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Learning in new‐product development teams is cited as being vital in today's competitive, uncertain, and turbulent environments. However, studies on accelerated learning in product‐development teams are, surprisingly, lacking. This study proposes a model for accelerated team learning in new‐product development based on constructs borrowed from accelerated learning models (or “suggestopedy”) in the individual learning scholarship. It is argued that fast‐learning teams launch new products more quickly, and with increased probability of success. Moreover, specific mechanisms to help teams learn more quickly are within the control of teams. These include vision clarity, learning from customers and competitors, information coding, top management support, past product review, aggressive deadlines and daily meetings.

This article describes how the author incorporated accelerated training techniques into weekly staff meetings, which speeded up staff training, made the training more effective, and improved morale. Before incorporating these techniques, the author found it difficult to get staff to come to the weekly team meetings, and found it hard to keep their attention. After the change the meetings became enjoyable and productive. Based on research on accelerated training, the author designed a new model for weekly training meetings that met diverse learning styles, engaged the learners’ whole brain, learning styles, methods of reception and intelligences. The model made training exciting, fun and engaging; and appealed to learners’ preferred styles of reception, organization and expression.

The Knowledge Factory is a metaphor to describe an accelerated learning organization. World‐class manufacturers are gearing every aspect of their business, from the shop floor to administrative offices, toward the rapid acquisition and deployment of knowledge. This article, based on an extensive research project to identify and interview best‐in‐class operations, provides conceptual guidelines and action steps for organizations striving to practice knowledge‐based competitiveness.

There is an acknowledged need to advance the supply chain management (SCM) learning agenda, with an emphasis on integration. This paper discuss an Australian university–industry collaboration aimed at accelerating SCM learning and offers some insight into models for building a forward-looking SCM.

The research is an exploratory case study of the industry–university collaboration, using grounded theory procedures. The primary data involved 25 interviews with key participants from the university and industry partners, and from the first cohort of students in the undergraduate program developed within the collaboration.

A theoretical framework for accelerating SCM learning was developed from the case study data; it comprises six constructs that influence, at strategic and operational levels, the acceleration of SCM learning. Four cross-construct concepts from the framework that form the cornerstones of accelerated learning are discussed in some detail.

The framework facilitates an examination of successes and shortfalls in the case study collaboration and generates a deeper understanding of critical elements for progressing the SCM learning agenda, and expanding SCM education. As with all qualitative research, the results may not be generalisable; testing the relevance and usefulness of the framework with the field will be an important next step.

As the framework identifies conditions, characteristics and capacities of organisations and individuals that support the acceleration of SCM learning, it can provide assistance in designing future university–industry collaborations for advancing SCM learning.

The framework identifies critical success factors for alliances and partnerships aimed at accelerating learning in an emerging body of knowledge such as SCM.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to understand how disruptive innovations related to digital literacy can improve traditional approaches of teacher education.

Approach – First, the evolution of teacher education from tradition to the digital era is discussed, highlighting the evolution of various traditions, theories and models of teacher education. The authors then ask the questions, “Why do teacher education programs continue to lag in the creation of a true alignment with the current needs of modern students?” and “How can this be done and where should we begin?”

Findings – The authors believe that professional growth is the key to teacher success. Reformed teacher education programs where digital literacy is grounded in relevant contexts, collaboration, and multimodal designs will promote collective collaboration among students and teachers. Digital literacies curriculum should draw on multimodalities and position students as producers of knowledge for a public audience. These disruptive forces function to improve traditional notions of teacher education, providing a catalyst to the democratization of knowledge for teacher development.

Practical Implications – Collaboration across digital platforms promotes learning through crowd-accelerated learning, rhizomatic learning, citizen inquiry, massive open social learning, maker cultures, and blockchain platforms. These approaches can foster genuine and relevant learning in teacher education programs, modernizing and matching instructional techniques with the teacher preparation demands of today and tomorrow.

As complex analysis of contact models is required in the traditional assembly strategy, it is still a challenge for a robot to complete the multiple peg-in-hole assembly tasks autonomously. This paper aims to enable the robot to complete the assembly tasks autonomously and more efficiently, with the strategies learned by reinforcement learning (RL), a learning-accelerated deep deterministic policy gradient (LADDPG) algorithm is proposed.

The multiple peg-in-hole assembly strategy is designed in two modules: an advanced planning module and a bottom control module. The advanced module is completed by the LADDPG agent, which is used to derive advanced commands based on geometric and environmental constraints, that is, the desired contact force. The bottom-level control module will drive the robot to complete the compliant assembly task through the adaptive impedance algorithm according to the command set issued by the advanced module. In addition, a set of safety assurance mechanisms is developed to safely train a collaborative robot to complete autonomous learning.

