Beyond the Headlines: Lessons for L&D (4/29/25)

How five under-the-radar stories offer big lessons for the future of learning experience design. Originally posted on Substack.

Adult Learning in the Headlines: What LxD Professionals Should Really Be Paying Attention To

Sometimes I like to look for stories that are overlooked in the news. We are constantly being pushed stories about AI and tech launches, but what about stories about adult learning and how that has been changing? It’s essential to me, as an LxD professional, to do deep dives and find the news stories that maybe don’t find their way to the front page. 

This week I chose five headlines about adult learning that didn’t dominate the news cycle, however, I found profoundness in each to where learning is headed and how we can design for that future. 

A New Era of Flexibility: WSCC’s Grant to Reinvent Math Learning

West Shore Community College (WSCC) was awarded a $25,000 grant to improve its approach to its adult mathematics education program. They introduced a flexible “HyFlex: model which allows adults to choose between in-person attendance, online attendance, or a mixture of both to fit their lifestyle. They are also reinventing the lecture by taking a more hands-on approach that centers students as active participants instead of just recipients.

Flexibility isn’t just optional anymore, it’s foundational to how learning is going to work. In a culture where adult learners are busier than ever, we need to meet them where they are. They have agency, and choice, and need to get learning where they can squeeze it. HyFlex shows us that we can create flexible learning that can reach more in various approaches and be successful.

Career Readiness at Scale: Forus Training’s Adult Education Boom

Lisa O’Connell is quietly reshaping adult learning in Ireland with her organization Forus Training. Forus delivers about 800 QQI certifications monthly across industries critical to society like healthcare and childcare. Because of this scale, we can see why adults are turning to learning in modern times. Survival, advancement, and career changes are among the reasons adults are turning to Forus for training.

As LxD professionals we don’t often list career readiness in our course objectives. I think it’s time we start to explicitly look at how training connects to career pathways, industry standards, and credentialing. This is how our learning stays relevant to modern adult learners. 

The Invisible Obstacles: Kirti Arora’s Story of Resilience

I’m a Pennsylvania gal, and Penn State is close to home for me. I took a few classes there, I have friends and family who went there, and I have spent many a weekend standing in the cold bleachers cheering on a college football team voluntarily. 

So when I saw this article about Penn State honoring someone with an Outstanding Adult Student Award I had to click. It hit me hard and really put into perspective why we do this and how impactful it can be. 

Kirti Arora has an amazing story about navigating English as a second language, working part-time jobs to survive, and balancing her academics. Not only is her story inspiring, but it’s also a reminder that adult learners bring complexities of life and competing demands. Our content may not be the most important part of their day. 

It’s easy for us as LxD professionals to design for the ideal learner. The learner who is motivated, well-resourced, and has all the time in the world to devote to our content. But that’s not realistic. That’s not how the world works. That’s not even how our own lives work. Kirti’s journey highlights this. We need to design with competing priorities and limited time. We must be flexible with how we create. 

Building Bridges, Not Barriers: WSSU’s New Adult Student Services Unit

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) launched a new unit aimed specifically at Transfer and Adult Student Services. This new unit aims to improve enrollment and retention amongst these learners. It’s another example of how adult learners need different systems of support because they have different needs and different priorities. 

So how does this help us in the corporate LxD world? Learning ecosystems matter. We can build beautiful courses, but that’s not enough. Adult learners need tools, coaching systems, community spaces, and support networks integrated into their learning. These resources need to be seamless, intuitive, and supportive. 

Personalization at Scale: Calbright College’s AI Strategy

Calbright College in California has started to integrate artificial intelligence to personalize its online adult education. Their vision is to use AI to deliver content faster and to understand learners’ goals, their struggles, and more importantly their preferences. Once they get that information they can start to adapt their adult learner’s journeys accordingly. 

This is both an opportunity for us, but also a responsibility. Personalization no longer has to be a luxury reserved for boutique learning. Instead, with the right technology being used in the right way we can start to mass personalize learning to meet the learners where they are. 

But there are things we need to pay careful attention to: learner data privacy, transparency, and maintaining a human-centered learning experience even as we allow AI algorithms to aid in getting the right content to the right learner. 

The Thread That Connects Them All

Flexibility. Career alignment. Empathy. Structural support. Personalization.

These aren’t new trends. We’ve heard all of this before, and know that they are at the root of all great learning when it’s done well. These headlines remind us and refocus us to make these pillars of our learning content and not optional extras. 

Modern adult learners do not have time to be passive about their learning. They are ambitious, overextended, and need learning experiences that align with their lifestyle. 

We must meet our learners where they are by building thoughtful, adaptable, and human-centered design that rises to their standards.