Just-in-time learning is an approach to individual or
organizational learning
Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience. From this experience, it is able to create knowledge. This knowledge is bro ...
and development that promotes need-related training be readily available exactly when and how it is needed by the learner.
Methodology
Just-in-time learning is different from structured
training
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
or scheduled
professional development
Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensiv ...
, both of which are generally available at set dates and times.
What makes just-in-time learning unique is a strategy focused on meeting the learner's need when it arises, rather than pre-scheduled education sessions that occur regardless of the immediacy or scope of need.
Therefore, planning for just-in-time learning requires anticipating what is needed by the various learners, when and where they may be when they experience the need, and the creation of content oriented toward meeting those needs in ways that are focused and accessible.
The learning that is provided in a just-in-time format is often by short online videos, targeted
elearning
Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...
, printed and accessible job aids, or related real-world information. It is timed and packaged to meet one explicit need and nothing else, so as not to overwhelm the learner with anything that does not meet the immediate need. Information can be provided through traditional paper, online, or through mobile devices depending upon need and availability. It is essential that the information is findable and understandable by the person who needs it; otherwise the person will become distracted or lose focus and defeats the benefits of just-in-time learning. Meeting only the immediate need helps with knowledge retention and promotes feelings of empowerment. Therefore, one of the criteria used to assess learning is the speed of connecting the person who needs something with the learning that helps get it done.
Success criteria
That just-in-time learning is often
conflated with
reusable learning objects implies that similar success criteria may be applied to them. Evidence of successful use of just-in-time learning includes higher learner satisfaction, decreased costs, and even increased patient-centered outcomes when implemented within health settings.
See also
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Just-in-time teaching
Just-in-time teaching (often abbreviated as JiTT) is a pedagogical strategy that uses feedback between classroom activities and work that students do at home, in preparation for the classroom meeting. The goals are to increase learning during cla ...
*
Experiential learning
Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students ...
References
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Human resource management
Training
Learning methods
E-learning