L&D terms, defined like you’ll be quizzed on them.
Learning technology runs on words that have quietly stopped meaning anything — adaptive, personalized, microlearning, LXP. This glossary defines each term plainly, says what the evidence supports, and names the marketing uses to watch for.
Why a glossary needs a spine
Vendors love a term that can mean anything — “adaptive” sells better when nobody checks the mechanism. Each definition here states the mechanism, cites the evidence, and names the diluted marketing usage, so the words become tools for evaluating claims instead of decoration on them.
What is adaptive learning?
The real definition — a system whose model of the learner changes with every answer — and the branching that gets sold under the name.
Read the page →What is spaced repetition?
The century-old effect, the algorithms that schedule it, and why it barely exists in corporate training.
Read the page →What is an LXP?
Learning experience platforms: what they solved, what they structurally didn’t.
Read the page →What is microlearning?
The evidence for short-form — and where the format claim outruns the data.
Read the page →What is a skills taxonomy?
Naming skills versus measuring them, and why most taxonomies stop being true.
Read the page →What is competency-based training?
Mastery gates instead of seat time — and the measurement it demands.
Read the page →What is blended learning?
Mixing live and self-paced, and the third element most blends leave out.
Read the page →What is SCORM?
The packaging standard, what it reports, and why your dashboards look the way they do.
Read the page →What is xAPI?
Activity statements beyond the course boundary — a wider pipe, not a conclusion.
Read the page →Learning in the flow of work
What the idea gets right, and the retention catch nobody mentions.
Read the page →Prefer the deep end?
The research library holds 80+ evidence reviews behind these definitions — meta-analyses, replications and the occasional demolition.
Start with the two that matter most
Definitions are free. Demonstrations are better.
Thirty minutes with the platform beats any glossary — book a demo and watch the terms do their jobs.
- 30 minutes, on your calendar — pick a slot here
- Run on your own content wherever possible, not a canned deck
- You see the dashboards, the learner surface and the evidence exports
- No commitment — and pilot data stays yours either way