Learning While Working Podcast: Recent Episodes

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Rance Green talks about the transformative power of storytelling in learning. He shares his "instructional story design" method, emphasising the need to understand the learning audience deeply and integrate conflict effectively into training narratives. Rance also provides practical advice on creating impactful training stories that act like flight simulators for the brain, driving both context and action.

About Rance Greene

Rance Greene is a story designer, author and speaker. Rance helps leaders connect with, inspire, guide and persuade their people through story-based messaging. He also equips talent development professionals to reach business outcomes through story-based training. A leader, consultant, coach and frequent speaker in live and virtual sessions on leadership storytelling, story-writing and instructional story design.

Key takeaways:

• Understand your audience: Rance emphasises the importance of deeply understanding your learning audience to create relatable characters and scenarios. This ensures the training is tailored to their specific needs and resonates on a personal level.
• Incorporate conflict: One of the essential elements of a compelling story is conflict. It engages the audience and drives the narrative forward. Rance highlights that stories in training should end at the height of conflict to leave a lasting impression and a desire for resolution.
• Story design as a process: Rance’s "instructional story design" method combines analytical and creative steps, making storytelling accessible to everyone, even if you don’t see yourself as a natural storyteller. By focusing on behaviours and actions, training stories become both relatable and actionable.

Segmented time stamps:

• (00:00) Introduction.
• (06:12) Scenarios compared to stories.
• (11:08) Training stories need relatable characters and conflict.
• (16:07) Encourage stakeholder responsibility through system-based thinking.
• (18:22) How will training benefit individuals personally?
• (25:21) Start a story, resolve conflict, and ask reflective questions.
• (28:39) Efficiently teach storytelling: conflict, action, brevity.

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Lance Greene on LinkedIn
• Read ‘Instructional Story Design’
• Visit NeedAStory.com

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Lisa Bodell, CEO of FutureThink and a global leader in simplification and innovation, explores the vital role of curiosity in our rapidly evolving AI landscape. Robin and Lisa discuss the power of asking "killer questions," fostering a culture of curiosity, and the irreplaceable human touch in creativity and problem-solving. Lisa also shares practical examples and insights on how diverse questioning can lead to innovative solutions in both work and personal life.

About Lisa Bodell

Lisa Bodell is an award-winning author and CEO of FutureThink. She has repeatedly been selected as one of the Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World and recognized as one of the top 50 futurists. As a futurist and expert on the topic of innovation and simplicity, she serves as a global council member of the World Economic Forum, and has helped thousands of senior leaders ignite innovation at Bloomberg, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, and more.

Key takeaways:

• Curiosity as a Skill: it is not just a natural trait; it's a skill that can be taught, practised, and sharpened. Organisations must foster a culture where asking questions is encouraged and safe.
• The Power of Better Questions: in the age of AI, the quality of answers is directly tied to the quality of questions. Instead of defaulting to straightforward queries, try "question storming" to expand your thinking and uncover new possibilities.
• Thinking Time is Crucial: Lisa emphasised the importance of carving out time for deep, uninterrupted thinking. This isn't just beneficial for innovation at work but for personal growth too.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:54) How brainstorming problems unlocks creative solutions.

(08:28) Innovation involves uniqueness, not identical prompts and answers.

(10:42) Use provocative questions to inspire disruptive innovation.

(13:05) Lack of preparation and time stifles creativity.

(16:32) Progress comes from creating multiple iterations.

(22:05) How ‘The Artist's Way’ nurtures creativity through daily writing.

(23:04) Monthly thinking day eases personal and business challenges.

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Lisa Bodell on LinkedIn
• Visit FutureThink
• Read The Artist's Way

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Sarah Hawk, co-CEO of Discourse, shares the transformative potential of chat platforms in facilitating learning and collaboration in the workplace. The conversation explores the concept of "fast lane" and "slow lane" chat environments, emphasising the significance of intentional information architecture and fostering a culture of open, transparent communication, and much more.

About Sarah Hawk

Sarah Hawk is an expert in online community building and manages the team that builds Discourse, the 100% open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. Prior to her current role, Hawk was Head of Community at community consultancy FeverBee.

Key takeaways:

• Intentional Information Architecture: Hawk emphasises the importance of designing a well-structured information system. Ensuring people know where to post questions, how to find answers, and how to retain and document knowledge is crucial for long-term organisational growth.
• Mindful Cultural Building: Building a culture that encourages open communication, prolific question-asking, and transparent storytelling enriches the learning experience. It's about taking people on your journey, not just arriving at the destination.
• Fast Lane vs. Slow Lane in Chat Platforms: Understanding the distinct roles of real-time (fast lane) and more permanent, reflective discussions (slow lane) helps optimise chat platforms for both immediate collaboration and long-term knowledge retention.

Segmented time stamps:

• (00:00) Introduction.
• (04:05) Communication in remote workplaces and its impact.
• (09:18) Empowerment through intentional and mindful discussion.
• (11:51) Archiving fast-paced conversations systematically.
• (14:41) Building community through setting guidelines.
• (18:52) The need for a flexible platform for knowledge sharing and safety.
• (20:55) Insights on information architecture, culture and learning.

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Sarah Hawk on LinkedIn
• Check out Discourse’s Website

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Kayvon Touran shares the transformative potential of AI in skill management. Tune in as we unpack the pivotal role of context in making skill frameworks effective and the innovative ways AI can address the nuances of managing skills within organisations. Kayvon also reveals how AI can streamline data collection and enhance skill assessments through dynamic simulations.

About Kayvon Touran

Kayvon Touran is the CEO and co-founder of Zal.ai. Kayvon has spent his entire career working in early stage technology startups, and most recently as a product leader in education technology where he created and implemented a next generation lifelong learning platform for higher education institutions.

Key takeaways:

• Context is king: Generic skill definitions won’t cut it. Kayvon shares how customised, context-specific skills frameworks are essential for genuinely impactful training.
• AI as a powerful tool: Artificial intelligence can streamline the collection and analysis of skill data, helping to distil massive amounts of information into actionable insights.
• Practice and personalisation: Realistic, role-specific simulation-based training can elevate employee performance. Explore AI-driven, practice-based assessments to provide dynamic, tailored feedback and training opportunities.

Segmented time stamps:

(03:15) Data analysis for actionable insights at organisational level.

(07:34) Passion for skills transformation in organisations.

(09:50) Importance of generative AI in product development.

(14:51) How to use AI to summarise skill definitions from the web.

(18:21) Having personalised dynamic training for durable skills, performance-based.

(22:23) Why is context crucial for effective skill training?

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Kayvon Touran on LinkedIn
• Zal.ai’s Website

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Brant Gibbons, President of Knowledge Anywhere, shares his expert insights on the current generation of AI tools, the balance between innovation and practicality, and the critical considerations for L&D professionals when integrating AI into their workflows. We explore the exciting potential of AI, the inherent risks, and the ongoing tension between cutting-edge technology and maintaining quality human interactions in learning experiences.

About David Guralnick

As the President of Knowledge Anywhere, Brant Gibbons leads a team of passionate and innovative professionals who deliver technology-based learning solutions to help their clients achieve their goals. With over 20 years of experience in the learning industry, Brant has a proven track record of driving growth, building strategic partnerships, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Founded in 1998, Knowledge Anywhere, Inc. is an award-winning company that has emerged as a leader in knowledge transfer through eLearning technology.

