Learning Design Secrets

Ok, yes, that title was supposed to be clickbait too... But clickbait uses the principle of the unexpected and the unexpected grabs attention. In a lesson that can be exactly what you need to impact a learner. Today I talk about how to make learning a little more unexpected.

It doesn't matter how great the instruction is if the learner doesn't feel safe and connected to what they are being taught. In today's podcast I talk about the important skill of building a learning culture.

It's that time of year, the time to evaluate the direction of our careers. Today I talk about what we, as learning designers, are doing that is not working and then letting that go. Continuing to do what is working and finding what we are not doing yet that we need to start doing.

I get asked what I do all the time, and until recently I would just give my job title. The problem with just giving the job title is that it doesn't explain anything, and people end up more confused. Today I talk about how I tell people what I do in a much better way and how it has re-invigorated my career.

In today's podcast, I take a step into the brain science of why it's important to engage our students in more than just the curriculum. People are complex creatures, and the brain requires stimulation in complex ways. If we just focus on delivering the basic information we are missing out on big opportunities to create lasting impact through engaging the brain's rewards systems.

In today's podcast I talk about teaching the learner who doesn't want to learn: teaching the unteachable. Sometimes students are forced to be in class, or they need to learn something they just don't want to learn. How do we as learning designers get past the learner's lack of desire or their contempt for the curriculum and still make an impact in their lives?

While a lot of aspect of quarantine was NOT fun I feel like it did help online learning take a couple of leaps forward. In today's podcast, I talk about what I learned with doing a blended classroom and what we can continue to do to help our students learn most effectively.

Sometimes in our efforts to be amazing Learning Designers we take on too much and overwhelm our capacity to the point that we are no longer effective. In today's podcast, I talk about how to help you as a designer not get too overwhelmed so that you can use your full cognitive capacity for the learner!

My Learning and Development department was in a bad place for a little while because none of our clients wanted to work with us. This was due to a lack of trust and a prevailing smug attitude. When we decided to find a better workflow that would align with our clients everything changed for us.

Too often we are asked to make a solution to a problem that has not been fully assessed. This leads to abandoned projects, low morale, and underserved learners. Today I talk about avoiding this with the steps of a proper needs assessment.

I don't think bragging has ever gone well for me. So I shouldn't be surprised that when I bragged about how many books I had read, I received some humbling but beneficial advice.

I know tragedy is a constant in this world, but knowing that doesn't make it easier. What can make it a little easier is employing emotional intelligence for yourself and others around you. In today's podcast, I talk about how I observed my wife helping her mother through a family tragedy by subconsciously employing emotional intelligence strategies.

I recently ran into a bit of a training block with my curriculum, but some advice from a good book helped me through it. Today I talk about a great way to help you mix up your training to get out of, the all to common, instructional rut!

I love the Holidays! And this year we had to get creative and hold our holiday parties online. In this week's podcast, I talk about 2 online parties that really stood out and how I am going to adopt what I loved from those parties into my learning design!

I may be wrong but I think the days of coming into a job with specific software knowledge are numbered... It's not about knowing a specific software, it's about knowing how to learn new software fast and well. Because even the software we do know how to use can change overnight. In this podcast, I give 7 strategies on how to be good at learning new software.

It is difficult to connect to online learners BUT it is not impossible. In today's podcast I talk about how to find out more than just the demographics of your online learners so that you can connect to your learners to help them feel like the learning is for them!

Habit making and breaking is a big part of learning design. Today I talk about what I have done to break bad habits and build good ones, and how these strategies can be used in learning design.

My boss asked: "what have you done wrong when doing a virtual training?" I wish I could say nothing... Heck, I wish I could say it was only a few things! In today's podcast I talk about the list me and my friend at work came up with of things we have done wrong in virtual trainings.

Recently I was helping my daughter learn to ride a Ripstik, however our practice sessions were interrupted and I had to leave. When I came back she had learned how to ride it on her own! Today I talk about what we can do to help our learns thrive on their own with well designed deliberate practice!

I recently read how corporations in the US spend hundreds of billions of dollars on training every year but also how a small percentage of the learners who go through training are actually changing because of what they learned. So are we wasting BILLIONS every year?? And what can we do about it?

The fact that a lot of us are more isolated than ever before means it takes an extra effort, and some strategy, to reach our users. Today I talk about a simple steps to get the feedback we need for design success.

Knowing when to provide supportive materials during a lesson is crucial to the success of the students and yet if you don't plan for it then it's easy to forget to do, especially in a virtual class. Today I talk about how to know when to apply supportive materials in a lesson.

When it comes right down to it, delivering a message that portrays a fixed mindset is easy. That's why we do it without even realizing it. Today I talkabout how to tweek what we say so that we are fostering a growth mindset!

