2023 – the year AI staked its claim as a learning tool

Jane Hart, who has been active in learning & development for over 30 years, founded the Centre for Learning and Performance Technology (C4LPT) in the UK. Every year, she surveys her peers from all over the world to compile a list of their top-100 favourite technologies that support learning.

Explore the list at https://toptools4learning.com

The biggest surprise on this year’s list – although, it really isn’t all that surprising – is tool number 4: ChatGPT. Last year, this tool wasn’t even mentioned on the list. This means that AI is finally staking its claim, something which technology giants have been predicting for years. 

At Mensura Learn&Connect, we are also busy experimenting with ChatGPT. We will never just blindly copy AI-generated texts, but we do use ChatGPT as a conversation partner to help us consider certain topics from different perspectives. This allows us to optimise the way in which we present a certain topic to a certain target audience, whether you are a Prevention Advisor, a Confidential Adviser, an SME Business Manger, an HR Manager, or someone who understands the importance of lifelong learning. The tool inspires us in our quest to avoid jargon and to use clear language that everyone, with or without prior knowledge, will understand. 

The top 100 is rounded out with tools that were not originally designed for learning purposes. This tells us that learning is a day-to-day process and that it happens within the flow of our work. It also validates YouTube’s first-place position on the list while at the same time confirming that video is a learning tool, one that we spontaneously reach for if we have the option.

At Mensura Learn&Connect, we, too, are increasingly using video. And when doing this, we don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Why make your own copy of a good video when you can simply share one from YouTube? One that you, as a course participant, can also go back and consult later on when you need it, thereby truly transferring what you have learned to applications in the workplace. 

On the other hand, we really are not averse to making our own videos. We are proud of how our clients handle their prevention policies; they are, in fact, our greatest sources of inspiration. That is why we regularly go to their locations to record testimonials and good practices, which in turn make our learning materials more personal and concrete. 

Mentimeter comes in at #21 on the list. Our regular clients will already be familiar with Mentimeter, as we use this tool during our online classes. It's a fun way to stimulate interaction when you need to bridge a distance (both literally and figuratively) using a computer screen. These fun quizzes are always warmly received by our students, so it is no surprise to us that this tool has landed so high on the list. 

We may not always use a lot of the other tools in every lesson, but many of them are certainly part of our teachers' Swiss army knife-approach to learning. The teachers also receive regular training in new methods of facilitating groups. This way they can make every lesson a success, one that is tailored to the students. Wooclap, Jamboard, Sceencast-o-matic, Mural, Genially, and Canva are no longer strangers to us, either.

Of course, a fool with a tool is still a fool. It is not the use of these tools from the ‘TOP-100 tools for learning’ that makes our courses so impactful. No. It is consistently making the right choices. Which training methods will produce the best results for this subject matter and for this target group? Sometimes, this is an online lesson, sometimes it’s an e-learning module, and sometimes it is traditional, interactive, classroom instruction. More often than not, these are learning paths in which you can allow new knowledge and skills to grow and develop. Or those little moments of knowledge sharing with other course participants, in a classroom or at your computer. 

So, rest assured, even if we at Mensura Learn&Connect pay attention to lists like this, we do not use them as a gimmick. Learning with impact is always our focus.