Getting started in developing your digital skills

Blog Author
Rachel Burnham
Associate Tutor

As L&D professionals we are increasingly being expected to do more with less resources by our organisations - effective use of digital skills can help us to step up to this challenge. 

Many of us are expected to work with learners who are spread across a range of locations and perhaps even internationally - digital skills can help us to meet their learning needs in a timely and practical way.  Many learners find that they can take responsibility for their own learning by tapping into digital resources and learning programmes – videos are particularly developing in importance.  Using digital skills can help us in L&D to more effectively to meet organisational learning and performance needs and thus contribute to organisational goals.  So having effective digital skills may also be key to future employability.

Yet many of us in L&D do not have the digital skills, amongst other skills, that are needed to deliver a modern learning strategy (Towards Maturity, Embracing Change, November 2015).

There are many things which can hold us back individually from developing these skills.  I often hear L&D professionals offering the following reasons/excuses:

• ‘I’m not good with technology’
• ‘I just don’t have the time!’
• ‘I think face to face people skills are more important’
• ‘I feel overwhelmed – there are is such a lot of technology to get your head around – I don’t know where to begin?’

At the CIPD Learning & Development Show at Olympia, London, I will be offering a short free session on behalf of MOL Learn to help you get started in developing your digital skills.  It will explore what we mean by digital skills, how they can be used and look at overcoming these barriers to developing our digital skills. 

Why not join us on Thursday 12 May at 12.35 pm in the Technology for Learning arena and start developing your digital skills?

Rachel Burnham

Rachel is an L&D consultant with Burnham L&D and a tutor for MOL Learn.  She will also be tweeting and sketch noting the L&D Show as part of the Blogsquad and you can find her on Twitter @BurnhamLandD.  If you would like to follow what is happening at the L&D Show you can search on Twitter for updates and blogs on the conference using #cipdldshow