The Game-Changer for Learning Design
Dan was initially skeptical about AI’s role in content design. He thought, “AI can’t write as well as my team and I” and “AI won’t ever get the nuances of learning design the way my team can.” But, as they dove into using AI, they started seeing its benefits.
In February 2023, time and demand were the team’s worst enemies. There was always:
- Huge demand for learning content
- Never enough time to fully follow processes like the ADDIE model to the extent they wanted to
- A real dilemma over when to be creative and when, in the interests of time, to stick to tried and tested methods of learning design
Dan’s team mainly produced off-the-shelf content, which worked well but left them wondering “What if?”
“What if we had more time to really personalize that content to the client, their learners, and their lived experiences? What if we could really test the content we designed to figure out what learning experiences would lead to better engagement and learning outcomes? What if we could rip up the formula we followed and experiment with brand new types of content?”
But when Gen AI entered the picture, everything changed. Dan admits AI isn’t perfect, but it gets them from a blank page to a first draft much faster. This gives his team more time to get creative.
A New Direction
With AI handling the writing grunt work, the team’s focus shifted. They moved from cranking out generic content to crafting personalized learning experiences. This shift was so big, they even changed their name from “Programs” to “Learning Experience.”
“My scepticism about Gen AI’s ability to write wasn’t entirely unfounded. I still find myself correcting it often, and doing a thorough edit of whatever it’s created. It is getting better, though. But what Gen AI can do for LX teams is get us from a blank sheet of paper to something in a fraction of the time it used to take. The result? We can now give AI an idea, it’ll take that idea and put it into words. Today, the time we would have spent writing content, we now spend coming up with that amazing idea.”
“Gone are the days where we’d write 500 words that simply teach learners something… Instead, we try to figure out how we can convey the same information in a more engaging, relatable and interactive way.”
Now, the team are less interested in writing a catalogue of content and more interested in understanding how to use GenAI to craft personalised, engaging learning experiences. It’s not just about what information the content contains, it’s also about how learners experience that information. Hence the new team name, “Learning Experience”.
The AHAH Principle
“As we’ve found, AI isn’t that great at coming up with creative new ideas for learning content. In fairness, that’s not what it’s designed to do anyway. (We won’t bore you with the detail, but large language models are trained on lots of content that already exists. So, inherently, it’s less capable of coming up with an idea that nobody’s ever tried).
But those ideas are what matter in learning. We know that creative, innovative ideas for how learners experience ideas are what gets them engaged. The more we ‘wow’ learners, the more engaged they are about what they’re learning.
For us, it’s all about getting the learner to go, “Ahah!”.
- “Ahah! I never knew that”
- “Ahah! I never thought of it that way before.”
- “Ahah! That information is speaking specifically to me and my experiences”.
Getting learners engaged is the key reason we came up with the AHAH Principle at Hive Learning: AI-assisted, Human-led, AI-resourced, and Human-checked. This principle stresses that while AI can help, human input is crucial to creating content that resonates with learners.
In a nutshell, it’s a way of saying that to wow learners, learning experience designers need to be part of the process. Because by itself, GenAI isn’t currently able to wow people. But with AI doing the heavy lifting of content writing, it allows learning designers to do what they do best. Design amazing learning experiences.”
Wrapping It Up
Dan’s journey with Gen AI at Hive Learning shows how technology can boost creativity and efficiency. AI has helped his team manage time and demand better, allowing them to create more engaging learning experiences.
A side effect at Hive Learning is that Dan no longer spends time coming up with best practice formulas for his team. Instead, he focuses on engineering prompts for AI-powered tools like BuzzCurator, which empowers his team to build what they know will wow their learners.
The takeaway?
“Don’t fear AI. It won’t replace you. But if you dive into that rabbit hole head first, you will find it empowers you to be your best, creative selves. All those ideas, all that expertise you have? AI allows you to realise it.”
In the end, the future of learning design lies in blending AI capabilities with human creativity. At Hive Learning, AI has unlocked our potential to wow learners and provide those valuable “Ahah!” moments.