Healthcare Tech, labeled as the industry to watch in 2014 by Forbes, has seen exciting technologies emerge against the backdrop of legislative healthcare reform (see the Affordable Care Act). With medical technology companies focusing on creating products that deliver faster, cheaper and more effective patient care, a range of technologies are innovating the healthcare field; from wearable devices, to electronic aspirins, to medical robots and more.

Meanwhile for learning professionals, despite not having the same drive for innovation as the direct patient care space, there are many technologies poised to make an impact on medical training in 2015.

These are out top 7 picks for this year’s technology that has the potential to be game changers for your learning program:

1. Adaptive learning

The introduction of data standardisation programs such as xAPI will provide the ability for systems to talk with each other. Any number of datasets can now be linked together to provide learners with more customised, personalised and adaptive learning experiences.

2. Big Data

With the introduction of new tools and platforms to provide and track learning experiences in an ever increasing range of situations (for example social learning platforms, mobile on-the-job performance assessments, in-the-field coaching apps) learning managers will have an unprecedented amount of data on their hands. This data can be used to analyse learning activities and programs to understand learning effectiveness and help to prove learning ROI.

3. Mobile Technology

Mobile technology will continue to be used to bridge the gap between traditional training and on-the-job learning. Using mobile devices to capture learning experiences in-the-field provides valuable data about which learning experiences are being relied on to teach key skills. And by using tools such as Xapimed Observation Checklist healthcare practitioners can evaluate skills performance while on-the-job, collecting valuable data while ensuring quality patient care.

4. The Cloud

Training and performance data will continue to move to cloud. The cloud ensures data availability. To meet training compliance regulations and respond to compliance needs, training data needs to be available for fast access. The cloud enables information sharing. With a growing emphasis on cross-platform integrations (such as learning experiences on a LMS and workplace skills performance), data needs to be accessible and transferrable to a range of systems.

5. The Internet of Things

Forget the information era, we are about to enter the data era. Today’s next generation tools will be internet-enabled. Things such as hospital beds, thermostats, and intravenous drips will all have the ability to capture usage data. For learning managers, these are new data point to track and quantify learning and on-the-job performance. Imagine that a nurses’ training program taught that nurses had to measure patients’ temperature every 3 hours. With an internet-enabled thermostat, you will have the data to track nurse performance and prove training effectiveness.

6. Gamification

Gamification will continue to weave its way into medical learning programs. A 2014 study from Stanford into the effectiveness of gamification for learning analytics in medical education found that the reception of gamification by learners was largely positive and widespread. We anticipate there will be a greater reliance on simulation technology this year, and the rise and development of virtual reality platforms represents a new area to build fully immersive ‘sandbox’ learning environments.

7. xAPI

Last but not least is the xAPI. xAPI is a data standardisation framework set to open up a world of opportunities for healthcare organisations. By using the xAPI ‘language’ with the range of learning tools and platforms and organisations use, datasets can be shared and learned from. For example, using a tool such as Xapimed Observation Checklist can evaluate the on-the-job performance of critical skills for doctors in training. Using xAPI, you can link this skills performance data from Xapimed, to your training data to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

Want to learn more about a future of medical learning with Xapimed and xAPI?