Key takeaways:

• Think Big, Start Small: Embrace AI as the future but proceed with caution. Analyse its impact on your workflow and ensure it drives both performance and cost-efficiency without compromising user experience.
• Stay Data-Driven: Don’t lose focus on analytical approaches. While generative AI can be helpful, foundational data analytics are crucial for making informed, impactful decisions.
• Balance Innovation with Quality: AI can make content creation faster and easier, but it’s critical to maintain the human element in learning experiences to avoid alienating your audience.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(05:55) Compliance-driven training lacks meaningful business impact

(08:16) Using technology to supplement traditional instructional design

(13:17) Future of learning: ongoing, personalised, interactive knowledge-seeking

(14:34) Custom chatbots and generative learning

(20:58) Embrace AI cautiously and align with audience needs

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Brant on LinkedIn
• Knowledge Anywhere’s Website

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, David Guralnick, the CEO of Kaleidoscope Learning and President of the International eLearning Association, shares the potential of AI-driven, learner-centric environments. He also unpacks the possibilities of AI as a personalised coach, and the challenges organisations face in adopting new technologies. Plus, hear David's valuable insights on moving beyond traditional constraints to dream big and scale back, ensuring that the ideal learning experience is always within reach.

About David Guralnick

David Guralnick is the current President and CEO of Kaleidoscope Learning. He is also the current president of the International E-Learning Association; founder and chair of The Learning Ideas Conference; Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Advanced Corporate Learning; Chair of the International E-Learning Awards; and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. He is the author of the book "How Organizations Can Make the Most of Online Learning”.

Key takeaways:

• Meaningful Learning Defined: it's not just about content or information. Meaningful learning resonates emotionally and aligns with personal goals, whether in the workplace, school, or life in general.
• AI as a Coach: Imagine having an AI coach guiding you through complex scenarios, learning about your interests, and tailoring experiences specifically for you. David discusses the potential of AI to act as a mentor and facilitator, making learning not just efficient, but deeply engaging.
• The Future of Learning: David shares some strong visions for the future, advocating for a shift from traditional, constraint-bound methods to innovative, tech-enabled approaches that truly reimagine education.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(05:38) Progressive learning techniques and leveraging technology for education

(06:41) Reconsidering education in the age of AI

(09:50) AI's potential and challenges in near future

(14:28) Early AI work in education at Northwestern

(19:03) Created specialised authoring tool for non-technical users

(20:02) Online learning constrained by tool limitations and coding

(25:10) Start big, think AI, and what the ideal experience looks like

(26:34) Accepting tradeoffs can lead to greater satisfaction

Links from the podcast

• Connect with David on LinkedIn
• Visit Kaleidoscope Learning’s Website
• Read David’s book ‘How Organizations Can Make the Most of Online Learning’

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Bob Mosher shares the potential of performance support to enhance learning while working. We'll explore the concept of 'the Five Moments of Need' and how they revolutionise our approach to workplace training. Bob also sheds light on some crucial strategies like performing workflow analysis before developing training solutions, and redefining the roles of learners as performers and users.

About Bob Mosher

Bob Mosher is the Chief Learning Evangelist and Co-Founder of APPLY Synergies, a strategic consulting firm that specialises in helping learning organisations design, develop and measure effective learning and performance support strategies to meet the 5 Moments of Learning Need. Bob has been an active and influential leader in the learning and training industry for over 40 years and is renowned worldwide for his pioneering role in new approaches to learning.

Key takeaways:

• Performance support is critical: Understanding that performance support isn't just about creating job aids or tools but developing a discipline that incorporates these tools into a learning ecosystem that supports work as it happens.
• Focus on the workflow: Start with a workflow analysis to understand the tasks and processes where performance support can be effectively integrated. This helps in designing learning that is not just informative but truly applicable.
• Apply over theory: Shift the focus from theoretical knowledge to real application. Learning should be anchored in real-life tasks and designed to support the actual application in the workplace, enhancing both learning and performance outcomes.

Segmented time stamps:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (05:43) Portfolios as professional reflective documents are essential
• (07:06) Consumption vs performance – the key difference
• (11:18) Why workflow analysis is essential for designing effective solutions
• (16:17) Giving new leaders practical guidance for success
• (23:02) Evaluating learning outcomes and impacts with technology

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Bob Mosher on LinkedIn
• APPLY Synergies’ Website

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Danny Stefanic is a pioneer in 3D technologies and is the founder of a number of VR-related companies including LearnBrite. We'll be exploring the challenges and opportunities of using VR and AR in learning environments, how organisations can implement these technologies effectively, and the future of immersive learning experiences.

About Danny Stefanic

Danny Stefanic has been working in the virtual reality industry for over 25 years and created the first web metaverse back in 2008. He is the founder of a number of VR-related companies including LearnBrite, MootUp and Hyperspace, and continues to be a pioneer in VR and AR in learning environments.

Key takeaways:

• The practical applications of VR and AR in corporate learning: provide hands-free operation for on-the-job training and enhanced real-world simulations for skills like objection handling and customer service.
• Be aware of cross-device compatibility: develop experiences that operate across multiple platforms, and make sure you choose a platform that supports cross-device functionality.
• Future trends and considerations in immersive tech: there will be an evolution toward more user-friendly and integrated AR/VR technologies. There is also potential for mainstream adoption as hardware becomes more accessible and user-friendly. The best recommendation to get started is to use no-code platforms and existing skills for creating immersive learning experiences.

Segmented time stamps:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (05:54) The Apple Vision Pro being a high-quality, heavy headset
• (07:51) Immersive experience enhances learning and comprehension
• (13:23) Challenges of deploying VR in organisations
• (16:44) New technology allows for widespread accessibility and usage
• (19:16) Transition to using spectacles as user interface
• (25:24) Tool for instructional designers with existing skills

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Dany on LinkedIn
• Visit LearnBrite’s website
• Check out Hyperspace

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Stella Lee unpacks her comprehensive competency framework for AI, crafted especially for learning and development professionals. The conversation covers everything from the AI fundamentals to the crucial aspects of data fluency, and the ethical implications to know about. Stella's framework emphasises the need for a mindset that balances adaptability and critical analysis.

About Susan Stocker

With over 20 years of experience in the e-learning and edtech industry, Stella Lee is a director at Paradox Learning, a consulting firm that provides and evaluates innovative learning solutions across multiple devices, cultures, and platforms. Stella works with clients from various sectors, such as government, education, non-profit, and corporate, to help them achieve their learning and development goals with data-driven and technology-enabled approaches.

Key takeaways:

• The AI Competency Framework: covering seven areas, it is designed to deepen our understanding of artificial intelligence and its implications in the learning and development sector. The concepts cover: data fluency, diverse use cases, critical thinking, ethics, AI in education, and the future of work.
• Cultivate a deeper understanding of AI's implications, which includes ethical considerations, and its potential impact on future work structures, which would allow L&D professionals to prepare and adapt accordingly.
• Having multiple mindsets towards AI, such as adaptability and openness, and the value of starting from one's current level of understanding to contribute to collective learning in AI. Be aware of individual responsibility in fostering an environment of ongoing education and critical engagement with emerging technologies.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:16) Thinking ethically about AI and preparing for future

(08:21) The AI competency framework: 7 areas of focus

(10:30) Future collaboration with AI

(16:34) Using AI to develop strategy and educational piece

(20:24) Reflecting on work and considering broader implications

(25:39) Embrace multiple mindsets and experiment

(27:24) Health care innovation will influence other fields

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Stella Lee on LinkedIn
• Visit Stella’s Website
• Download the AI Literacy Competency Framework for Educators & L&D Professional
• Download the AI Adoption Framework for L&D
• Read ‘AI Literacy: Implications for L&D’

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Terry Pearce, the founder of Unfold Play, joins the show for a discussion on engaging learning through play. Terry shares strategies for game-based learning and the six levers that make games effective for learning. He also gives examples of how putting learners at the centre of the learning experience can transform seemingly dry content into engaging and effective learning activities.

About Terry Pearce

Terry Pearce founded Untold Play to bring together his twin passions of learning design and games. Terry leverages the power of games and gamification in learning, and he regularly weaves the principles of game-based learning into the learning experiences he creates. He has won awards, through the London NHS Modernisation Agency, Reed Learning and the Healthcare People Management Association, for the services I deliver to clients, including HSBC, Imperial College Hospital, Thames Water and Zurich.

