2016 was the first year we produced a report for the L&D Global Sentiment Survey.

A then record 728 people from 52 countries voted, casting 1,922 votes in total. (Each person votes for up to 3 options.)

Highlights of the results are below.

There were 15 options in total, plus the ‘Other’ option, enabling respondents to point out what they thought the survey was missing.

The 15 options were as follows (options marked with an asterisk were new to the survey in 2016):

Collaborative/social learning
Consulting more deeply with the business*
Curation
Developing the L&D function
Games/gamification
Knowledge management
Micro learning*
Mobile delivery
MOOCs
Neuroscience/cognitive
science
Personalisation/adaptive
delivery
Showing value
Synchronous delivery (webinars/hangouts)
Video
Wearable tech*

When polling closed, the top 5 options were:

1. Collaborative/social learning
2. Personalisation/adaptive delivery
3. Consulting more deeply with the business
4. Mobile delivery
5. Micro learning

The report concluded as follows:

What will be the defining features of the L&D landscape in 2016?
– We will see a shift in emphasis from technologies to concepts or models, primarily
Consulting with the business, Personalisation/adaptive delivery, and Neuroscience.
– There are two stand-out rising stars: Neuroscience and Micro learning.
– Video, Mobile delivery and Synchronous online delivery will continue to bed in and
become business as usual.
– Concepts and practical ideas that people can’t use – Showing value, Developing the
L&D function, Games/gamification, Curation – will become less significant this year.

The final survey numbers are below.