Learning Glossary List

ADDIE is a long-standing instructional design framework made up of five phases: Analyse, where the problem and learning need are identified; Design, where the approach and learning experience are planned; Develop, where content and materials are created; Implement, where the learning is delivered; and Evaluate, where its effectiveness is measured. Organisations use ADDIE for its clarity and structured workflow. Emergent Learning often supports teams using ADDIE by strengthening collaboration, early testing, and alignment.

Adaptive learning adjusts content, difficulty, and learning pathways in response to learner decisions, performance, and needs. It ensures individuals receive support tailored to their capability gaps.

Assessment refers to the methods used to evaluate a learner’s knowledge, skills, or behaviours. It helps determine whether learning objectives have been met and how well people can apply their new capability in real situations.

Capability uplift is the process of improving workforce capability so teams can perform more effectively, deliver on organisational priorities, and adapt to changing demands. Unlike one-off training, capability uplift is long-term and intentional, creating meaningful and sustained performance improvement.

A competency framework is a structured model that defines the skills, behaviours, and knowledge required for successful performance. Unlike a competency matrix—which shows where competencies apply across roles—the framework describes each competency in depth, including what it means, what it looks like, and how it progresses through clearly defined levels with observable behaviours.

A competency matrix is a practical tool that maps the skills and behaviours required for different roles across an organisation. It shows which competencies matter for each role and the level of proficiency expected. A good matrix helps leaders see where strengths exist, where gaps are stopping progress, and where development effort should be focused.

Compliance training prepares employees to meet legal, regulatory, and organisational requirements. Good compliance training helps people understand not just what the rules are, but how to apply them in real situations. It supports safe, ethical, and consistent behaviour. Poor compliance training, on the other hand, focuses on information rather than action and leaves people unsure about what to do differently.

Discovery is the phase where learning teams gather information to understand the problem, the audience, and the context for the work. It reveals what people actually need to learn and why. Discovery is particularly valuable when the learning team is unsure what the right solution should be, because it identifies priorities and clarifies the approach most likely to succeed. Poor discovery leads to assumptions, unclear scope, and learning solutions that fail to address the real issue.

Evaluation is the systematic process of determining whether a learning solution, program, initiative, or capability uplift effort is achieving the impact it was designed to create. It measures effectiveness, behavioural change, capability growth, learner experience, and business outcomes across the lifecycle of a learning project.

Facilitation skills are the capabilities required to guide learners through learning experiences in a way that encourages participation, understanding, and application. Strong facilitation creates the conditions for learning rather than focusing on content delivery.

A gap analysis is a structured process used to compare current capability or performance against the level required to meet organisational expectations. A strong gap analysis identifies what is missing, why it exists, and what actions will genuinely close it.

Interactive learning is an approach where learners actively participate in the learning experience by making decisions, exploring scenarios, and engaging in activities that deepen understanding. Well-designed interactive learning helps people connect ideas and practise skills in ways passive learning cannot.

Kolb’s Reflective Cycle is a learning theory that explains how people learn by moving through a continuous loop of experience, reflection, meaning-making, and application. It includes four stages: Concrete Experience, where a learner encounters a real situation; Reflective Observation, where they pause and consider what happened; Abstract Conceptualisation, where they develop new interpretations; and Active Experimentation, where they try new approaches. Emergent Learning often uses this cycle to deepen insight and support practical application.

Learning analytics is the practice of collecting, analysing, and interpreting data about learning activities to understand what is happening and improve learning outcomes. It looks beyond completion rates to examine engagement, progress, confidence, and application in the workplace.

A Learning Designer is a learning professional responsible for designing structured learning solutions aligned to business goals, learner needs, and performance outcomes. The role focuses on shaping learning content, activities, and pathways so learning is clear, purposeful, and effective.

Learning Experience Design (LXD) focuses on designing learning around the learner’s experience, context, and real-world application. It considers how learners feel, think, and behave before, during, and after learning, creating experiences that are engaging, relevant, and practical.

A Learning Management System is a platform used to deliver, organise, and track learning across an organisation. It can store a wide variety of learning resources such as videos, documents, discussion activities, assessments, schedules, and eLearning modules.

Learning outcomes describe the measurable change that occurs as a result of the learning experience. They articulate what learners actually demonstrate in the workplace after applying the skills, knowledge, or behaviours developed during training.

Learning project management is the structured coordination of all activities required to design, develop, and deliver effective learning solutions. It spans end-to-end programs, capability uplift initiatives, large and complex learning projects, and digital development such as SCORM-based eLearning or blended learning.

A learning strategy is the organisation’s overarching plan for how learning will build the capability needed to achieve business goals. It defines priorities, desired outcomes, key audiences, delivery approaches, governance structures, and measures of success. It provides a clear and unified direction for capability development.

Learning transfer refers to how well learners apply the skills, knowledge, and behaviours from a learning experience into their everyday work. Strong learning transfer means learners use what they have learned consistently and with confidence.

An eLearning authoring tool is software used to create digital learning content such as online courses, modules, and interactive learning experiences. These tools support the technical construction of eLearning but do not determine whether learning is effective.

AI video for learning refers to tools that generate instructional or training videos using artificial intelligence. These tools can create presenters, translate scripts, add captions, and produce customised learning videos at scale.