Key takeaways:

• Putting learners at the centre: Games engage learners by making them the protagonists, setting open challenges, letting them explore, embracing failure, offering meaningful choices, and nudging them towards desired behaviours. This shift places the focus on the learner and encourages active participation in the learning process.
• Debriefing for reflection: Terry stressed the significance of debriefing in learning experiences. The "What happened, So what, Now what" framework allows learners to process their experiences, make generalisations, and consider behavioural changes as they apply their learnings to real-world scenarios.
• Transform Deck: Terry introduced the Transform Deck of learning design cards, which is a valuable tool for creating engaging, learner-centred activities. The deck serves as a point of inspiration for turning content into interactive, experiential learning experiences, providing a spectrum of options beyond traditional games and gamification.

Segmented time stamps:

• (00:00) Introduction
• (04:56) Games thrive on failure, meaningful choices and nudges
• (09:18) Embrace play and games for healthy benefits
• (11:08) Creating engaging learning experiences through interactive games
• (14:54) Virtual escape room featuring games-based learning
• (18:41) Dice game simulates cultural immersion and adaptation
• (22:15) Deck of cards for inspiring learner-focused activities
• (25:12) Align objectives, culture, and methods for learning

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Terry on LinkedIn
• Visit Terry’s Website
• Check out The Transform Deck
• Read more about The Six Levers

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Gregg Eiler, Senior Manager for Learning and Development at Powin, unpacks how motivation, clarity, and leadership interact to boost employee performance. Gregg also dives into the art of coaching, sharing actionable insights from his own experiences that redefine how to build expertise within L&D teams. Find out why it’s about being more than just an instructional designer – it's about being a business problem solver with a curious mindset.

About Gregg Eiler

Gregg Eiler is the Senior Manager for Learning and Development at Powin, where he built the company’s L&D operations from the ground up. He is an experienced Instructional Designer and Performance Improvement Expert with over 15 years of expertise, collaborating with global industry leaders to create impactful learning solutions. Greg’s particular passion lies in optimising performance ecosystems, focusing on elements such as motivation, bandwidth expansion, deliberate practice, coaching, and feedback.

Key takeaways:

• Embrace the problem-solver mindset: Learning and Development goes beyond training; it's about being a strategic problem solver who aligns with business objectives.
• The power of coaching: Gregg leverages coaching to unlock the potential of industry experts, building their capability to ask challenging questions and pivot their perspective.
• Curiosity as a capability: Encourage curiosity within your L&D teams – it's the driving force that fosters accountability and a sharp focus on solving core business problems.

Segmented time stamps:

• (03:58) Accountability, progress, and curiosity in sports coaching.
• (07:40) Consider multiple factors before investing time.
• (13:00) Encouraging curiosity, coaching and using templates.
• (15:52) Question to envision future success and set expectations.
• (18:29) Advocates design thinking for a user-centred approach.
• (20:12) Prototyping and testing essential for effective solutions.
• (24:29) Improve business skills through coaching.
• (27:10) Respecting opinions and styles while offering feedback.

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn
• Visit Greg’s Website

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Andrea Laus explores the importance of role plays for developing crucial human skills, the potential pitfalls in traditional role play designs, and the transformative impact of a digital approach to role plays guided by technology. Andrea als unpacks how AI can enhance role plays, improve the feedback process, and ultimately revolutionise the L&D landscape.

About Andrea Laus

Andrea Laus has spent the last 20 years developing effective strategies for talent development. He is the CEO of SkillGym, which designs state-of-the-art digital role plays for rebalancing knowledge-based training approaches with actionable practice. He regularly shares his ideas about effective training methodologies and strategies through his blog, and speaks at several HR and L&D conferences around the world on these fascinating subjects.

Key takeaways:

• The importance of role plays in learning experiences: Andrea shares how it's crucial for developing human skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. It also creates a safe environment for practising real-life scenarios
• On the challenges and misconceptions about role plays: Learners often feel judged and uncomfortable during role plays. There is a common misconception too that soft skills are “soft” – in reality they require dedicated effort and practice. It helps to understand these barriers so you can create the best learning environment.
• The application of technology and AI: Andrea highlights that, when used thoughtfully, technology can have a very positive impact. AI can help generate dialogues and responses, standardised and effective feedback, and it can assist in tracking and analysing learner actions. However, it is vital to select the right technology for specific learning objectives.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:05) Handling the feeling of judgement in role plays

(07:06) Leveraging role plays for sense making in learning

(12:15) Practice with digital standardised and accelerates improvement

(17:50) Supervise generative AI for writing dialogues

(23:39) Measure and improve with technology-driven feedback

(26:37) Utilise strategies, trust the process, embrace technology

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Andrea Laus on LinkedIn
• Check out SkillGym
• Watch the recording of the Upskilling Using Artificial Intelligence: AI Digital Role Play webinar

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Susan Stockeruncovers the world of computational thinking and its relevance in the age of artificial intelligence. With the skills gap becoming a concern in the era of AI and data-driven decision making, Susan's research on computational thinking in the workplace is timely and informative. Listen, as we explore what computational thinking is, the importance of critical thinking, and how these skills can shape our approach to problem-solving in the age of AI.

About Susan Stocker

Susan Stocker is a Digital Transformation L&D Consultant where she helps organisations quickly change and get ahead of the skills and capability curve. She is committed to hands-on learning that enables teams to accelerate their success and companies to retain their people. She is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Product Owner, Certified Scrum Master, and Certified BADIR Citizen Analyst.

Key takeaways:

• Computational Thinking and AI in the Workplace: Computational thinking is a key skill in the age of AI and data-driven decision-making, so reflect on how you can build the relationship between these skills.
• Reimagining Work and Learning with AI: it’s an exciting time to rethink work in strategic areas for impactful organisational change as we are incorporating AI in day-to-day work and collaborating with the business.
• The skills gap in computational thinking is a real concern. According to Susan's research, a significant percentage of people in the workplace lack critical and computational thinking skills. As professionals, we need to develop these skills to effectively work with AI and data.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:46) The struggle with critical and computational thinking

(10:01) Value drivers for AI transformation in business

(11:33) Understanding AI's use cases and problem-solving approach

(15:09) Moving beyond technical AI to include critical thinking and behavioural responses

(20:29) Rethinking work

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Susan Stocker on LinkedIn
• Visit the Aryng Website
• Read Boston Consulting report Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality
• Read Ethan Mollich thoughts the Boston Consulting report Centaurs and Cyborgs on the Jagged Frontier

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Eliza Cani, a learning designer at LearnWorlds, explores the topic of using ChatGPT for learning designers. Eliza shares valuable insights on how AI can be integrated into course design, the importance of prompting skills, and the future trends that can revolutionise the field

About Eliza Cani

Eliza Cani is an eLearning Designer at LearnWorlds, and an experienced public speaker with a background in IT. She started her career at LearnWorlds as a member of the support team where she demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the platform and the ability to solve customer issues fast and efficiently. Over the years, Eliza has helped hundreds of trainers and course creators create engaging learning materials and deliver them effectively.

