Four Levels of Learning Architecture

Learning is a domain of HR that has seen many exciting developments in technology, approach, organization, and more. It has gone through periods of both evolution and revolution in recent years. In our work at the Academy, we work with a four-level architecture in mind when building our programs. Each level of learning requires a different set of skills from both the learner and L&D group. Let’s dive in.

Level 1: Knowledge. At this level, learners need information about a topic rather than competency. As a simple example, consider a home security system. A homeowner needs to know the ways the house will be protected and how to initiate different actions of the security system. But, they don’t need to know how it connects to monitoring systems nor how it deciphers motion from a family pet versus an intruder. In your organization, you may have many training resources dedicated to knowledge-building—assets that are informational about the company’s work, but not instructional.

Level 2: Capabilities. When a learner has capability in something, it means they know how to use it and how to talk about it. You might consider the salesperson at the HR software vendor you use as having capability with the technology. They can talk about it in-depth, providing insight into how the tech is used and its various benefits and features. Gaining capabilities can happen through completing courses, reading extensively, or learning straight from a subject matter expert.

Level 3: Mastery. As people who are passionate about their career, many HR professionals will pursue a deep level of knowledge and expertise about their domain of HR. This level of mastery might also be required to be able to perform their job well. And, because of that passion, they will proactively seek out learning sources of many types. They may pursue advanced courses, professional resource groups, podcasts, or books and articles.

Level 4: Certified. Learners that are deemed certified have been though some sort of competency test on a topic, usually by a governing body. Often, acquiring and maintaining certification is mandated to be able to continue in their job. While there are several organizations pushing out their own badges or credentials, for a true certification the governing body would be a trusted, highly regarded organization or association, an academic institution, or an actual government agency.

Did you about which level of learning this newsletter falls under? Knowledge-building is the right answer. We are sharing information and ideas, enabling you to seek out instructional material and experts on the topics that interest you most.?

The four levels of learning architecture help you plan, organize, prioritize, and distribute learning resources. It also helps you identify when it is appropriate to build and deliver a course with L&D trainers, bring in a subject matter expert to support development of training, or even create a peer-to-peer sharing platform.

As an additional note, the L&D group is not going away. Even with AI, we’ll always need people in L&D. Come back to this space next week to understand the ways L&D professionals will be needed along with AI-based learning technology.

The Josh Bersin Academy course offerings can help you reach each learning level. Review the list of upcoming courses to select the one that is right for you. https://bersinacademy.com/courses