Instructional Designers In Offices Drinking Coffee

We often forget that creating a training event is only one part of the process. Just because you build it does not mean anyone in the business will hear about it, or want to engage. Some might say that if you use good enough instructional design practices that you don't need to do anything else.  However, if you've spent any time at all working on large launches, or new initiatives, you know there is more to it than simply good instructional design.Part of your program design should include a marketing and communications plan.  And to do that effectively you need to understand the learning journey of the audience you intend to engage.  Because, in order for them to engage you must engage with them first.  And how you engage will drive if, and how, they engage with your instructional designs.Ashley Sinclair, founder of MAAS Marketing, joins us to discuss marketing and comms strategies for your learning solutions.  Ashley has built an award winning marketing company specifically focused on the Learning and Deve

VR Headsets? Avatars? Metaverse? You may have heard these terms, but aren't sure how you might apply them in your learning solutions.  You may still believe they are too expensive and out of reach for you and your team.  In this episode we wanted to help training professionals understand where the VR industry is at and if anything has changed over the last few years.I was pleasantly surprised by the number of chat room attendees who had experience building VR learning solutions. That, in and of itself, is a huge change from our previous experiences talking about VR on IDIODC.Solving specific business problems requiring training of physical, real world, problems is by far the most used case of virtual reality, We talked about how these technologies can help you achieve better L&D outcomes and some of the many use cases. But today’s VR training isn’t just for technical skills training – many companies use VR for onboarding, DEI, communication, and leadership training, whether stand-alone or in blended learn

When done well, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training creates space for courageous conversations that acknowledge hard truths around systemic inequities and explores topics that touch on people’s vulnerabilities in all facets of their lives. For those of you who do this work, there has not been a clear path to follow for making progress. As a DEI trainer, you have forged your own way and learned as you went.Maria Morukian joins IDIODC to discuss her new book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Trainers: Fostering DEI in the Workplace. The need for DEI trainers to go at it alone has come to an end. We'll discuss how to develop the knowledge and skills required for DEI training as well as the historical underpinnings and rationale for DEI work. We'll cover the process of organizational assessment, design, and delivery, and strategies for embedding DEI and promoting sustainability through collaborative practices and dialogues.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can alw

"You must ENGAGE your learners!"  Have you heard anyone say that before?Yep. Us too.We've had a few guests talk about it on IDIODC in the past.  And from those conversations we've learned about games, experiences, and making learning fun.  But what, exactly, do we mean by creating "engaging learning"?Dr. Clark Quinn joins us to talk about how we need to make our learning solutions meaningful to those experiencing them.  He's well known for his writing on the science of learning and many other subjects.  He wrote the book, "Learning Science for Instructional Designers". Dr. Quinn's next book, Make it Meaningful, focuses on how we Make it Meaningful.He frames the first part of the book using a fishing metaphor:"...the learners have to take the proverbial bait, becoming willing to start the experience. Then you need to reel them in, getting them from hook to net. It’s a matter of taking them through the experience successfully, carrying them through to the end of the experience, and achieving the outcomes."He'll

Blockchain, NonFungible Tokens, Crypto, ethereum, and other terms are making their way into L&D. Welcome to Learning3: The L&D version of Web3.  Nobody has any idea what it is, but we might as well start calling it what we always call these evolutions when they hit our industry.All joking aside, now is a really good time to start having these conversations. L&D may not feel any real impact of Web3 for another 5 years or more, but some in our industry have already started experimenting with these new technologies.Myra Roldan joins us as a guide in this important conversation.  In her last appearance on IDIODC she shared a game she was creating that teaches about Blockchain.  But in that conversation we talked a lot about the game and blockchain.  In this conversation we'll attempt to cover a the larger topic of Web3. We'll talk about what Web3 is today...as far as we know, and how it works.  Nobody knows what the future holds but we definitely know enough to start this conversation and discuss pote

Instructional Designers and eLearning developers play an important role in DEI programs.  When stock characters are required it's often difficult to find the right image that reflects your requirements.  And when you do find something that works it's often quite boring and unfitting of the style you had designed. So, we're often left wondering, "I wish I could make my own diverse set of characters for my eLearning content".Kevin Thorn, joins us to do just that. Kevin is the Chief NuggetHead of NuggetHead Studioz and our guest for the ongoing favorite Drink'n'Draw series.  In this episode Kevin will walk us through the process of designing and sketchnoting our own diverse characters for eLearning.If you're new to Sketchnoting, then I would encourage you to go through Kevin's "Sketchnote School".https://nuggethead.net/2013/09/sketchnote-school-6-steps-to-great-conference-sketchnotes/He wrote the series of 6 Blog Posts teaching conference attendees how to sketchnote during DevLearn. But, of course, all of the el