Key takeaways:

• Prompt engineering and engaging with ChatGPT: there is a need for precise and specific prompts, e.g. specifying course duration, target audience, tone of voice, key takeaways, etc. Consider also the audience needs and preferences in prompts, as well as regularly reflecting on prompts over time to improve outcomes.
• Future trends in course design: expect more integrations of AI with platforms, including learning management systems and learning content systems. There will be less use of conversational interfaces, such as ChatGPT, and conversational AI will become more embedded in tools and platforms, to make AI more accessible to all users.
• Overall advice for Learning Designers working with AI: don’t be afraid to use AI tools. Start with simple tasks and gradually explore more capabilities so you can understand how AI complements and enhances the work of learning designers.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:22) ChatGPT as an efficient and creative tool for content summarisation

(04:22) Simplifying learning theories for all

(09:59) How to talk to AI tools by being advanced and precise

(13:26) Having a customised approach based on audience and goals

(15:14) How AI tools enhance learning design and why you need to understand their impact

(18:15) Tools that facilitate course design and integration seamlessly

(21:32) How AI won't replace designers

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Eliza Cani on LinkedIn
• Find out more about LearnWorlds
• Do the free Master ChatGPT: Supercharge Your Course Design With AI course

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Pedram Parasmand shares his insights on using AI tools for workshop designs and emphasises the importance of not relying on AI to do the creative work for you, but rather using it as a thought partner and brainstorming tool.

He shares his experience with Chat GPT and Copy AI, highlighting how he trains these AI generative tools on his own methodology to support workshop design. He also explores the potential of using AI-powered transcription tools like Otter AI for analysis and evaluation.

About Pedram Parasmand

Pedram Parasmand is The Co-Founder and CEO of Skills Lab and has over 11 years experience working with executive teams to new entrants in the corporate, public, third and education sectors. Pedram has partnered with clients such as Accenture, Barclays Bank, Mind, Ministry of Justice, Red Bull, The European Union Commission, and The British Council. Previously, Pedram worked in Leadership Development at the education charity Teach First and started his career as a high school Science teacher.

Key takeaways:

• Don't rely on AI to do the creative work for you: Pedram emphasises the importance of trusting your own human instincts and using AI as a support system or brainstorming tool. AI can enhance your workshop design process, but it can never replace your skills as a facilitator.
• Align AI with your specific challenges: When incorporating AI into your workshops, consider your pain points and processes. Explore how AI can assist you in addressing those challenges and improving your facilitation techniques. AI should complement your objectives, not replace them.
• Train AI in your methodology: Pedram shares his experience with training AI tools like Copy AI in his own workshop design methodology. By giving detailed prompts and instructions, you can teach AI to analyse transcripts, identify pains and gains, and generate audience-friendly content.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:53) AI aids in designing workshops for newbies

(05:46) Using tools like Otter AI that summarise, analyse, and evaluate conversations

(07:01) How evaluation is flexible with various data points

(12:57) Generate ideas for workshop objectives and refine later

(16:44) Workshop structured like a story for growth

(19:22) Finding ways to removes manual tasks

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Pedram on LinkedIn
• Visit the Skills Lab’s Website
• Check out Copy AI
• Check out Otter AI

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Marco de Rossi discusses the current issues with digital learning in workplaces, such as the misalignment between how we naturally learn as lifelong learners and how organisations push out content-driven learning. Tune in as we delve into social learning, synchronous vs. asynchronous activities, and how Generative AI is proving to be a valuable tool for L&D experts.

About Marco de Rossi

Marco de Rossi is the CEO of WeSchool, a learning platform that helps teams launch effective training in a user-friendly environment no matter their technical skills.

Key takeaways:

• The challenges in digital learning in workplaces: there is a misalignment between how people learn in workplaces and how they naturally learn as lifelong learners. Learning is often seen as a buzzword, but not integrated into daily behaviours, so there needs to be a shift where learning becomes the responsibility of every team, not just HR.
• The people-centric approach: learning should be woven into everyday tasks and the focus should be on building communities and fostering social learning.
• Balancing cost-effectiveness and effectiveness: on-demand, self-paced learning may be cheaper, but it is not always effective. Cohort-based models and synchronous structures are important for critical learning experiences, like onboarding. Think about how a mix of cost-effective and quality-focused solutions can coexist.
• The role of AI can be a valuable tool for supporting learning design skills. E.g. conversational generative AI makes it easier for everyone to design engaging learning experiences.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:50) What is wrong with digital learning?

(03:21) Marco’s vision of what great digital learning looks like

(06:27) Why self-paced learning is not always the best solution

(08:19) Conversational generative AI

(11:16) The importance of instructional design skills

(15:13) Adaptive learning

(18:00) AI make it easier for more people to access learning experiences

(19:23) Overcoming the current problems of digital learning

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Marco de Rossi on LinkedIn
• Visit WeSchool
• Learn more about WeShool by watching this video
• Read Robin blog post on What would happen if digital learning were more expensive than face-to-face training?

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In this episode of the Learning While Working podcast Rustica Lamb and Robin explore how to leverage AI as a powerful tool to enhance your productivity and creativity, learn how to effectively prompt, and stay conscious of the ethical implications of AI in the learning and working sphere.

She has recently run the Elab AI program, which aimed to introduce a series of AI tools to learning professionals. It tested and evaluated various AI tools and discovered their potential to save significant amounts of time for learning designers.

About Rustica Lamb

Rustica Lamb is a hands-on learning professional who is passionate about experimenting with new technologies and exploring how they can transform learning. She is the founder of Bloom Learning Technologies, an international award-winning learning technologies company that is bringing the cost of elearning way, way down. They help organisations create engaging learning experiences, whilst supporting the business and budget goals.

Key takeaways:

• Learning Designers can save about 40-60 hours per month through AI tools. By using this saved time, L&D professionals can focus on improving quality and fostering creativity. It is important to remember that AI does not replace the expertise and insights of learning designers, so there needs to be human involvement along the process.
• Embracing AI in workplace learning is crucial for staying relevant, and Rustica points out that it is similar to the transition from traditional to e-learning.
• There is a need for expert guidance and coaching when using AI, to ensure accurate and reliable results from AI systems and maximising their potential in learning design.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) The importance of spending time playing with the tools

(01:19) What is the eLab.ai program?

(02:23) Key takeaways and insights from eLab.ai

(04:13) Why humans won’t be replaced by AI

(06:41) Generating the ‘core skeleton’

(11:25) Where creativity sits in the world of AI

(15:25) The importance of coaching

(18:23) Rustica’s greatest gem of wisdom about using AI tools for learning design

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Rustica on LinkedIn
• Visit the Bloom Technologies website
• Find out more eLab.ai
• Read ‘Scary Smart’ by Mo Gawdat
• Explore Futurepedia
• Listen to Moonshots & Mindsets
• Listen to Augmented reality for learning with Rustica Lamb

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Markus Bernhardt explores AI discussions with learning technology vendors, and the important topics of understanding the different types of AI being deployed and the value they add. We also touch on the critical role of training data and its reliability in AI solutions, and the rush toward generative AI and its impact on long-term strategic thinking.

About Markus Bernhardt

As a Fellow of the Learning Performance Institute (LPI) and member of both the Forbes Technology Council and HBR Advisory Council, Markus Bernhardt is recognised as a global authority for AI and Learning. Markus is an accomplished author, panellist, and speaker. His leadership experience as CEO spans the direction of a for-profit educational institution as well as the stewardship of a charitable educational institution in the UK, with significant contributions in both executive and non-executive board roles.

Key takeaways:

• Discerning between generative and non-generative AI deployment is essential for understanding AI's contribution to learning. It is beneficial for instructional designers, expediting tasks like summarising content, crafting questions, and facilitating collaboration with subject matter experts.
• The ideal landscape has AI-powered tools that offer real-time support, drawing from an organisation's internal data to provide personalised performance assistance.
• Adaptive learning journeys emerge as an exciting application, using AI to tailor learning experiences to individual strengths and weaknesses, thus enhancing learning outcomes.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:38) Navigating the marketplace for technologies and solutions for the learning space

(05:22) The impact of the ‘sudden’ rush of AI

(09:46) Internal training of data

(15:23) The way we work with language models in organisations and workplaces

(19:13) interesting AI applications in L&D at the moment

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Markus Bernhardt on LinkedIn
• Read Markus article on 5 Key Questions to Ask AI Vendors & How to Understand the Answers
• Read all of Markus Learning Guild articles

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, we explore how AI technologies can be used to increase the efficiency of instructional designers. We tackle the challenges and ethical concerns of using AI-generated tools, focusing on their limitations and potential misinterpretations. Get insights into the importance of maintaining the human element in instructional design, especially in areas like assessment design.

