Don’t Just Train, Give Learners an Adventure! Consider this training request scenario: Learning need: A new business process, along with new software, is to be rolled out to employees within a company division. Challenge: The employees must transition to the process at software go-live, three months from now. The software is currently being customized to […]
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Tips on How to Plan Training Projects Everyone loves a party, right? Well, for the introverts out there, you might enjoy the behind-the-scenes planning more than the event itself, while the extroverts might shrug off the details and just want to jump right into the fun. Regardless, I say “Party?” you say, “Yes!” But what […]
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The Importance of Brand Guidelines At Innovative Learning Group, my days are filled with creating the “look” for the custom learning solutions we create for a wide array of clients (and industries). It keeps the mundane at bay and makes my job more fulfilling. It can be thrilling to jump from one client to the […]
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Encouraging Learners to Try Something Different A good friend of mine owns a successful company here in southeast Michigan, and he told me he plans to spend part of his summer learning how to use a CNC milling machine. Why? Each year he picks something new to learn — something challenging and different from what […]
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Best Practices for Doing Compliance Training Right I know what you’re thinking, “Not another blog about compliance. What more is there to say? Compliance training must be done, so just do it!” But pause a minute… this idea of “just do it” is why compliance training often ends up being so unpalatable. Because it typically […]
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Seek Many Voices When Designing Solutions Imagine you’re an instructional designer (ID) charged with creating e-learning to teach a work process. Which one of the following is the best way to determine the course content? Obtain relevant information from the subject matter expert (SME) Imagine what you would want to know yourself Observe an exemplary […]
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Using Sound Effects to Wow Your Learners Steve Austin, astronaut: a man barely alive. Gentlemen we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before…Better, Stronger, Faster. Opening narration from The Six Million Dollar Man, […]
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Not Quite E-Learning But More Than a Job Aid One of my first learning industry projects was in the late ‘90s, when printed PowerPoint facilitator guides and corresponding participant guides were all the rage. Within 10 years, e-learning had replaced many instructor-led training (ILT) sessions, which makes sense when you think about it, and why […]
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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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