The world of Learning and Development has changed over the decades, but many companies have a difficult time deviating from the comfortable path of "the way they've always done it."  As instructional designers and corporate training professionals we make it our responsibility to improve all forms of learning within the organizations we serve.  But that is no easy task.  It's often a very long journey that requires a strategy, patience, and more than a few skills we're never taught in our graduate school ID programs.We are very lucky to have Keith Stoneman join us on IDIODC to discuss his journey.  He'll share his successes and failures and give us all an opportunity to reflect on the things that might be holding us back in our own personal journey.Keith has identified 5 key principles to success:Have an executive sponsorUse updates to educate key leaders and stakeholders - a little at a time.Demonstrate you're using everything you have before asking for more.Good SME content + good L&D practice = great re

As instructional designers, we're often working on projects related to very specific processes.  We want to be clear, precise, and concise, in training that process.  However, there are many other situations where training is asked to influence behaviors and build better cultures.  This requires nuance, and creating training that impacts how the learners feel.  This is where dramatic storytelling has a powerful effect for learning.Gagné's 9 events of instruction puts "gaining learning attention" at the number one spot for a reason. If you can't get your learners to pay attention and to feel something on an emotional level you are not likely to persuade them let alone help change their behavior. Video is the perfect medium for providing that positive impact.However, if done poorly, it can have a negative effect.  It's not easy, but if you can learn some of the basics and practice with small projects and shorter videos you will begin to see positive results.Tom Hickmore creates award-winning dramatic instructio

We had so much fun with Jeanne Bakker last year that we had to invite her back.With a strong background in psychology and the science of education, Jeanne has a keen understanding of how we learn and has applied that understanding to training companies around the world.We'll talk with Jeanne about a broad range of topics related to designing instruction like storytelling, gamification, and measuring the success of your training programs.  She has many successful case studies to share with us as well as offering up her top suggestions and tips to help all of us level up our training game.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #IDIODC tag:Brent: @BSchlenkerChris: @Chris_V_WIDIODC: @TeamIDIODC Brent Schlenker is dominKnow's Community Manager. Chris Van Wingerden is dominKnow's Sr. VP Learning Solutions. Want to join us live? Follow us on Crowdcast: https://www.crowdcast.io/dominknow

It seems like every time you blink, a new learning platform pops into existence with some new innovative twist. There are now well over 800 learning platforms on the market. The real question is: what are we supposed to do with that information? How does any organization even begin to make sense of the crazy LMS (...or more like Learning Platform) market place.Tune in for an informal discussion as Bryan Chapman shares his framework for learning platform market segmentation, with 10 primary segments and 37 sub-sectors based on different user models.  After presenting his map of the learning space, we'll let the discussion and questions take us anywhere you'd like to explore. Some topics that may be fun to touch on include innovations around collaborative learning, balancing highly structured learning with learning-on-demand; and how many organizations use multiple technologies as part of a broader learning ecosystem.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loo

Have you ever wondered why training solutions often don't actually solve business problems? Or maybe you just inherently know that the REAL issue is something other than a training issue. How can you be sure? And if you're right, how do you effectively communicate that to management?Performance Improvement Consulting, or PIC, is an outstanding answer to that question.Guy Wallace is a long time Performance Analyst and Instructional Architect.  He's joining IDIODC to share his knowledge of PIC and how you can level up your career from ID to Performance Analyst Consultant.Discovering root causes to performance problems is critical in your success.  Even if you're "just the instructional designer", you'll want to know if the work you're doing is going to have any impact on the business.  And if the business problem is not a problem that your training solution will solve, then you will fail.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #ID

Do you still look at Microlearning as simply shorter videos? That's not necessarily wrong, but if that's all they are, then why don't we just call them "short videos"? Microlearning has been a hot topic for several years now and we finally know what makes great microlearning more than just short videos.Dr. Robyn Defelice joins us to talk about Microlearning as a concept or methodology in addition to the final microlearning products we all want to create.  Dr. Defelice will talk to us about microlearning deriving an answer, creating extremely focused pieces of training that build on one another to enhance, grow, or remediate a skill or performance.  But that's only one part of it. She will also discuss the importance of data analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of your microlearning solutions.  But there's more. We'll also discuss new skills required for instructional designers like learning to write differently, engage quickly, and more.  There are important design skills to consider and we'll discuss as ma

Video content is the future... of the internet. If you haven't noticed, everyone is creating and consuming more video content than ever before. Even interactive eLearning programs incorporate more video than I can ever remember. Not everyone has jumped on this particular trend, but it's never too late to get onboard.Josh Cavalier is joining us to talk about video production processes and other tips and tricks to help us all improve our processes.  You may know how to press that record button, but then what?  How many pieces of learning content do you create from that finished video file? We think you'll be surprised by how many options there are. And Josh is just the man to talk with us about it because he's in the process of writing a book on the subject.There are many different topics around video that we can discuss, but it's hard to fit them all into a 45min conversation.  In fact, is IDIODC even the right length for a video? Josh will also talk about the long and short of video production.  He's got tips

