Applying Meaning to Design Our brains seek to understand the big picture. We look for pattern relationships and meaning, and we can use this knowledge to help design better training. Understanding and applying Gestalt principles can help the learner absorb and enjoy the material. Gestalt means ‘the whole’ or ‘form’ and provides a theory on […]
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Increase Engagement in Learning Solutions by Respecting Learner Characteristics Maybe you’ve seen the Salesforce commercial: Matthew McConaughey, dressed as an astronaut but piloting a hot air balloon, tells us “It’s not time to escape, it’s time to engage!” A very thinly veiled poke at certain billionaire tech giants, it asserts that we don’t need to […]
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Addressing the Leader Mindset Does your leadership development program move the needle on the leader behaviors that make a difference? With organizations increasing their leadership training spend between 25-30 percent, it makes sense to focus keenly on what kinds of leaders we want in our organization. There’s a lot to being a great leader, and […]
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The Importance of Accessibility One of the most frequent questions I receive when designing custom learning solutions for clients is a single sentence, usually expressed as a random comment or thrown in an email. “Can we make sure this is accessible?” Answering this question isn’t easy. Many of our clients have their own internal rules […]
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Applying Change Management for Learning As an instructional designer, I often work on projects that are large initiatives or are taking a company in a different direction culturally. While my main role is to design and develop learning to support the initiative or new direction, from a performance consultant perspective I also listen for, or […]
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Four Tips for Effectively Using Virtual Reality in Training As a learning technology consultant, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to effectively use new tools to enhance training and improve business results. Virtual reality (VR) holds a great deal of promise because it allows learners to apply skills or practice things they […]
Read MoreBe Responsive and Effective Can you have short, breezy learning opportunities that your learners take whenever and wherever they want that won’t make the training gods cringe? Now more than ever, learners don’t want to spend hours sitting through synchronous learning. They also don’t want to read volumes of text or sit through a lengthy […]
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Relevant, Meaningful Content Creates Great Learning Experiences According to a Gallup Global Emotions survey, people are experiencing a record amount of stress in their lives with 40 percent saying that they experience stress during most of their day. You can say that it’s because of the pandemic or that it’s the result of social polarization, […]
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The Danger of Describe If you’ve worked with me recently and turned in performance or learning objectives starting with “Describe…” you’ve most definitely gotten feedback from me questioning your choice. If you work with me sometime soon, you’ll know this is one of my pet peeves and be prepared for the questions! Yes, I do […]
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A Reflection on my Career in Learning It was 1980-something when I graduated college with a business degree, prepared for a career in marketing. After several attempts to get a job in a tough employment market, I landed a position doing something I could’ve never imagined — writing proposals for a custom training consultancy in […]
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