Offering a unique "audio first" approach to eLearning

Assemble You are a new-on-the-market eLearning provider, with an “audio first” approach. They deliver a wide range of podcast-style courses (teaching “Power Skills”) that are designed to be listened to, enabling you to learn on the go. Their course can be delivered via any LMS, via our Course-Source eLearning supply service.

We thought it would be interesting to ask Richard Ward and Adam Lacey, co-founders of Assemble You, about their approach to eLearning and how they’ve arrived at their particular style of content.

Course-Source: Video has been a popular medium for online learning, why then are you audio only?

Richard and Adam: “We're a team who have independently moved away from video for self-led learning. A 2020 survey found that Brits spend over 13 hours a day staring at screens. In fact, 55% of U.K. Gen Zs and millennials agree there’s too much visual stimulation.

We think audio is a brilliant alternative - an escape. And in contrast to videos, audio can also be our constant companion. No need to stop everything else, plonk yourself in front of your computer and watch a stale old training video. Whether we’re at home, out in the world, or en route - we can just hit play and carry on.”

Course-Source: How are your customers using this in practice? What has the response been so far?

Richard and Adam: “The response from our early adopters has been amazing. In a recent anonymised feedback survey with a prospect (and now client) that we were piloting with, 100% of respondents wanted to continue to access Assemble You content. One respondent commented that they now had ‘...a truly blended learning approach available for all to choose from, and the [Assemble You] audio content enables that’.

We represent a new format for curated learning paths. Each audio track is supported with a suggested reading list, a transcript, an infographic, and knowledge check questions. The infographics are proving the most popular there, adding some nice concise visuals.

Any L&D manager can tell you that despite our obsession with mobile devices, learning engagement doesn’t happen there. People see workplace training as something that has to be done at a desk, in front of a monitor. But we’re bucking that trend. We’re making learning fit not just into the flow of work, but into the flow of life.”

Course-Source: What kind of topic lends itself to the audio format?

Richard and Adam: “Soft skills - or Power Skills as Josh Bersin has rechristened them - are proving a great topic area. We're covering subjects like leadership, productivity, and wellness. We're then finding success in producing high-level introductions to heavier topics like cybersecurity, and project management methodologies, and have a side project running where we plan to introduce topics like AI, machine learning, blockchain, etc.”

Course-Source: What does the future hold for Assemble You?

Richard and Adam: “We're enjoying what we do, it's been an incredible journey to get just this far and we're now balancing between growing the business, producing more courses, and then offering content in multiple languages. Beyond this, we're looking at how we launch a bigger B2C offering and then if you catch us on a Friday afternoon brainstorming session we may be found discussing minting and how we certify our courses on the blockchain.”

For full details of Assemble You courses please, please click here.

Each Assemble You course includes a 10-minute evidence-based, engaging audio track recorded with a professional voice actor and comes underpinned by a transcript, a further reading list, an infographic, and multiple-choice questions.

You can try Assemble You content on your LMS – please contact us for a free trial and a quote to meet your exact requirements and to preview the courses on your LMS.