Many Instructional Designers work within Human Resource departments.  So, it would makes sense to learn as much as possible about the things that are important to HR leaders.  Learning and Development has been a hot topic for HR departments for many years.  However, in a post pandemic world suffering from "the great resignation" it is more important than ever.Janet Clarey, from McClean & Company has released their 2022 HR Trends Report.  As a researcher familiar with the challenges of Learning and Development she is uniquely positioned to help us understand how these trends will impact instructional designers.In preparation for this episode you can get the highlights of the report here: https://hr.mcleanco.com/research/ss/2022-hr-trends-report?utm_campaign=hrtrends&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_content=webpage-image&utm_term=employeeadvocacyAnd while all of the "Critical Insights" have some sort of Learning and Development component the most telling is this one:"With tight labo

Most new small businesses fail.  You've heard that, right?  It seems even more common within our industry.  But don't let it scare you. Some succeed where most fail.  One of our industry success stories is Kevin Thorn.  He's joined us for several Drink'n'Draw episodes over the years.  But in this episode, The Chief Nuggethead of Nuggethead Studioz wants to help YOU start your eLearning consulting business.He'll be sketchnoting some of the pitfalls of starting your own business and point out some simple budgeting ideas that will save you from learning lessons the hard way.Did you forget to budget for your software?  And hardware isn't cheap. Your technology will also fail you at times.  Have you budgeted for support, anti-virus, VPN, off-site backups?Kevin has made all the mistakes for you.  And he's willing to share his success stories and secrets with us on this episode.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #IDIODC tag:Brent:

From agriculture to transportation, entertainment to medicine, and banking to social media, artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how humans do practically everything. We experience AI in our daily lives through our fitness trackers, home digital assistant systems, and curated news services, to name a few examples. For talent development, this is no different.But does this change anything for Instructional Designers? Does it change ID methods, models, and techniques that have served us well for decades?Margie Meacham joins us to help answer some of these questions.  And maybe we don't know the answers yet.  The good news is there are already instructional projects and programs using AI within Talent Development. Margie helped the United Nations build their first AI driven learning consultant chatbot and will talk about her experiences with that and other similar projects. We'll also discuss how you can make AI part of your Learning and Development solutions.  Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on

Most eLearning designers and developers don't have much say in choosing the LMS or authoring tool provided by their company. But successful practitioners always have a few tech tools and toys that level up their production capabilities. We all wear many hats. Building your own tool kit is part of being a successful eLearning practitioner in today's work environment, and even more so in a post-COVID workplace.Join us for a fast-paced show and tell conversation with Nick Floro. Nick is known for his curation and sharing of new applications, gadgets, and tech that support all the other aspects of the work we do. We'll run through some apps that you may have heard about, or maybe we'll even surprise you with an app or two you haven't yet discovered. There's only one way to find out!Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #IDIODC tag:Brent: @BSchlenkerChris: @Chris_V_WIDIODC: @TeamIDIODC Brent Schlenker is dominKnow's Community Manag

Games are great tools for learning.  And just so we're clear, designing games for learning is very different from gamification.  Learning is a large part of all games, but building a game with the specific intent of teaching a specific concept, idea or process, is not easy.  Myra Roldan created a game to teach about the basics of blockchain.  And if you're asking yourself what the heck is blockchain, then this episode, and the game, are for you.  The game is temporarily titled: LearnCoin (for now).She is creating a blockchain game with the objective of teaching L&D and others how blockchain works. To build knowledge of the inner working so that team and individuals can be thinking of potential use cases and applications in learning. She is currently prototyping the game and it will evolve as she play tests with people in industry.Join us for an engaging conversation around building a game for learning.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searc

Supporting the future leaders of L&D is an important task for us all. The new young minds entering our field are unhindered by the past.  They forge new trails in the training departments of businesses around the world.  Unafraid of new technologies they experiment and innovate. They are curious and want to make corporate training better than it's been.Kavindya and LaTarshia will share their Learning Leaders experience with us and answer your questions. We're looking forward to learning more from and continuing to engage the new members of the IDIODC community.  We hope their might 28 other 30U30 honorees in the chat as well.Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on Twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #IDIODC tag:Brent: @BSchlenkerChris: @Chris_V_WIDIODC: @TeamIDIODC Brent Schlenker is dominKnow's Community Manager. Chris Van Wingerden is dominKnow's Sr. VP Learning Solutions. Want to join us live? Follow us on Crowdcast: https://www.crowdcast.io/dominknow

Engaging Learners in learning content is every instructional designer's goal.  Why is it so hard to do? Why do so many instructional designers struggle to make engaging learning experiences?Karl Kapp joins us to share his wisdom about learner engagement.  It turns out that engaging learners is not as mysterious as we thought.  Karl is the author, and host, of ten LinkedIn Learning courses including the popular " Learning How to Increase Learner Engagement".  In his years as an award-winning professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University he's seen it all.  He teaches game design, gamification classes and online learning design. Games, gamification, and playing to learn, are just a few of the strategies he teaches.  Karl’s work explores the research, theoretical foundations and practical application of gamification, game-thinking and activity-based learning to organizational performance issues. His goal is to help organizations create engaging learning experiences through intelligent, research-b