The method can complete the assembly tasks well through RL, and it can realize satisfactory compliance of the robot to the environment. Compared with the original DDPG algorithm, the average values of the instantaneous maximum contact force and contact torque during the assembly process are reduced by approximately 38% and 74%, respectively.

The entire algorithm can also be applied to other robots and the assembly strategy can be applied in the field of the automatic assembly.

A compliant assembly strategy based on the LADDPG algorithm is proposed to complete the automated multiple peg-in-hole assembly tasks.

Collaborative teaching and learning in Kenya is at relatively immature phase. There is dearth of empirical research undertaken on school-to-school collaboration and its impact and influence on the students’ learning outcomes. The 8:4:4 system of education, which begun in 1985, and which was short of insights into the impact of collaborative, is coming to an end to pave way for 2-6-3-3-3 education curriculum framework which is largely seen as progressive. As such, collaborative teaching and learning across the whole-school system is slowly beginning to evolve – with the learners being expected to learn, un-learn and re-learn collaboratively. The Kenyan education system is highly marketized and when coupled with lack of clear national policy guidelines on inter-school collaboration, it falls short of obligating teachers to initiate or even deepen the few existing collaborative designs within and beyond their schools’ boarders. Given that the challenges facing learning appear to increase exponentially, it appears to be timely to have students and teachers from different schools come together to network and share ideas, knowledge, expertise, resources and best practices – bearing in mind that cultures that work together hold the prospect of long-term impact that is not dependent on a few individuals but the whole team (Hargreaves & O’Connor, 2017).

The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical review of the educational innovation field in the USA. It outlines classification of innovations, discusses the hurdles to innovation, and offers ways to increase the scale and rate of innovation-based transformations in the education system.

The paper is based on a literature survey and author research.

US education badly needs effective innovations of scale that can help produce the needed high-quality learning outcomes across the system. The primary focus of educational innovations should be on teaching and learning theory and practice, as well as on the learner, parents, community, society, and its culture. Technology applications need a solid theoretical foundation based on purposeful, systemic research, and a sound pedagogy. One of the critical areas of research and innovation can be cost and time efficiency of the learning.

Several practical recommendations stem out of this paper: how to create a base for large-scale innovations and their implementation; how to increase effectiveness of technology innovations in education, particularly online learning; how to raise time and cost efficiency of education.

Innovations in education are regarded, along with the education system, within the context of a societal supersystem demonstrating their interrelations and interdependencies at all levels. Raising the quality and scale of innovations in education will positively affect education itself and benefit the whole society.

Originality is in the systemic approach to education and educational innovations, in offering a comprehensive classification of innovations; in exposing the hurdles to innovations, in new arguments about effectiveness of technology applications, and in time efficiency of education.

Three trends are shaping our personal and business lives: information is coming at us at an accelerating rate; jobs are changing faster and faster; and society, work and even leisure pursuits are becoming more complex. The accelerating pace of information means that the individual needs to know how to absorb information more rapidly. Faster change means that workers and the organisation they work for must learn to adapt training more quickly. Increased complexity of work means that the ability to analyse situations logically and to solve problems creatively are skills that everyone needs, and must be trained in the workplace and studied at home. In other words, the individuals and companies who can out‐learn, out‐think and out‐create their competitors will be the ones who thrive in the twenty‐first century.

This paper aims to examine the content dimensions and methods of accelerating the entrepreneurial learning (EL) triggered by participating in learning events, such as factory tours. It particularly focuses on the Italian case of Open Factory – an open-doors event of industrial manufacturing culture.

This study adopted a qualitative approach using the “Gioia” methodology. Data were mainly collected through semi-structured interviews with firms participating in and organising Open Factory.

The dimensions of EL are learning from critical reflection, experience and external sources, while the enablers of EL (factors that accelerate learning) are varied and connected to organisational learning in the form of individual-, team- and institutional-level learning. Based on these results, this paper proposes a model for developing EL triggered by participating in learning events.

This research suggests developing appropriate organisational conditions inside firms, especially by entrepreneurs. These conditions are connected to sharing organisational values to foster learning, such as trust, commitment, involvement, awareness, sharing of experiences, exchange, autonomy and freedom. In addition, this study suggests ways that the EL model proposed in this research can be adapted to other learning events.

This is the first study to connect factory tours to learning events and EL. It highlights the ways that participating in the Open Factory event created the chance to develop learning across organisational levels inside firms.