Tag: Learning objectives
Three Ways We’ve Used AI in Instructional Design
Recently, clients and others in my network have been asking if EnVision uses AI—particularly ChatGPT-style tools—and in what way. AI, in some form, has been around for a while. If you access your device using facial recognition or you’ve taken Netflix’s suggestion for your next video, you’ve experienced AI. In the L&D world, AI can [...]Course Design—and My Housecleaner
How My Housecleaner Demonstrated that We Can’t Deliver the Same Amount of Training Content in Less Time Have you ever hired a housecleaner? I am lucky enough to have one, and I’ve been very pleased with her work for many years now. I was recently thinking about how I got started with her when a client [...]Picking the Choicest Apples in Instructional Design
If you have ever gone apple picking, have you had the following experience, as I have? You start to fill your basket with beautiful red apples, then suddenly, too suddenly, your basket is overflowing? When working with a subject matter expert (SME), instructional designers are often handed an overflowing basket of “apples,” the core content, [...]A, B, C, or All of the Above?
Have you ever taken a learning assessment—aka test—that was frustratingly difficult or fabulously easy? Did you get distracted taking the test, wondering, “What were they thinking?” as you tried to regurgitate trite facts or parse out a complex question and series of responses? Early in my consulting career, I was asked to review a learning [...]Supporting SMEs—with Pizza: Professional Development Offering
In our final activity, groups shared one action they will try for each of the pie slices. In April, I enjoyed facilitating a virtual event for the Hawkeye (Iowa) Chapter of ATD. The topic was titled “Supporting SMEs—with Pizza” and trust me, pizza always gets folks’ attention! We started out voting on our favorite-looking pie [...]Making the Move to a Virtual Classroom
Perhaps our current distancing restrictions are just the gentle nudge—or powerful push—we needed to leap daringly into a virtual world that many have been part of for a long while. Collectively, we are learning how to make the most of our virtual tools, and I believe that in doing so we are positioning ourselves to [...]A Bird’s Eye View from the Belfry
We recently took an amazing vacation, which included a couple of days in Bruges. Bruges is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its original medieval architecture throughout the city. During our first day in the center of Bruges, we were a bit overwhelmed. There was so much activity — horses with their carriages and [...]Three Ways to Mess Up a Client Relationship
Bea Smart, an instructional designer, started working recently with Joe King, a compliance director, about potential training needs. She’s excited about the opportunity to partner with the Compliance Department and wants to impress her new internal client. Bea starts off with a training needs analysis by completing several employee interviews, an activity that had never [...]SME Syndrome: Symptoms and Prevention Tips
Are you – or is someone you work closely with – a SME (subject matter expert)? Instructional designers often require a SME’s knowledge and input to develop training. And it can be a challenge to obtain the key content (and only the key content). First, let’s introduce a typical SME, Simone. Simone is the director [...]Polishing Your Gems – And Showing the Value of Your Training Efforts
Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt, or maybe seen one in the movies? The seeker searches for a treasure chest—usually attending to challenges along the way. Imagine large rolling rocks and a few poison darts, all difficult to control! Eventually the seeker locates the elusive treasure chest, but not all its contents are [...]Short Can be More Than Just Sweet!
What do stained glass windows, intricate marble carvings, and richly symbolic murals have in common? Give up? They are all easily seen from just one spot in the Library of Congress. Why do I mention this? I recently visited Washington, DC and toured the Library of Congress. If you haven’t been to the Library, I [...]How Many “Two by Fours” Does Your Curriculum Use?
By Kathy Harvey-Ellis For my day job, I work in marketing, for EnVision and another company. After this winter, however, I also feel like I work in home improvement – of our own home. I am my own general contractor. From the repair of a supporting beam in our garage, to minor water damage in [...]The Pick of the Crop
Have you ever gone berry picking? Usually, you fill a container and pay by its size. Those juicy berries look so appealing you want to fit as many as possible into the container, right? Would you squish them in to get more? Or would you select the ripest berries to ensure excellent quality and highest [...]When Learning Becomes Too Much: Seven Ways to Reduce Cognitive Overload
Have you ever been in a class where everyone’s eyes are glazed over? By the end of the first half-day, participants stop, well, participating? Perhaps the course just isn’t engaging them. Or, perhaps (cue music: dut, dut, dut) they are experiencing cognitive overload. So, what is cognitive overload? Cognitive overload is an inundation of short-term […]
Forging a Path in the Snow
While many New Englanders bemoan this harsh winter, I find I embrace most of it; well, maybe not the snow removal part. Since one of my favorite pastimes is snowshoeing, winter – especially snowy winters like this one—enables me to indulge in it. What keeps me attaching these cumbersome apparatuses to my feet, and trudging […]
Get to the Head of the Class in Writing Learning Assessments
A college midterm for Introduction to Psychology. The Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. The MCAS (the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System – if you’re a parent to a school-aged child, you know it!) What do these three items have in common? Yes, we commonly refer to them as “tests” or “exams,” but like the MCAS acronym […]
Don’t Forget the Roadmap Before You Start Your Trip – the Value of the Needs Assessment
Before starting to design a learning solution, which tool can help guide your work? Just like embarking upon an unfamiliar road trip, starting a learning project requires a blueprint, a guide. To ensure you don’t get lost along the way, a map is essential (assuming this scenario takes place in the pre-GPS era). The map […]
Making Instructional Design REAL
Have you ever sat through a course that was not engaging and had minimal activities? How much information did you retain? Worse yet, have you ever delivered a course, and the participants seemed bored and uninterested? Here is a model for making instructional design REAL. R is for reality-based This is critical. Be sure your […]