Skill Awareness Framework for Learning Design – Re-focusing Experiential Learning Towards Skills that Matter Most in Times of GenAI

The authors introduce a Skills Awareness Framework for Learning Design (SAFLD) to provide guiding principles for learning. Corporate learning is in a state of flux due to disruptive influences such as COVID-19 and the digitalization of the world of work, even into the home office. In the age of generative AI where knowledge is seemingly available at the touch of a button, corporate learning is more than ever challenged to re-focus on teaching critical and relevant skills. Therefore, in the sense of self-reflection, it will be discussed that learning in the moment will still need to be complemented by experiences that change behaviors. These include both cognitive and motor skills and are based on inter- and intra-action of learners and trainers both individually and as a team. When it comes to re-focusing experiential learning towards skills that matter most, learning factories, e.g., the Innovation and Learning Centers or Model-Factories-in-a-Box, play an even more important role than ever before. This hypothesis is supported by Bloom’s taxonomy which classifies learning objectives and illustrates that some skills or higher proficiency levels of skills might be acquired by digital, self-paced e-learning or by virtual, instructor-led learning sessions, whereas other skills or higher proficiency levels of skills and deep learning that change behavior might be better acquired by experiential learning. Finally, learning factories can also play a role in bringing the emerging GenAI to life in an application-oriented environment such as a shop floor.