About Cara North

Cara North has worked in the instructional design field for more than a decade and has won multiple awards for her learning experiences. Cara has worked in both higher education and corporate, and runs her own consulting business, The Learning Camel. Some of the clients The Learning Camel has served include Universal Records, WesBanco, NASA, Daisy and the National Association for Talent and Development (ATD).

Key takeaways:

• Generative AI can be used for brainstorming and translation. Tools like Chat GPT are valuable for creating first drafts, but they lack the ability to capture context-specific language and formality. As such, human input is required for this purpose.
• There are tools that are useful in the localization and translation of content. Cara gives examples of Microsoft PowerPoint's built-in translation tool and Sonix.ai, which help in rapidly reproducing content in different languages, improving efficiency in the learning design process.
• The use of AI avatars for role-playing exercises in instructional design helps avoid logistical challenges associated with producing videos. However, these AI avatars require human input for more nuanced performance.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) The importance of focusing on making the best learning experience possible and not the tools

(01:13) How Cara uses AI in her learning design process

(04:42) Some key AI tools to check out

(06:25) What human input is needed from AI translation tools

(10:19) AI-generated avatars

(15:39) Authenticity in art and AI

(20:16) Cara’s advice for instructional design and using genetic AI now

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Cara on LinkedIn
• Check out The Learning Camel

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Britt Andreatta is back to discuss the impact of AI on organisations and the skills needed to navigate this shifting landscape. As an expert on brain-driven approaches to learning and a leading voice in the field, she shares some truly valuable insights. Tune in to learn more about the need for a clear strategy in L&D, developing strong change management skills and why we need to hone in scientific literacy and verification skills.

About Brit Andreatta

Dr. Britt Andreatta is an internationally-recognised thought leader who creates brain science-based solutions for today's challenges. As CEO of Brain Aware Training, Inc., Britt Andreatta draws on her unique background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and learning to unlock the best in people and organisations.

Key takeaways:

• AI's influence calls for robust change management skills, and the technology’s verification will need to be a key quality in job requirements – on par with communication and time management.
• The imperative of reskilling is gaining prominence, with the World Economic Forum identifying a substantial global workforce needing retraining.
• AI-driven misinformation highlights the need for critical thinking and science literacy skills. The role of learning professionals will become ‘verifiers’, ensuring that AI-generated content is reliable while embracing the adaptability in a dynamic environment.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:57) How will AI change the types of skills that organisations need?

(03:11) Change management skills

(05:12) Why is change not always successful?

(07:00) Science literacy skills

(12:27) Become verifiers

(20:12) What should L&D be doing now to prepare for the future?

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Britt on LinkedIn
• Visit Britt’s Website
• Read Wired To Resist

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Megan Torrance joins the show to share what she is learning about using Chat GPT. We focus on using Chat GPT to enhance the learning experience itself, and just using AI to generate content.

About Megan Torrance

Megan Torrance is CEO and founder of TorranceLearning, which helps organisations connect learning strategy to design, development, data, and ultimately performance. Megan has more than 25 years of experience in learning design, deployment, and consulting

Key takeaways:

• Chat GPT can act as an assistant for learning designers. It aids in structuring content and generating examples, particularly when subject matter experts may tire of providing numerous case examples. As a result, it helps designers craft more thorough and comprehensive learning materials.
• In the context of medical education, AI is employed to provide detailed feedback on learners' responses to case scenarios. This feedback is compared against expert responses to provide meaningful insights to learners. However, it's crucial to ensure that the AI never gives direct medical advice – the final decision must always be left up to the learner.
• Inform learners if the feedback they're receiving is AI-driven. This transparency ensures that learners understand the nature and source of their feedback and approach it with a degree of scepticism, especially in sensitive areas like medical education.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Start exploring AI but be careful

(01:11) What are some of the ways that ChatGPT can be used by learning designers?

(02:40) Taking a simple approach

(07:39) Using AI in complicated areas in medical education and legal training

(10:46) Other ways AI is being used to put in a learning experience

(14:44) Using ChatGPT as an assistant

(16:46) Mitigating bias in AI

(18:37) Megan’s greatest general advice for learning designers in using ChatGPT

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Megan on LinkedIn
• TorranceLearning’s Website
• Download Megan’s one-page practitioner's guide job aid to using ChatGPT
• Watch a recording of the ChatGPT Driven Instructional Design: Dreams, Results, and Horrors webinar

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AI tools like ChatGPT are being used in various industries, including marketing and learning. In this episode of the Learning While Working podcast, we are joined by Lynne McNamee to explore the fascinating and evolving world of AI tools for content creation. Robin and Lynne unpack how the quality of the generated content varies, applications of ChatGPT in L&D work, and why privacy and data sources are also limitations for generative AI tools.

About Lynne McNamee

Lynne is a creative and strategic thinker who leverages data and technology to lead innovative organisations to measurable results through inbound, social, content, video and traditional marketing. She is the president of Lone Armadillo Marketing Agency, where she has managed marketing campaigns for companies such as Avis, HP, and Bank of America. She was cited by The New York Times for innovations in marketing.

Key takeaways:

• Ways to leverage ChatGPT for marketing: Lynne shares how she uses ChatGPT in her work, specifically in writing copy for blog posts and websites. It’s important to understand the search engine interface and user intent to generate effective content, to align with SEO strategies.
• Be aware of the language AI generates, as tools like ChatGPT tends to provide overly literal keywords, which can result in keyword stuffing and impact your SEO score negatively.
• Try out some other key AI tools, like Lumen5 and SonixAI. Lynne has been using these for tasks in video creation and transcription. She also reflects on why ChatGPT has gained the most attention compared to other tools, which is due to social proof and practical applications.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) The changing nature of marketing work

(01:25) How Lynne is using ChatGPT on a daily basis

(02:51) Lynne’s process of writing a blog post with the help of AI

(03:42) Considering SEO when using AI generated content

(06:25) The impact of quality from using ChatGPT

(08:12) Training AI to write learning material

(12:43) Some of the weaknesses of using a tool like ChatGPT

(19:28) Why has ChatGPT gained so much attention and widespread adoption?

(20:38) Lynne’s main bit of advice around using AI at the moment

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Lynne on LinkedIn
• Lone Armadillo Marketing Agency’s Website
• Listen to Using learning campaigns to effectively drive behaviour change with Lynne McNamee
• Check out Lumen5
• Try out Sonix AI

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Ray Jimenez talks about how employees are using AI for learning. Ray will share practical examples of incorporating ChatGPT into the learning experience, such as learner familiarisation, troubleshooting, and coaching.

About Ray Jimenez

Ray Jimenez Ph.D. is the Chief Learning Architect at Vignettes Learning, trainingmagnetwork.com and situationexpert.com. He has worked with the American Bankers Association, Neiman Marcus, the US Air Force, NASA, Blue Cross, Goodwill Industries, Pixar Studios, among others. Ray's expertise is in microlearning, story-based learning design, scenario-based learning design and creative problem solving.

