What Does 2026 Have In Retailer For The eLearning Trade?
With over a decade of expertise in advertising and marketing and promoting, Raneem Mourad transitioned to the EdTech sector in 2013 and have become the Managing Associate at Kashida in 2016. Kashida designs and produces bespoke, impactful eLearning content material throughout platforms to satisfy the distinctive wants of its shoppers. Because the Associate & Director of Progress at Kashida, Raneem leads a crew of gifted designers, builders, and Studying Expertise Designers, in addition to oversees the enterprise improvement, market analysis, and consumer relations features of the corporate. Right this moment, she speaks with us about what 2026 will carry for EdTech and eLearning based mostly on her work with international organizations and customized studying design expertise.
This previous yr has introduced its fair proportion of improvements within the eLearning area. What ought to L&D leaders be enthusiastic about in 2026?
A lot to be enthusiastic about. However what I believe L&D leaders ought to be most enthusiastic about is the truth that we now have extra flexibility than ever in how studying is designed and delivered. The query is not what expertise we must always use, however somewhat what sort of expertise do learners really want? That shift in mindset opens the door to much more significant, context-aware studying—whether or not by digital applications, blended codecs, or extra immersive experiences.
What excites me most about 2026 is not a single expertise or pattern; it is the rising maturity of the eLearning area itself. We’re lastly transferring away from chasing instruments for their very own sake and towards extra considerate conversations about goal, affect, and relevance.
I am additionally seeing a a lot stronger deal with adaptability. Organizations are more and more conscious that studying cannot be static anymore. It must evolve alongside individuals, roles, and priorities. In our work, this has meant designing studying experiences that may develop over time, somewhat than being locked right into a single format or platform.
Total, 2026 appears like a second the place L&D can additional embrace its strategic function: much less about content material manufacturing, and extra about enabling actual functionality constructing.
Based mostly in your years of expertise in customized studying improvement, how do you assume expertise, design, and technique are evolving?
One of the vital vital adjustments I’ve noticed is that expertise, design, and technique are not being handled as separate conversations. The simplest studying initiatives at the moment are those the place these three components are deliberately aligned from the beginning.
Design, particularly, has taken on a way more strategic function. Studying expertise design is not nearly structuring content material or including interactivity—it is about understanding learners, organizational realities, and desired behaviors, after which making deliberate decisions about how expertise can assist these objectives.
In most of the tasks we work on, expertise choices come after deep design conversations. That sequencing issues. It permits expertise to behave as an enabler somewhat than a constraint. As instruments proceed to evolve, this method additionally offers organizations extra resilience—they don’t seem to be tied to a single resolution, however to a transparent design logic that may adapt over time.
In the end, this evolution reveals that sturdy studying outcomes do not come from innovation alone. They arrive from considerate integration—when technique units path, design supplies construction, and expertise helps execution.
How can organizations put together for a quickly shifting digital studying panorama? Why is it so vital for them to deal with human-centered design?
The way in which I see it, one of the simplest ways organizations can put together for change is by grounding their studying efforts in a deep understanding of individuals. Applied sciences will proceed to shift, however learners—their motivations, pressures, and constraints—stay crucial fixed.
Human-centered design helps organizations construct studying that is resilient. When experiences are designed round how individuals really work and be taught, they’ll evolve with out shedding relevance. I’ve seen many organizations make investments closely in platforms, solely to appreciate later that the educational does not translate into actual habits change. That normally occurs when design choices aren’t rooted in learner realities.
A human-centered method forces vital questions early on: What downside are we fixing? What does success appear to be for learners? What boundaries would possibly they face? These questions form all the pieces that follows, together with how expertise is used.
Making ready for a shifting panorama is not about predicting the longer term completely. It is about creating studying ecosystems which are versatile, empathetic, and aligned with actual organizational objectives. Once you design from the human perspective, adapting to no matter comes subsequent turns into rather more manageable.
Are you able to inform us a bit extra about Kashida’s design methodology and the way it helps you (and your shoppers) navigate the shifts in expertise?
We made a strategic determination over ten years in the past that our design methodology would at all times begin with individuals, not platforms. Each undertaking begins by understanding learners, context, and the form of change the educational is supposed to assist. Solely then will we make choices about codecs, instruments, or applied sciences.
It hasn’t at all times been simple to persuade shoppers to start out with a design technique first. Many initially wish to know what the ultimate output will appear to be earlier than committing. However as soon as they undergo our LXD course of and expertise it firsthand, belief builds—as a result of the outcomes are extra significant, related, and impactful for each learners and the group.
This human-centered, tech-agnostic method permits us and our shoppers to navigate technological shifts with confidence. For instance, in applications like NetHope’s Women Leaders initiative, the place learners come from extremely numerous cultural {and professional} contexts, beginning with design technique allowed the educational expertise to stay coherent and related whilst supply codecs developed.
Throughout very several types of tasks, we have seen how this system creates continuity, even when expertise adjustments midstream. As a result of the design logic is obvious, new instruments will be built-in thoughtfully somewhat than disruptively. That is what finally makes studying really feel future-ready.
What function do you imagine AI performs in the way forward for customized studying design, and the place do you assume the AI-human collaboration is heading?
There are numerous methods we’re already seeing AI play a job in customized studying. From a design perspective, I see AI as a strong assist—not a substitute. Its actual worth lies in the way it enhances human experience, notably by bettering effectivity and opening up new prospects for personalization and scale.
We’re already utilizing AI to streamline elements of the event course of, giving our studying designers extra space to deal with what really requires human judgment: understanding context, navigating complexity, and designing experiences that drive significant change. For us, AI elevates the function of the educational designer somewhat than diminishing it.
AI has additionally grow to be a strong device in manufacturing. It permits us to develop pilots rapidly—testing concepts, visuals, or narrative instructions early—so shoppers can align on technique by tangible examples in a extra cost- and time-efficient approach. This has been particularly worthwhile in tasks coping with advanced or delicate subjects, akin to our work on digital financial literacy, the place iteration and readability are vital.
Trying forward, I see AI-human collaboration transferring towards a extra intentional partnership. We outline the objectives, values, and moral boundaries; AI helps exploration, adaptation, and responsiveness. The chance, after all, is utilizing AI with no sturdy design basis. With out that, it could possibly stay superficial—or, worse, introduce cultural or contextual inaccuracies.
When grounded in human-centered design and clear studying aims, AI turns into a device that genuinely expands what’s potential, whereas protecting individuals firmly on the middle of the educational expertise.
Wrapping Up
Thanks a lot to Raneem for sharing her insights on human-first studying design and navigating L&D challenges. If you would like to discover how Kashida can assist your 2026 studying technique, you’ll be able to get in touch today to guide your 30-minute free session and focus on your particular wants.
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