Root Cause Analysis Methods & Tips
You fell and hurt your arm. X-rays reveal that it’s broken, and you’re in a lot of pain. What would you think if the doctor gave you pain medication and sent you home, without doing [...]
Instructional Design Survival Tips
A while back, my colleague Mary and I were asked to give some “real world” instructional design survival tips. It’s a nifty little list, so I thought I’d share it with you. Mary’s tips [...]
Should Marketing Review eLearning Courses?
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 [...]
Storyboards: What’s in a Number?
The first time I worked with a storyboard template it was numbered 100, 200, 300, and so on. I did what I thought was the helpful thing and renumbered the storyboards to 1, 2, 3, [...]
The student will become the master! But how? Adapting the Feynman 3-Step Mastery Technique to Online Learning
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 [...]
The Suspenseful Season Finale of Training
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! [...]
Learning Objectives Are Spoilers
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 [...]
Learners Aren’t Robots: Put Emotion Back into Training
You must turn off your emotions for the next hour. This training is a feeling-free zone. You do not have a report due at the end of the day. You do not have to get [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]