Key takeaways:

• There have been successful experiments using ChatGPT's integration in learning platforms, such as rapidly familiarising technicians with new subject matter, accelerating ISO certification processes, and enabling coaches to provide targeted prompts and expand learners' growth mindset.
• The potential for private data integration in ChatGPT offers exciting opportunities for companies, allowing learners to explore and interact with their own proprietary information, creating a closer connection between learning and real-life work situations.
• Working with AI involves recalibrating the way we think about learning, moving away from a reliance on content delivery and toward nurturing critical thinking, questioning, and debating skills, thus enabling learners to become more autonomous and better equipped to navigate the complexities of the modern workplace.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) We need to recalibrate our thinking in learning away from content

(01:56) How ChatGPT can be used by learners

(05:04) On workplaces having their own Generative AI tools

(11:08) The idea of templates for learners

(16:00) Using AI for more hands-on and physical work

(19:34) Examples of using critical thinking alongside AI

(27:14) ChatGPT being more generalised than specialised

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Ray on LinkedIn
• 5 Experiments in ChatGPT/Situation Expert

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In this episode, Robin is joined by Lars Hyland and Matt Linaker from Totara to discuss rethinking workplace learning in an AI-Driven World. The conversation focuses on the importance of shifting from content-driven strategies to more context-based and collaborative learning environments.

About Lars Hyland

Lars Hyland is a seasoned expert in learning technology with over 27 years of experience. He has worked with various international organisations and educational institutions, including the University of Oxford and Deutsche Bank. Currently, he leads Totara's EMEA operations, focusing on talent development and productivity.

About Matt Linaker

Matt has a multifaceted career in the field of learning and education, with a focus on technology-enhanced learning. He is currently Customer Success Manager at Totara Learning.

Key takeaways:

• AI tools have gone mainstream. It is impacting creative arts and we can see how it has helped improve the way we work. There is potential for governments and organisations to have their own large learning models and AI to enhance learning while working.
• Content-driven models in the workplace have caused a disconnect between business goals and training outcomes. New technologies can assist in connecting people to the right people at the right time, and automated feedback can aid development.
• Easy access to the right content to the right people can help contextualise the learning process, and conversations and collaboration can help people come together quickly to solve problems and meet goals. Providing feedback and rewarding people in an intentional way, contextualised to the situation, can help motivate them to learn and to apply their knowledge effectively.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) One of keys to the future of AI is open source

(01:35) What does the future of work look like?

(04:59) How AI has gone mainstream

(10:13) Moving away from content-driven approaches

(15:32) L&D in Totara

(19:19) Building learning platforms for talent experience

(24:04) How can we make this future of learning happen now?

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Lars on LinkedIn
• Connect with Matt on Linkedin
• Totara’s Website

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In this episode Robin and Danielle discuss the influence of AI on learning design, its potential to standardise educational experiences, and the importance of maintaining human skills like critical thinking in AI applications. It’s a fascinating discussion which delves into the creative potential of AI and self-learning. The recent ‘hype’ surrounding AI calls for continual learning and community collaboration to understand and leverage this technology effectively.

About Danielle

Danielle is a Learning & Development and business professional with Fortune 100 experience. As a passionate learner and critical thinker, She has dedicated herself to navigating through the hype and staying up-to-date in the world of learning development. She is currently Chief Learning Strategist at Beyond the Sky: Custom Learning Solutions.

Key takeaways:

• Embrace neural networks for creativity: Danielle highlights how neural networks excel at making unexpected connections and providing creative ideas without bias. By leveraging AI as an assistant, we can tap into new perspectives and unlock innovative solutions.
• Human skills in the AI Age: Critical thinking is an invaluable human skill that AI lacks. It’s important to nurture our critical thinking abilities and leverage our unique human qualities to complement AI technologies.
• Staying ahead in Learning & Development: The learning and development field must keep pace with technological advancements. There is a need for continuous learning, networking, and embracing new knowledge to create effective solutions. By staying informed and sharing expertise, we can shape the future of learning and development.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) Looking beyond the hype

(01:32) Running an AI and L&D community of practice: what does that look like?

(02:45) Common trends and questions people are asking in the community

(03:33) The risks of unregulated usage of AI within organisations

(07:43) Some great examples of leveraging AI

(15:58) Reassessing what it means to be human

(17:03) Using AI in creative work

(20:15) Danielle’s key piece of advice around using generative AI

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn
• Listen Daniellele’s podcast You in 2042 ... The Future of Work
• Find out more about the AI in learning community of practice

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In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, David James joins the show to share his expertise and insights in Generative AI. David sheds light on why Generative AI is not simply a shortcut to faster and cheaper courses, but rather a disruptive force. He also talks about reinventing the learning process, the role of reflection, and how to not make your job redundant.

About David

Josh Cavalier has been creating learning solutions for corporations, government agencies, and secondary education institutions for nearly thirty years. He is an expert in the field of Learning & Development. He has applied his industry experience to the application of ChatGPT and other Generative AI frameworks for business and life skills.

Key takeaways:

• The big risk of relying solely on AI for producing course content is that it might render learning and development redundant. Instead, David encourages professionals to embrace the unique value they bring to address specific skills gaps in their organisation.
• Administrative tasks, be gone! Generative AI streamlines the learning experience by taking care of the administrative aspects, allowing educators and learners to focus more on effectively addressing real organisational challenges. By using internal data sets, Generative AI can help tackle the root of my performance problems.
• It's about the learning process. Instead of relying solely on delivering information, the emphasis should be on enhancing the learning journey through practice, reflection, and behaviour change.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) AI is the path to making courses faster and cheaper. Doing this will make you redundant.

(01:38) What does Generative AI mean for L&D in the future?

(05:08) How Generative AI can help us improve the actual learning process

(11:03]) Viewing AI as a co-pilot

(13:27) Distinguishing what L&D is

(17:18) What will be talking about AI in 10 years time?

(21:38) David’s main piece of advice for leveraging Generative AI

Links from the podcast

• Connect with David on LinkedIn
• Find out more about Learning360
• Read David’s article on What Future Does Generative AI Signal For L&D?

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In this episode, we explore the importance of having a baseline knowledge of AI in the field of L&D. Today’s guest is Josh Cavalier, who is helping people in L&D utilise AI tools effectively. Tune in as we delve into the concept of using AI to enhance our strengths and compensate for weaknesses, prompt engineering techniques for AI and delivering high-quality results.

About Josh

Josh Cavalier has been creating learning solutions for corporations, government agencies, and secondary education institutions for nearly thirty years. He is an expert in the field of Learning & Development. He has applied his industry experience to the application of ChatGPT and other Generative AI frameworks for business and life skills.

Key takeaways:

• AI is a tool, not a replacement: Josh highlights how AI, specifically large language models like GPT, can augment traditional processes within L&D. Its powers are not in replacing humans, but as an aid to boost productivity and creativity.
• L&D professionals need to have a baseline knowledge of AI: It's important for L&D practitioners to have an understanding of how large language models and AI tools work. This will be essential as these tools become increasingly integrated into L&D processes.
• Where to begin with learning to use AI tools: be prepared for the learning curve associated with using AI tools effectively. Josh suggested starting with an AI like GPT and learning how to prompt it effectively. Using prepared prompts (like his ‘150 prompts for L&D’) can be a helpful starting point.

Segmented time stamps:

(01:18) AI augmenting our superpowers

(04:21) Shadow tech and security risks

(09:14) Scale and graphics card limitations

(12:33) Prompt stacking technique

(17:23) Difficulties of evaluating AI tools

(22:00) Workflow and AI prompts

(26:42) AI tools in L&D

Links from the podcast

• Download Josh Cavalier’s 150+ Prompts for Education
• Connect with Josh Cavalier on LinkedIn
• Visit Josh Cavalier Website

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In this episode, Robin speaks with JD Dillon about the impact of AI on the future of work, and the importance of not being short-sighted with this technology. There is an ever-increasing need for critical thinking, and trust, transparency, and collaboration are key factors in AI adoption. JD encourages L&D professionals to engage with stakeholders and align their strategies with the organisation's vision for AI.

About JD Dillon

JD Dillon is the founder of LearnGeek, where he helps organisations rethink how they enable their employees. Over the past 20 years, he has worked with some of the world's most dynamic brands, including Disney, Kaplan, AMC and Axonify. Today, he is the world's foremost expert on frontline learning and engagement as well as a prolific author and speaker in the global HR and L&D communities.