This week I read the US Marines Philosophy on Learning. It talks about, that while skills in the battle field are important, the most important skill is ALWAYS LEARNING! As a coach, trainer, and learning designer, this attitude can make or break the learning you design!

In today's podcast I look at the questions: What do I do if my learners come into a class and they are already overwhelmed! And WHY is it such a big deal anyway?! HINT: the answer is not to tell them to "suck it up!..."

Many times I have tried to teach something and been frustrated by the fact that my learners are not getting it, only to realize I didn't explain a step that I didn't even realize I was doing. The details of a skill are not easily taught or learned. In today's podcast I talk about how we can teach learners to pick up on the details of a skill.

Online learning is not always easier, in fact it can be pretty painful. BUT having painful instruction is not the worst thing... Sometimes that pain is exactly what your learners need. That's what I talk about today along with focusing on making learners awesome!

This week started with a lot of confusion and change and sometimes that can distract us from our tried and true systems for success. On today's podcast I talk about how setting up and sticking to good learning design systems help us get through an unexpected crisis!

With the Coronavirus outbreak a lot of instruction is getting moved online. In today's podcast I talk about some things I have learned while delivering an virtual classroom and how they can be just as effective as an in person class.

We have all been there. We have all felt the paralyzing effects of feeling OVERWHELMED. And when that happens no new learning can occur! Today I talk about 3 things you can do to help your learners break free from feeling overwhelmed.

What is our goal? To just finish a task, or to create lasting change? Honestly both goals are noble, but the design of each one is very different. Today I talk about one learning design principle that greatly helps with the learners ability to transfer what they learn in training to what they do in real life!

I was recently asked how I stay up on learning design trends. That question inspired me to share today the websites I use for my learning design research.

The first image of your presentation, video, webinar, whatever, is super important to catch and maintain attention... So what do you do when the image you want doesn't exist?! I talk about that and more on today's podcast.

In any profession ego can be a HUGE stumbling block, unfortunately in Learning Design we are putting ourselves out there to be criticized more than most... Today I talk about my life long battle with my ego.

One thing that stuck out to me from my compliance training rant was the need for repetition but also the huge miss use of it. Today I talk about three strategies I use to make repetition more impactful.

Today I wrap up my rant with 3 more reasons this years compliance training was awful and I offer my learning design suggestions on how to make it better.

Its that time of year... When compliance training must be completed to keep your job! On today's podcast I give you my critique of my companies 2020 compliance training and what they could have done to make it actually effective!

I'll admit I've never liked writing assessment questions after creating a training or coaching session. BUT I now know slacking in this area can ruin all of the learning that I created before it! In this podcast I talk about how to recognize bad questions and some tips to write great ones!

This is new to me, but there are studies about how the color of a learning object can influence learning... Today I share what I know about it and what I plan to do about it!

It's a common struggle: the learner that thinks they know everything, when in fact what they know is wrong! It's a challenge that can be planned for through learning design! Today I talk about 3 ways help learners overcome misinformation.

It's a New Year with new learning that needs to be designed! In today's podcast I talk about the 3 things that you need to consider for all the learning you design!

Its the last day of 2019 and I am taking a step back and thinking about what will learning design look like for me and my learners in 2020 and what we can do to reach our 2020 vision!

Microlearning is a buzzword, but does it describe an instructional strategy or just a way to package learning. In todays podcast I talk about how it is sometime both...

Subject matter experts are a GREAT resource, but they can also be a HUGE pain... In todays podcast I talk about how whether an expert is easy to work with or hard to work with depends on YOU!

It's important to know the fundamental rules of learning science BUT what happens when you have competing information! In today's podcast I talk about my search for the right rules and how to know which ones to follow...

Rules are meant to be broken!... But when? What determines when to break a rule? In todays podcast I talk about how I wanted to be creative and break rules but I had to learn when that was good to do, and when it isn't...

Learning in a classroom is only effective if the students stay engaged. A lot of that engagement comes from our learning design! In today's podcast I talk about 6 engagement modifiers for classroom teaching... NOTE: these can be also applied to elearning as well!

As learning designers we need to set a new standard! Educational articles with little, to no, learning design should not be what defines our field of work... It should be engaging, understandable, impactful, learner centered designed education! In today's podcast I talk about my frustrations with educational articles and a few ways I would change them.

Stakeholders and subject matter experts LOVE their products, and their craft, so naturally they think they know how to train on it. They don't realize they have the CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE and that is the number one cause of horrible trainings. In this podcast I talk about what to do with clients who try to tell you how to design your learning.

Sometimes all you need is a little bit of education to change your entire life!... But if that education is not designed in an approachable way it could pass you by and your life will remain the same... Check out today's podcast on designing learning that is approachable!

Its funny how far off our learners can get when we don't have well defined outcomes. In this podcast I talk about how poor learning outcomes is like being a BOWL in a China shop and how your effort shoudl be more than half FAST! ;)