Adult learning refers to the principles and practices that guide how adults acquire knowledge, skills, and behaviours. It recognises that adults learn differently from children, relying on relevance, experience, autonomy, and readiness to learn.

Blended learning is an approach that combines multiple learning methods—such as online modules, face-to-face sessions, coaching, and practice activities—into a single integrated experience. It allows learners to build capability through different formats that reinforce each other.

Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort a person needs to process information. In learning, it describes how hard the brain has to work to understand new concepts, complete tasks, or solve problems. When cognitive load is managed well, learning feels clear and achievable. When it is too high, learners become overwhelmed, distracted, or disengaged.

A competency framework is a structured model that defines the skills, behaviours, and knowledge required for successful performance. Unlike a competency matrix—which shows where competencies apply across roles—the framework describes each competency in depth, including what it means, what it looks like, and how it progresses through clearly defined levels with observable behaviours.

Competency-based learning is an approach that focuses on developing clearly defined skills, behaviours, and capabilities. Progress is based on demonstrating competence rather than time spent learning. In vocational education settings, such as the Australian VET sector, this approach must align with national standards, units of competency, and oversight from bodies like ASQA.

Constructive alignment is a learning design approach where learning outcomes, activities, assessments, and content are intentionally connected so learners experience a clear path from what they are taught to what they are expected to do. When done well, the content teaches what matters, the activities give relevant practice, and the assessment measures real capability.

The EMERGE Framework is Emergent Learning’s modern, human-centred learning design model created to replace traditional linear approaches like ADDIE. It contains six phases: Elicit, where we uncover the real organisational and learner needs; Model, where we shape the high-level approach and define outcomes; Experiment, where early prototypes and storyboards are built and tested; Refine, where feedback is gathered and improvements are made; Grow, where learning is rolled out and supported for adoption; and Evolve, where learning is revisited over time to keep it current and effective.

Experiential learning is an approach where people learn by doing. It allows learners to practise skills, experiment with ideas, and reflect on real experiences. Good experiential learning feels practical and engaging because it connects learning to real tasks. Poor experiential learning is disconnected from the work, overly theoretical, or lacks opportunities for reflection and feedback.

Gamification is the thoughtful use of game elements to make learning more engaging, meaningful, and memorable. It draws on how people naturally respond to challenge, discovery, imagination, chance, narrative, and achievement. When used well, gamification doesn’t feel childish or gimmicky — it feels like learning that pulls you in, gives you something to explore, and encourages you to keep going. When it’s used poorly, it becomes a distraction that confuses or irritates learners rather than motivating them.

Induction training is the structured learning experience designed to support new employees as they enter an organisation or move into a new role. It introduces people to how the organisation works, what is expected of them, and how to perform safely, effectively, and confidently from day one.

Interactive learning is an approach where learners actively participate in the learning experience by making decisions, exploring scenarios, and engaging in activities that deepen understanding. Well-designed interactive learning helps people connect ideas and practise skills in ways passive learning cannot.

Leadership training for new leaders helps first-time managers develop the confidence, capability, and judgement they need to lead teams effectively. It focuses on the practical skills new leaders often struggle with, such as communication, delegation, and giving feedback. Good leadership training feels relevant to daily challenges. Poor training is too theoretical and doesn’t help leaders know what to do differently.

A learning curriculum is a structured sequence of learning experiences designed to build capability over time. It defines how different learning components fit together, in what order, and for what purpose, guiding learners from foundational understanding through to confident performance.

Learning evaluation is the process of measuring how effective a learning experience has been in achieving its intended outcomes. It focuses on how learners experienced the learning, what they understood, what they applied, and whether it contributed to improved capability or performance.

A Learning Experience Designer (LXD) is a learning professional who designs learning with a strong focus on learner experience, context, and behaviour change. The role considers how learners engage before, during, and after learning, and how learning translates into real-world performance.

Learning objectives describe what learners must be able to do by the end of a learning experience. They use action-focused verbs aligned to Bloom’s Taxonomy, such as apply, analyse, demonstrate, or evaluate.

A learning pathway is a structured sequence of learning experiences that guides a learner or audience group toward a desired level of capability. A pathway may use a single modality or a blend of approaches such as eLearning, facilitated workshops, coaching, workplace activities, or reflective practice. It may be entirely online, highly structured, self-directed, multimodal, or a combination of these.

A Learning Project Manager oversees the planning, coordination, and delivery of learning initiatives. They ensure the right people, resources, timelines, and quality measures are in place so the learning experience achieves its intended outcomes. They bridge the gap between stakeholders, designers, facilitators, and technical teams, keeping work aligned and progressing.

Learning theory refers to the evidence-based principles and research foundations that guide how people learn, develop skills, and retain knowledge. These theories shape how learning experiences are designed so they support understanding, motivation, practice, and behaviour change. Rather than being purely academic, learning theory provides practical guidance that improves the effectiveness of workplace learning.

eLearning refers to digital learning delivered through online modules, videos, scenarios, or interactive activities. Good eLearning is clear, engaging, and practical. Poor eLearning overwhelms learners with text, lacks interaction, and doesn’t support real behaviour change. eLearning is most effective when it focuses on real tasks, clear guidance, and simple navigation.