Key takeaways:

• AI represents a significant shift in our relationship with technology, comparable to the introduction of the internet and mobile devices. It’s not about the quick-win – organisations need to see things long-term and should consider how it can fundamentally transform work processes and tasks.
• Trust and transparency are crucial for successful AI adoption: organisations must address data quality and knowledge management practices to establish trust in AI systems. L&D professionals should actively engage with stakeholders and align their strategies with the organisation's vision for AI-enabled technology.
• It is the perfect time to discuss how we can shape the future of work. Organisations need to actively participate in defining how AI supports work and learning, ensuring that it enhances productivity, decision-making, and overall employee experiences. The integration of AI in the workplace requires a balance between automation and human decision-making, and critical thinking will remain crucial in assessing AI-generated content

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) We need the think about how AI shift what organisations do

(02:43) What AI means for the future of work

(07:47) What AI means to be human

(10:39) What is L&D’s role in AI technology?

(15:32) Why trust in technology is crucial for future success

(19:38) Skills in trust, critical thinking, and human decision-making

(23:29) JD’s greatest gem of wisdom when it comes to AI and L&D

Links from the podcast

• Connect with JD on LinkedIn
• Visit JD’s Website
• Listen to JD’s interview about continuous learning
• Listen to JD’s interview about modern learning ecosystems

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This is the start of a series on AI in L&D. The series is exploring what people are doing now with AI, what people are thinking about, and what people are learning.

In this episode, we kick off the series where Robin does an interview with ChatGPT on transforming learning at work. The voice is generated by ElevenLabs.

If you are interested, it might be easier to read the blog post along with the podcast, than listening to the computer generated voice.

Links from the podcast

• Check out ElevenLabs

Key takeaways:

• Promoting self-guided learning and automation in instructional design can contribute to a culture of continuous learning. Automation can be used in instructional design to automate routine tasks and increase efficiency, such as AI automating content curation, learner data analysis, and feedback collection and analysis.
• There are risks and considerations to be aware of when using AI. These include the dangers of dependency on AI, the digital divide in access to AI tools, ethical concerns regarding biassed information, and the importance of data privacy. To address these risks, organisations should comply with data privacy laws, implement quality control measures, balance AI with human-led learning experiences, and provide training and support for employees who are not comfortable with technology.
• Strategies for using AI in workplace learning include having human mentors or instructors for discussions and social learning opportunities, providing training and support for employees who are not comfortable with technology, and incorporating ethical considerations when choosing AI providers.

Segmented time stamps:

(00:00) The argumentation of human lead learning
(01:58) AI in workplace learning
(05:35) Adaptive learning experience pathways
(08:15) On-demand learning for safety leadership
(11:41) Content curation and updates
(16:07) The risks of using AI in L&D
(21:33) The role of humans and AI in the workplace
(24:53) Balancing the use of AI

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In this episode, we are joined by guest JD Dillon to discuss his modern learning ecosystem framework and its importance in a constantly changing environment. Tune in as JD delves into tactics for influencing different departments, reinforcement and retention mechanisms, and why we need to eliminate the need for formal learning

About JD Dillon

JD Dillon strongly believes in the power of help. He is the founder of LearnGeek and helps organisations rethink how they enable their employees. Over the past 20 years, he has worked with some of the world's most dynamic brands, including Disney, Kaplan, AMC and Axonify. Today, he is the world's foremost expert on frontline learning and engagement as well as a prolific author and speaker in the global HR and L&D communities.

Key takeaways:

• What ‘modern’ means in the Learning Ecosystem Framework: there is a vagueness of the term "modern”, and JD Dillon seeks to define it in his book. It’s about the importance of being prepared for change, and the need to establish flexible and agile systems and processes. It’s important to provide a stable foundation for a good experience despite the constantly changing environment.
• The importance of influence in building learning culture in organisations: There is a need for everyone in the organisation to prioritise learning. There are a number of tactics for influencing different departments and individuals to shift their mindset towards learning and development. Consider how to convince executives to adopt new ways of sharing information, and challenge outdated perspectives on learning and development.
• The integration of knowledge management, Learning & Development, and corporate communications: a curator in the organisation can help solve problems instead of prioritising departments. Explore how to incorporate information flow and solve systemic issues.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:46] Insights from his book ‘The Modern Learning Ecosystem’
• [04:44] A framework to help connect tools for learning solutions
• [09:19] The disconnect in organisations hinders problem-solving and learning
• [13:19] Differentiating shared knowledge vs. performance support
• [17:46] How to influence everyone in the organisation
• [24:00] Embracing learning as a constant, and why reinforcement is vital
• [30:56] Replacing the word ‘Learning’ with ‘Helping’ in our job titles

Links from the podcast:

• Read the The Modern Learning Ecosystem - A New L&D Mindset for the Ever-Changing Workplace
• Connect with JD Dillon on LinkedIn
• Visit the JD’s website Learning Geeks
• Another Learning While Working podcast interview with JD Dillon on continuous learning and how it links with personalised learning

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Episode Summary

Amanda Page is a change expert and coach. She works with leaders across different industries to accelerate change. She joins the show to discuss the possibilities of leading change in hybrid work environments. Tune in as we unpack strategies for change management, building a sense of belonging in the workplace, setting boundaries, and change management training.

About Amanda Page

As a certified coach and change expert, Amanda supports leaders, teams and individuals who are seeking to unlock their passion and potential. She helps them find new ways, drop old habits and create new rituals that will create momentum and establish new rhythms for success. With a successful career in Fortune 100 high-tech organisations, she has also developed a keen understanding of the key levers needed to successfully transition and transform. She is the founder of Change Tempo, with a mission to make change easier for everyone.

Key takeaways:

• How can leaders best navigate change? The principles of change leadership are about being very clear about the outcome of where everyone's going. If not, members of the team can feel isolated and unheard.
• It’s important to understand our stress response: The Change Cycle helps demonstrate the different stages of change. It brings an opportunity to be more proactive, creative, collaborate and engage with people.
• The role of Change Managers: they help everyone in the organisation build healthy relationships with change. It is an organisational change imperative where they go beyond just a presentation. People who are responsible for the change management plan need to focus as much on the change management plan for managers as they do for employees.

Segmented time stamps:

• (01:53) The possibilities of leading with change
• (05:01) Creating a sense of belonging when working remotely
• (06:37) How to successfully navigate change in organisations
• (11:35) Understanding people’s relationships with stress and change
• (13:14) Addressing the gap many managers have in their capabilities around change
• (19:48) Building equal relationships and the people-side of business
• (22:55) What to do with unexpected change in the workplace
• (26:26) How L&D managers can help support the change process

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Amanda Page on LinkedIn
• Download The 6 Trade Secrets that will transform how you lead change
• The Change Tempo website
• Check out the The Change Cycle

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Episode summary/description

In this episode of the Learning While Working podcast we explore adaptive leadership with Greg Evans from the Nous Group. We will delve into the challenges organisations face in developing adaptive capabilities and how learning and development professionals can play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. Greg shares his insights on designing effective learning experiences, fostering a culture of adaptability, and leveraging techniques like the case-in-point approach for meaningful growth.

About Greg Evans

Greg Evans is currently a Principal at Nous Group, an international management consultancy with over 750 people operating across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and Canada. He has experience in various sectors such as defence, education, health, financial services, resources, and emergency management.

Key takeaways:

• Being adaptive requires organisations to internalise the need for change and equip themselves with the tools to identify the issues and hold a meaningful dialogue among stakeholders around change.
• The learning experience takes time and involves mobilising stakeholders who may be less powerful within the organisation. Take the teams out of the workplace, by running case-in-point approaches and workshops, to provide rich learning experiences that help provoke new ideas. Help individuals promote their own growth from the self-authoring to the self-transforming mindset.
• There is an emerging demand for developing adaptive capabilities and L&D experts can help provide early warning signs, ask powerful questions, and ultimately become the “unseen” stewards of learning within the organisation. Think about how you might build those capabilities for diagnosing and responding to adaptive challenges not just in your team, but across your organisation.

