For decades, we have accepted traditional learning as the only way to develop skills: courses, modules, manuals, workshops and assessments. But what if the entire concept is built on an assumption that no longer fits the world we live in?
Today, we can access almost any piece of information within seconds. Yet we continue to design learning as if people need to memorise everything just in case they might need it one day. In this article we explore why this approach no longer works, what cognitive science says about it, and how a new model of learning is emerging.
The flaw at the heart of traditional learning
Most organisational training still follows a front-loaded, just-in-case model. We give employees as much information as possible up front, hoping they will store and recall it later. But research tells us the human brain simply does not work that way.
We forget around 80% of information within 30 days, even when the training is well designed. This is not because people are unmotivated or because the learning is poor. It is because the brain is incredibly efficient, and one of its greatest efficiencies is discarding unused information.
If someone learns a process on Monday but does not need it until Thursday, their brain often treats that knowledge as irrelevant. It fades because it was not immediately applied. This is the fundamental problem with traditional learning, it assumes memory behaves in a way it simply does not.
Why retention collapses: The 24-hour rule
IBM research highlights a critical insight. People retain and apply information effectively only when it is delivered within 24 hours of when they need it. After that window, retention declines rapidly, no matter how well designed the original training is.
You would never memorise every road sign and rule before driving. Instead, you react to signs as you encounter them. A stop sign appears at exactly the right moment. That is the power of context. That is the power of timing.
In the workplace, we too often expect people to recall details from training that may have happened months earlier, even though this runs against everything we know about human cognition.
Signposting: What the National Parks can teach us
To understand the alternative, picture a visit to a National Park in the United States. Before entering bear country, you do not attend a three-hour safety class. You see a clear sign that says:
Bear area. Store food properly. The information appears at the precise moment you need it.
This is the core idea behind signposting, or point-of-need learning. Instead of training people in advance, you embed critical knowledge directly inside workflows and systems so it appears when it is relevant.
Imagine an employee opening a procurement system and seeing a short reminder about approval thresholds. Or someone uploading a document and receiving a quick prompt about data protection rules. No searching. No guessing. No relying on distant memories.
This is learning that works with human cognition, not against it. Watch below to see it explained:
The cognitive advantage: motivated attention
When information is delivered at the moment it is needed, the brain treats it as important. Psychologists call this motivated attention, the heightened focus we experience when information helps solve a problem right now.
Studies show that point-of-need information:
• Increases task accuracy by 67%
• Reduces completion time by 43%
Not because the learner works harder, but because the information is timely, relevant and contextual.
Turning traditional e-learning into signposted knowledge
You do not need to throw away existing training. You transform it. Using tools that already exist today, and through the power of AI, a 45-minute compliance module can become:
• A concise summary
• A set of quick reminders
• A glossary of immediate definitions
• A reference document employees can open at any time
Instead of assuming people will remember everything, you make it easy for them to retrieve the right detail at the right moment.
Some learning management systems, including Open eLMS, even allow you to embed and track e-learning directly inside websites or systems. But signposting is not always linear. Often the learning must be delivered in a flexible, context-dependent way. That is where AI changes everything.
How AI automates signposting
The Open eLMS Learning Generator can take your existing PDF or training content and automatically extract everything needed for point-of-need deployment:
• Key takeaways
• Q&A
• Important timelines
• Keywords
• Full transcript for deeper learning
You get the best of both worlds: comprehensive training for structured learning and contextual prompts for real-world performance. This is training that works harder. And smarter.
The bigger shift: Why memorisation no longer matters
We do not live in an information scarce world anymore. We have more knowledge available to us than at any point in human history, instantly accessible through AI, phones, computers and even smart glasses. The challenge is not knowing more. It is knowing the right thing at the right moment.
Traditional learning assumes we must store vast amounts of information in our heads. But that idea comes from a pre-digital era. Today, trying to remember everything is not just unnecessary; it is cognitively wasteful.
Human brains are built for recognition, decision making and creative problem solving, not for acting like filing cabinets. A perfectly timed reminder when uploading a document is worth more than a four-hour compliance course taken six months ago.
The future of learning: Just-in-time knowledge
Learning is not dead. It is evolving. We are moving from front-loaded information to contextual prompts, changing from memorisation to performance support, and moving from learning just in case to learning on demand. The future belongs to learning that appears in the flow of work, at the exact moment human performance depends on it.
When someone suggests traditional training, ask a simple question: In a world where I can access any information in three seconds, why are we training people to memorise it?
The future of learning is not about knowing more.
It is about accessing the right information at exactly the right moment.
Sign up to Open eLMS Learning Generator and create your own signposted Learning Resouces today, click below to start your 14 day free trial:
www.openelms.ai
