Leadership Development Expert Luke Owings discusses metaverse online training. He shares how adopting the latest learning trends allows organizations to empower their staff and retain their best employees to impact networking and professional development.
Who Is Luke Owings?
Luke is the Vice President of Product at Abilitie, a leadership development company that offers virtual mini-MBAs and business simulations that help senior executives from companies around the world build leadership skills and improve strategy execution.
Since 2015, they have taught 25,000+ executives in over 50+ countries, and their clients include Fortune 500 companies such as PayPal, Marriott, Coca-Cola, GE, and Southwest Airlines.
The Future of Professional Development
Technology natives entering today’s job market demand that companies provide opportunities for learning and professional development. This is totally different from the old paradigm where Gen Xers only wanted a stable job and a few promotions to stay with a company for 40 years. Technology-reliant millennials want more. If a company fails to provide them with professional development opportunities, they are more likely to leave. This is why adopting the latest learning trends allows organizations to empower their staff and retain their best employees.
Unfortunately, most organizations still rely on conferences, classrooms, and generic training videos. Luke believes that virtual and data-driven learning is the way to go if companies want to keep up with the competition.
When the Metaverse Meets Online Learning
We all know that generalized learning is rarely effective. Learning styles that work for some people won’t necessarily work for others. But with customized virtual learning modules, individuals can learn at their own pace and go over the material as often as needed. Learners also get immediate feedback on how to improve, track their progress, and most importantly, learn when and where they want. Luke believes the ability to learn whenever and wherever you want is a game changer.
Although there’s still a long way to go with metaverse learning, Luke feels the future of professional development lies in the Metaverse. The pandemic has already proved that businesses and classrooms can be run virtually. And when you combine the Metaverse with virtual learning, you get a space where learners get the opportunity to learn, practice their soft skills, and identify their shortcomings through virtual reality simulations.
Engagement in the Virtual Learning Space
We live in a world where it’s super hard to get anyone to pay attention. This means keeping everyone fully engaged in a virtual learning setting will always be a challenge. Attendees get bored easily, people use that time to reply to emails, and some don’t even turn on their cameras. And because people are not in the same room, the old engagement techniques don’t work.
According to Luke, you can’t force people to be engaged. People have to want to be engaged. It doesn’t matter the type of platform you’re using or the subject at hand; you need the attendees to interact if you’re to drive voluntary engagement. This is what metaverse learning provides. The experiential learning model expects learners to have conversations, make decisions, and interact with one another.
How the Metaverse Will Impact Networking and Professional Development
If you are like most people, you will have experienced “Zoom fatigue” over the pandemic. Luke believes the Metaverse could be the cure to this fatigue. He also feels that companies and individuals can create more robust and deeper connections without even stepping outside the house.
Think of it this way; being able to interact with your colleagues, clients, or business partners in an environment that’s almost as good as reality. And that’s not all; learning and development in the Metaverse would really take things to the next level. Learners wouldn’t just be learning the theory behind something — they could practice it. If it’s a leadership training program, the individual might get the chance to practice running team meetings in front of a simulated audience. It’s exciting to think of all the possibilities the Metaverse could present. But one thing is for sure; change is coming; you better be prepared or get left behind.
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