With all the good news stories from National Apprenticeship Week and the Chancellor’s Budget announcement of a 10 per cent top-up for employers in England to spend on apprenticeships, the outlook for this form of learning remains positive.
Popular since the Middle Ages for their blend of on-the-job training and study, apprenticeships still offer a viable career path for UK learners. So much so that there is a now growing demand for apprenticeship places among people aged 16 and above.
For businesses that employ apprentices from both ends of the age spectrum, finding a single learning method that is effective and engaging for each group can be a real challenge.
Whatever age you are - from Generation X born between the 60s and 80s through to Generation Z born since the start of the millennium, there is no getting away from the digital age which surrounds us. Information, communication and content rich experiences are at our fingertips. This culture means that information is being absorbed anywhere and anytime, and this is where mobile learning can have a big impact.
Accessible learning is just one step in learning for any generation however – it’s also important to look at the way information is taught. We are bombarded with information every day and so training needs to be short, sharp, engaging and most importantly – embed into the brain. What techniques allow this?
One of the most talked about approaches at the moment is learning through a scientifically proven theory called ‘spaced repetition’. This phenomenon calculates the moment a person is likely to forget information and reminds them at this point - the theory being that people are more likely to retain information learnt a few times over a long time span, than something repeatedly studied in a short space of time. At Wranx, we’ve developed a learning application which combines this scientific approach with fun gamification features to engage learners through systems such as points and achievements.
Our clients across the globe have already seen the benefits of this training which can be done in just a minute a day on any device – mobile, tablet or desktop.
Flexible learning like this appeals not only to the information-hungry younger apprentices who use mobiles and tablets as part of everyday life but also to apprentices of other ages - busy parents grabbing five minutes after the kids have gone to bed or a spare moment on the morning’s commute. This flexibility, combined with the science of spaced repetition and gamification, gives learners the opportunity to be part of a new learning experience.
The bold message behind National Apprenticeship Week was ‘an apprenticeship can take you anywhere’ and it’s encouraging to see the huge impact they can have on businesses. Let’s hope that with new learning techniques like spaced repetition, the talented apprentices of today (whatever age) can take us beyond ‘anywhere’ and into a whole new world.
