Learning is Learning, Right?

“I mean, learning is learning, right?”

This topic came up in a recent conversation with other L&D professionals and initially, I thought YES! Learning is learning. And then I started thinking about the learning of my students, and how I designed for them, vs how I designed for now for my corporate clients and had to pause… is all Learning the same?

I’ve lived in both worlds now. The halls of education and the Zoom offices of corporate learning. Two sides of the same instructional design coin, yet sometimes they feel like entirely different currencies.

In education, we obsess over Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessibility. We build elaborate scaffolds to support diverse learners. We build full stories. Rich, nuanced learning journeys. We dive deep, exploring concepts from multiple angles, constructing knowledge layer by layer.

Then I entered corporate learning. Accessibility became a checkbox. An afterthought. Something we’d “get to” if there was time.  Corporate prefers what I call the “grasshopper approach”: They come. They eat. They leave. Get in. Get the essential information. Apply it immediately. Get out.

But corporate ID taught me something education hadn’t: the power of “why.” In education, we often assume students are motivated simply because they “have to be.” They need the grade. They need the degree. They’ll figure out their own motivation.

Corporate learning knows better. It understands that adults need compelling reasons to invest their time. Every module, every interaction begins with “What’s in it for me?” We obsess over relevance.

Both approaches have merit. Both have limitations.

What if we stopped seeing these as separate worlds and started seeing them as complementary approaches? Education could learn to streamline content, focus on motivation, and connect learning to real-world application. Corporate could embrace universal design from day one, build deeper learning experiences, and measure success beyond completion rates.

So, my promise to myself as I move forward in Learning Strategy and Development:

1. Universal Design from the ground up
2. Deeply motivating with clear purpose
3. Rich in context and application
4. Efficient without sacrificing quality

I no longer identify solely as an “education ID” or “corporate ID.” Because at the end of the day, all instructional designers share the same fundamental purpose: We change lives through learning. Every day. Whether in a classroom or a zoom room, my success is measured by the transformation I create. And that transformation only happens when I take the best approaches from wherever I find them.