A Purposeful Way of Learning

A Purposeful Way of Learning

Tibosch, Roël (TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering)

Simonse, LWL (mentor)
Klitsie, Barend (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Strategic Product Design

2019-06-27

This report explores the opportunity of ‘an informal learning solution to support digitals in their personal development’ in the context of KLM. The result is a platform that supports digitals in giving direction to their learning practices, resulting in purposeful development.The world is moving fast. Technologies are disrupting and customer needs are continuously changing. Companies must adapt to these developments and so do their employees. To gain competitive advantage, companies aim to establish a strong learning culture. However, building a learning culture is a complex undertaking. Theories on organizational learning and the learning organization contribute to solve the puzzle from an organizational perspective. In this study a different approach is taken by focusing on the individual employee.The employees that are targeted in this study are the digitals at KLM. These digitals experience a need for growth in their professional role and their personal competence. However, currently their learning is reactive and driven by incidental opportunities. A structural and purposeful approach to learning is lacking. Based on extensive literature review and practical research, a structural and purposeful approach to learning is proposed. The emphasis in this approach is on the development of learning ambitions to give direction to a purposeful and self-driven learning process. These learning ambitions are developed through a human-centered process. In this process digitals draw from their individual interests and competences and relate those to the work environment to shape learning ambitions. In this way the development of employees is driven by their strengths to exploit their full potential for company value. A platform has been designed to support digitals to guide and support digitals throughout this process. The platform entails three applications: a personal library, an ambition tool and a learner network. The personal library is a tool for storing and retrieving all your interesting content and evaluations. From the overview of contents and evaluations, digitals can derive their interests and competences.In the ambition tool these interests and competences are related to developments in the work environment to shape learning ambitions. For each learning ambition personal user stories are defined that can be integrated in a personal sprint planning to achieve integration in the work routine. The tool guides employees through the process and supports them along the way.A learner network connects digitals to inspire and sharpen each other’s thinking and collaborate to realize their ambitions. In this way the knowledge and diversity of perspectives that are already present in the company are leveraged.Through the designed platform digitals are empowered to be in the driving seat of their own development. They are provided with a solution that helps giving direction to their development. This results in purposeful learning. Moreover, through integration of learning in the work routine it becomes part of the job. For the L&D department, the platform shows a new approach on how development can be supported. Through focusing on the process rather than the content employees can be supported in their informal learning. Moreover, the focus is shifted from the actualization of learning ambitions to the development of learning ambtions. This shift in perspective generates a spectrum of new opportunities for solutions the L&D department can provide.Also, the platform contributes to an aspired mindset change. This mindset change implies that learners are not passive recipients of learning provided by the L&D department, but are active owners of their own learning.In conclusion, this study shows a new direction on how learning can be supported by the Learning & Development department of KLM. Within this new direction a platform is designed that supports digitals in self-driven and purposeful personal development.

Purposeful
Informal Learning
Learning Ambitions
Learning Process
Learning Culture

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a4885290-e29c-4875-b52d-f3c001363a69

Student theses

master thesis

© 2019 Roël Tibosch