Article Summary
The Rise of Learning in the Flow of Work
In a Nutshell…
Learning in the Flow of Work is a strategy that integrates digital learning content and experiences directly into productivity environments. Let’s break it down.
Driven by tech giants investing heavily in IoT, AR/VR/MR, and conversational agents, the web continues to evolve.
Their aim? To radically transform the traditional browser-based experience — where everything revolves around a URL and a platform — and usher in a new web paradigm.
In this new era, we no longer go to platforms like Facebook, Google, or Amazon. Instead, these platforms come to us. Devices like Google Glass or Oculus perfectly illustrate this shift. Facebook even predicts that augmented reality will replace smartphones by 2030.
Here’s a relatable example: car GPS systems. Not long ago, we had to enter addresses letter by letter. Today, we simply speak them aloud. The same goes for voice assistants like Alexa or Google Home — there’s no interface, no platform in the traditional sense.
It’s in this context that Learning in the Flow of Work becomes so relevant. It addresses two major threats to traditional web platforms:
the exponential growth of SaaS applications
the ongoing dematerialization of the web
Web platforms are likely to disappear — or at least change drastically. This is especially true for e-learning platforms, which are gradually giving way to Learning in the Flow of Work.
In other words, we’re shifting from a platform-based experience to one where learning capabilities are seamlessly integrated into our daily environments.
Many would argue — and rightly so as a first step — that implementing SSO (Single Sign-On) and deploying a Learning Record Store (LRS) helps connect the learning ecosystem. It’s a good starting point: easier access on one hand, and the ability to capture informal learning data on the other.
However, this doesn’t fully address the core challenge: delivering relevant information in the learner’s real work context.
We’ve seen time and again that SSO tends to exclude large populations — factory workers, retail staff, interns, or temporary employees — who often don’t have login credentials. Ironically, these are the people most affected by automation and job transformation — and the ones who need upskilling the most.
As a result, e-learning falls short of one of its core promises: reaching everyone, everywhere.
The concept is simple: give learners easy, constant access to digital learning — anytime, anywhere. It’s arguably the best way to build a true learning culture within a company.
We even prefer the term Contextual Learning, which takes the concept a step further — and we encourage you to read our article dedicated to it.
But back to Learning in the Flow of Work.
The easier it is to access learning content, the more people will use it — and the more it becomes a daily reflex. Continuous self-development without even realizing we’re learning — isn’t that the holy grail of corporate learning?
While not entirely true yet, we’re getting closer. Gamified experiences, microlearning, social integration, personalization algorithms, insights from neuroscience — all are working toward creating environments people enjoy and return to. But to return, you first have to show up.
Edtech vendors are pouring innovation into analytics and data to better understand user behavior — think learning analytics, recommendation engines, etc. Platforms are becoming smarter, more engaging.
Yet one fundamental issue remains: have we truly overcome the challenge of getting the user to the platform in the first place?
That’s why a contextual learning strategy is so critical. If users don’t log in, how can we understand their interests, track their journeys, or enrich their profiles with assessments or quizzes?
To us, the main issue with any web-based solution (LXP, LMS, TMS or otherwise) is that… it’s a platform.
So the real question is: Should we still invest in a web platform?
Maybe in the short term. But if you’re aiming for a future-proof solution — probably not.
For any user, a platform inevitably competes with other platforms for time and attention — even if they serve different purposes.
Take the example of a sales rep. They already work across a CRM, Office suite, webmail, intranet, enterprise social network, LinkedIn, HRIS, LMS or LXP, a search engine… and they’re expected to understand what each tool is for.
If that same sales rep spends 70% of their time in their CRM and mailbox, wouldn’t it be smarter to embed learning directly into those tools, instead of relying on learner marketing tactics to draw them to a digital learning platform?
This is exactly the perspective that drives us at Bealink: a world where the user no longer seeks out content — but where content finds the user, right where they are, and most importantly, right where they work.
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