Do Your Learners Speak Your Language?
“Now that you’re in the beginning phase, you need to untap.” When was the last time you tried explaining something you were familiar with to someone who was new to it? Maybe you were orienting [...]
Learning Objectives and GPS
Your supervisor stops by and says they’re super busy. They need you to take care of something they don’t have time to do. After showing you that “Everything you need is in this folder” they [...]
How to Make a Personal Progress Tracker
Last time we looked at New Year’s Resolutions from an instructional design perspective. Then I realized that a supplementary how-to was in order. How do you make a personal progress tracker that’s specific but flexible? [...]
Instructional Designer’s Guide to New Year’s Resolutions
We’re nearing “New Year’s Resolution” time again. That got me thinking about the pass/fail rate of this annual ritual. How many people stick to their resolutions? Let’s be honest, it’s not very many. Since motivation [...]
Learning as a Journey, Not a Destination
I had the good fortune to spend a semester in Italy during college. Since I didn’t speak any Italian, I signed up for the introductory language course. The professor would assign us an activity, without [...]
Takeaways from Learning 2016
I attended my first conference, Learning 2016, in October. Now that I’ve had time to digest everything and read over my notes I want to share some of what I learned and experienced. In several [...]
The Magic of Microlearning
One of you car’s headlights is out. It’s supposed to be pretty easy to replace, so you buy a new one and decide to give it a try. Where do you go for instructions? I’m [...]
Learning Escape Room
You’re locked in a room with a handful of people, often strangers. You need to work together to find clues and problem solve in order to escape before time runs out. That’s the premise behind [...]
Would You Subject Yourself to This?
Mind-numbing boredom and hair-tearing frustration happen. They’re facts of life. But the thought of learning something new shouldn’t put people on autopilot. If the learner comes out of an educational offering wishing for that chunk [...]
Social Learning Online: It’s Possible
A major complaint among those who prefer Instructor led training (ILT) to eLearning is that eLearning is not social. They claim the lack of social interaction, both with the instructor and other learners, limits the [...]