Back in my high school Spanish class I struggled to learn a new verb form. It didn’t fit into the neat little list of “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “we,” and “they.” I had no clue what to do with it. Then someone informed me, “It’s basically ‘y’all.’ You use it when talking to several people […]
You already know that off-the-shelf content can save your organization time and money. These courses are built for a wide audience and are applicable in almost any setting. Almost. Occasionally, you’ll choose a course on safety and you’ll end up with something that doesn’t seem to apply to your learners. Or, perhaps a video learning […]
You’re busy. You have deadlines to meet, errands to run, and occasionally some “down time” where you try to squeeze in something fun or relaxing. If it’s your job to create training then you do that a lot too. But how often are you a learner? We can talk about putting ourselves in the learner’s […]
Trying to have a conversation with someone who “already knows everything” is like talking to a wall. Nothing you have to say matters because they’ll automatically tune you out. To them, the “conversation” is either a waste of time or a way to show off their own smarts. Learners can fall into this pattern too. […]
Recently, an instructional designer friend of mine asked me, “Should Marketing review eLearning courses and approve them before they are released?” I responded with a, “Yes, but…” There are legitimate reasons Marketing needs to see the course before it goes out. However, content isn’t one of them. That’s right, I said it. I am a […]
According to the website fortunelords.com, YouTube is the 3rd most visited website in the world. Additionally, the total number of hours of video watched on YouTube each month is 3.25 billion. You may think using videos in eLearning is just another ploy to cater to millennials, with their short attention spans, but looking at age […]
How often do you feel like you understand something until someone asks you to tell them more about it? When teachers and learners want to convey information quickly there’s always a temptation to rely on definitions and a sampling of big picture ideas to help the learner hit the ground running. But Nobel Prize-winning physicist […]
Some time ago, a colleague of mine wrote a blog called Learning Myths: Debunked, in which he stated that learning styles is a myth. Having obtained a degree in Elementary Education, I was shocked and still skeptical that learning styles was indeed a myth. As a student, I was consistently challenged to find new ways […]
It’s the season finale of your favorite show. You’re glued to the chair as everything falls apart. Your favorite character is in mortal peril and then the screen is suddenly black. No, not a cliffhanger! Are they going to make it? What happens next? You simply need to know. And that’s why you’ll watch the […]
Let’s run a quick experiment. Think of the beginning of a book, show, movie, or video game. How did you feel after getting through that opening for the first time? Who or what did you want to know more about? What did you think was going to happen next? Is that what happened next? Now […]