-author of Dream Team (ASCD) and Edupreneur (Wiley).

Aaron is a decorated military veteran (he spent seven years as an officer in the Australian Navy).

EC Premium gives you unlimited access to world-class PL for K-12 educators, by subscription.

With a school or organisation subscription to EC Premium your entire staff can access online content and courses from the best K-12 provides and thought-leaders anytime, anywhere.

We are exploring technology in education. Check out our featured playlist, a curation tool for schools on EC Premium to access high-quality content in one click.

The EC Premium Content Insider - November 2022 edition

Blended learning is the use of both online and classroom-based education, so students can receive training using a variety of methods. By using blended learning it allows students with varying learning styles to retain information and it’s more cost-effective than traditional training and education. Blended learning is fast becoming a common strategy used by businesses to train and upskill employees.

However, while blended learning uses classroom-based education, that doesn’t mean students have to attend a physical classroom. Training can be delivered via webinars or videos, particularly if employees work remotely. This can also be a more cost-effective method of a blended learning approach.

By using blended learning it enables employees to retain more information and is a convenient way to develop your people.

Blended learning advantages and disadvantages

Blended learning has plenty of advantages - as well as some disadvantages to consider.

Scalability - because blended learning doesn’t always require students to be present (and sometimes not at all with remote employees), it can be scaled easily and is suitable for a large number of students

Best of both worlds - there are eight learning styles, and blended learning enables students who have varied learning styles to get the most of their experience

Feedback - because part of the learning process is independent, it’s useful to have classroom-based sessions to develop what was learned and provide feedback to aid with retention

Self-directed learning - with at least half of learning usually done online via eLearning, employees are free to learn as and when it’s convenient for them

Cost-effective - because eLearning materials have already been produced and don’t require input from a tutor or teacher, it’s a much more cost-effective way of training employees - materials can be accessed instantly from anywhere, too

Increased engagement - training isn’t always exciting, but blended learning ensures that engagement levels are high, and students get much more out of the process

Disadvantages of blended learning include:

Higher costs - while eLearning is cost-effective, blended learning does still require some input from a teacher or tutor, which can mean slightly higher costs

Can cause extra pressure - while the online learning part of blended learning is self-directed, the classroom-based sessions require time away from day-to-day responsibilities at a set time, which can lead to added time pressures

Motivation - for some, finding the motivation for blended learning can be a challenge, particularly for those who struggle with self-directed tasks

While there are some disadvantages, the benefits of blended learning by far outweigh the disadvantages. But what is the best way to approach blended learning within your organization?

There are several blended learning models that can be utilized, with each having slight variations that depend on what your business needs or what you’re looking to achieve by developing your people.

The flipped model works by providing students with the training materials ahead of the classroom session. This way, students can learn independently beforehand, then ask questions and participate in discussions after the self-directed introduction.

Similar to a traditional school education mode, the face-to-face driver model features tutor-led sessions which are usually finished with the students being set assignments, or tasks - similar to homework - except they’re completed during work hours, rather than at home.

Completely self-directed, students predominantly learn via online materials and can choose to attend webinars or face-to-face sessions. The enriched virtual model is flexible and ensures students can learn at their own pace.

The purpose of blended learning is to provide a varied learning environment so students retain information and can put their new skills and knowledge into practice. To do this there are several types of blended learning.

Commonly used in schools, station rotation focuses on a single subject, such as math, science, or English. It uses a combination of classroom sessions, tutoring, homework, tests, discussions, and projects.

Lab rotation is another academic type of blended learning, which involves students rotating on the campus to work at different stations while learning one specific subject. Often one of these stations is online.

This uses a combination of classroom-based learning and self-directed learning (similar to the flipped model referenced above).

Mastery-based blended learning allows students to work at their own pace, and not feel any pressure to complete their learning by a set date. This more flexible approach enables students to get a higher level of understanding of a specific subject.

This focuses heavily on the online aspect of blended learning, while still allowing for some classroom-based sessions. It’s to encourage additional engagement with self-directed materials. However, this does mean workloads can increase.

Instead of using online and classroom learning throughout the process, outside-in front-loads digital learning and ends with classroom sessions to share their learnings and ask questions.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more businesses have seen the benefits of remote and hybrid working. Because of this, they’re also seeing that blended learning is a highly-effective way to train employees.

Just as when practiced in a school setting, blended learning works exceptionally well for businesses. It allows employees to get the best of both forms of learning, which helps with retention and is more flexible. The digital aspect of blended learning is self-directed, and can be accessed from any device as and when students have the time.

By using a blended learning strategy you give your employees everything they need to excel in their roles, which in turn provides a better service to your customers. As a result, your business can expect more revenue, happier employees, and lower staff turnover.

Creating a blended learning program doesn’t need to be a long and complex process. There are plenty of tools and resources available to make it simple - including using Go1’s wide selection of online courses as part of your strategy.

What is blended learning and how can it benefit your business and your employees? Find out from the experts at Go1