Introduction

Imagine this. As a learning professional or educator, you're constantly being pushed to integrate the latest technologies into your programs. Your inbox is flooded with emails from stakeholders demanding innovative solutions. You conduct some quick research and find yourself immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of conflicting trends and perspectives, all needing more relevant advice and context. Your social media feeds are inundated with new influencers claiming to have the answers, but it's hard to know who and what to trust. Meanwhile, leadership is breathing down your neck, pushing for quick, tangible results. You think "How can I keep up with so many trends? Is this even worth my time?"

Why do we care?

Emerging technologies are revolutionizing education and professional development, offering a world of possibilities. You can enhance learner engagement, improve outcomes, and align more closely with your organization's strategic goals. This isn't just about keeping up with trends—it's about transforming challenges into opportunities for innovation and growth.

The reality of emerging technologies

As learning professionals and educators, we often talk about the importance of using emerging technologies in innovative ways. But we rarely discuss our practical challenges—budget, time, tech stack, skills, etc. It feels like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, where new technologies and trends pop up faster than we can address them. The key is to develop a strategic approach to this game to get to the moles that matter most effectively. You're not alone in this struggle.

Our team has been navigating this complex landscape for a while, and believe us, it hasn’t been easy. However, our collective experience has shown us that redefining “innovation” as an ongoing iteration of how we work and create learning experiences—rather than developing a brand-new product or solution—can pave the way. Here's what we've learned with that premise as our first step:

1: Filter through the noise

We found that adding a manageable level of rigor to our thought process of interpreting trends helps us stay focused on what truly matters for our team and learners. By filtering through the noise, we can maintain a clear vision and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

While many signals point to the future of learning, there is an equally significant amount of noise, marketing gimmicks, and passing hype that may not be worth your time. Gauge the relevance and alignment of these trends with the specific problems you need to solve. Consider asking yourself or discussing with your team the following questions:

• Can this technology address my challenges or create new opportunities?

• Does this technology align with my organization’s goals and priorities?

• Could the learning community or my organization’s competitors adopt the technology in the next 2-3 years?

• Does or will this technology likely meet my safety and compliance standards?

2: Prioritize goals tailored to your needs

Our team learned that starting with more targeted exploration goals is more time-efficient when faced with capacity constraints.

Let’s say you identified high-potential technologies that could work in your context. It may be tempting to dive into research and implementation immediately, tackling too many moles at once. Instead, consider these dimensions for your goals:

• Discover: Foster a mindset of openness and curiosity in your team. This is a good start if there is fear or too much hype around a particular technology.

• Know & Think: Build foundational tech knowledge. You don’t necessarily need to become an expert, but you can investigate how and what the technology can do.

• Play & Imagine: Ideate opportunities and use cases to employ the technology to solve your problems.

• Engage: Exchange new insights and promote a culture of collaborative learning and innovation within your teams.

3: Work with what you have and start small

Engaging in scrappy trials for iteration and gaining incremental insights is more worthwhile than waiting for perfect conditions or having complete clarity about emerging technology.

Once you know your targeted goals for exploration, consider what actions are most manageable. For example, if you want to learn more about building AI agents, what small steps can you take toward this goal within your existing constraints? Here are a few examples of incremental actions that have worked for us:

• Launching “research and teach back” activities

• Developing an informal community of “champions”

• Putting together rapid perspectives on narrow topics

• Triggering collaborative learning rituals in Slack

Closing

As you develop your approach to innovation, consider strategies for cultivating mindset and behavioral changes within your team, alongside building fluency and skills. Doing so allows you to manage the whack-a-mole of emerging technologies one move at a time and transform from feeling overwhelmed to becoming an innovator.

Remember, innovation is an ongoing process of iteration, not just the creation of novel solutions or products. With a strategic, iterative approach, you’ll keep pace with rapid tech trends and create more effective strategies that can lead to enhanced learner engagement, a more agile team, and better alignment with your organization’s goals.