Segmented time stamps:

• (01:46) What do we mean by organisations being adaptive?
• (05:16) How Nous Group are designing learning experiences
• (10:17) Implementing the case-in-point approach
• (13:46) The importance of debriefs
• (16:34) How L&D can help people become more adaptive in their cultural behaviour
• (23:06) Advice to L&D teams to be more adaptive themselves

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Greg onLinkedIn
• Visit Nous Group
• Read the book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World

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Episode summary/description

Retrieval practice is a technique used in teaching as a way of getting people to generate ideas and think actively. Today we are joined by an expert in this field, Sheila B. Robinson, who is a speaker, educator, and consultant. Tune in to this episode as we discuss some key retention strategies, how to incorporate them into your training, the benefits of the ‘Spacing Effect’, and Sheila’s top advice with where to begin.

About Sheila B. Robinson

Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D., of Custom Professional Learning, LLC, is a speaker, educator, and consultant with a passion for the science of teaching and learning, presentations, and asking good questions. Through her talks, professional development workshops and university courses, Sheila teaches people how to make learning stick and how to ask good questions, along with program evaluation, survey design, data visualisation, audience engagement, and presentation design.

Sheila is author of Designing Quality Survey Questions (SAGE Publications, 2018), and writes a popular blog with numerous articles on survey design, learning, presentations and other topics. Sheila is also a Certified Presentation Specialist (CPS)™, Vice President of the Presentation Guild, and Senior Design and Facilitation Consultant with Evergreen Data.

Key takeaways:

• Why learning retention is our ultimate goal: it encompasses all universal aspects of learning, from school to work. It is about being able to pull from your brain what's there, because you've learned something. It’s a great way to empower your learners with this skill so they can make the most out of your program.
• Testing evokes negative emotions and Sheila is reluctant to use the word ‘testing’ because it leads us to think about assessment. People think they are being judged, which makes them anxious and not optimal. The idea of retrieval practice as self-testing is a chance to help you process newly learned material and integrate it with prior knowledge.
• Apply the spacing effect: it demonstrates that learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out. It gives learners time and a chance to embed long-term memory. We have been doing this since our childhood at school, e.g when you first learn the times tables, then it spaces out over time until you no longer forget them.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:59] What learning retention means to Sheila
• [02:53] The universal aspect of learning retention
• [04:00] Ways to increase retention
• [07:18] The problems with the ‘Testing Effect’
• [11:10] The role of demonstration during training sessions
• [13:45] Understanding the ‘Spacing Effect’
• [19:51] Having a module to inform students about learning retention
• [21:13] Sheila’s advice for increasing retention

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Sheila B. Robinson on LinkedIn
• Find out more about ​​Custom Professional Learning
• Check out the Head First series series of books
• Check out Sheila’s Blog

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Episode summary

Lynne is a learning experience designer and marketing professional. She joins the show to discuss the intersection of marketing and learning, and how the principles of marketing can be applied to learning. It is a fascinating topic where we also delve into the role of learning campaigns, ways to personalise learning from personas, and catering for the next generation.

About Lynne McNamee

Lynne McNamee is the president of Lone Armadillo Marketing Agency. She has managed marketing campaigns for companies such as Avis, HP, and Bank of America, and recently was the marketing director for Bluewater, consultants for learning, talent, and human capital management. Lone Armadillo Marketing Agency, which Lynne founded in 2008, specialises in strategy, plans, processes, and tactical execution of multi- and omni-channel marketing programs for B2B entrepreneurial companies. She has been a HubSpot partner since 2011. She was cited by The New York Times for innovations in marketing.

Key takeaways:

• Marketing plays an important role in learning as it raises awareness, generates interest, and can motivate learners. Ensure you understand the learner's motivation and preferences, so your message resonates with them on an ongoing basis.
• There are three stages of a learning campaign: awareness, consideration, and decision. Connect with your learner and help them understand why the learning matters to them, so tune in to their emotional drivers. Consider tools like email segmentation, landing pages, and integrating learning tools with platforms such as HubSpot.
• Keeping an open mind with the next generation of learners: Lynn describes the next generation in the world of work will be Gen Z – and they are learning informally from TikTok and ChatGPT – so they will have learnt to learn differently than Millennials and Gen X. The best strategy is to be adaptable and experiment with different approaches to see what works best for your learners.

Segmented time stamps:

• [02:31] Some of the key benefits of learning campaigns
• [04:03] Understanding the differences between advertising, marketing, and PR
• [07:56] Using personas to enhance learning campaigns
• [10:25] How to personalise learning experiences for different learner personas
• [19:07] Exploring tools for engaging learning experiences
• [22:19] If Lynne could use a magic wand in L&D, what would she wish for?

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Lynne on LinkedIn
• Lone Armadillo Marketing Agency’s Website
• Find out more about Lynne’s workshop on Building Learning Campaigns: Why, How, and Let’s Get Started
• Some the platforms Lynee talks about are Hubspot and ActiveCampaign

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Episode summary

Today we are joined by Malcom Taylor, the Senior People Development Manager at Met Office UK, where we explore the practices of a community of practitioners in a public sector organisation. The Met Office has established the People Framework as a way to support the learning and development of their staff. It was a fascinating conversation where we also delved into the role of openness and trust, how to be seen as more than just a training department, what makes a ‘Good Met Office Citizen’, and Conole’s 7 Cs of learning.

About Malcolm

Malcolm brings over 20 years’ experience working in the field of Human Resources and Learning & Development, and he is driven by a passion for learning. At the Met Office, Malcolm is currently the Senior People Development Manager, and he established a number of communities with practice as well as his learning tactics.

Key takeaways:

• The People Framework is a tool developed by the Met Office to support the learning and development of their staff. It is divided into three segments: personal effectiveness, corporate effectiveness, and professional effectiveness.
• The Community of Practice Manager acts as a guiding influence and is not tied to any particular community. The person under this role at the Met Office has built a maturity model to help develop the impact of the People Framework.
• The community of practice offers a range of activities including specialist group channels in Teams, and the platform is a great way to connect people that are geographically far apart. They also invite external speakers to speak on webinars, where they get about 60 - 70% of registrants attending recorded or live.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:10] Why the Met Office established the People Framework
• [04:55] The current leaders and their backgrounds
• [06:34] Guiding the professional leaders
• [09:39] The role of a Community of Practice Manager
• [10:19] Creating content for the community of practice
• [12:28] Building a safe environment
• [16:41] Evaluating the impact of the community of practice

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Malcolm on LinkedIn
• Read The 7Cs of Learning Design by Conole
• Read ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’ by Patrick Lencioni

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David James, Chief Learning Officer at 360 Learning and host of the Learning and Development podcast, joins the show to discuss the potential of collaborative learning, and the misconception that it is more difficult than other approaches to digital learning. Tune in as David shares examples of collaborative learning in practice, why collaborative learning is often the best solution in L&D, and how to use technology so it can help with performance and results.’

About David James

David James has worked in People Development for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & Organisation Development for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. His specialism is in contemporary L&D practices and works with clients to develop and implement their digital learning strategies. David is the Chief Learning Officer at 360 Learning and host of the Learning and Development podcast. He also writes articles and speaks about L&D at conferences and events.

Key takeaways:

• L&D teams often focus on providing learning, but not necessarily to affect performance and results. David demonstrates how collaborative learning is the best solution – but it is still being overlooked.
• Collaborative approaches are often seen as hard because there is an expectation from stakeholders that learning is delivered
• Organisations must identify the critical points of failure that their people are experiencing first, rather than just as a learning need, as a way to ensure that engagement is sustained, as well as help people to achieve the objectives of the organisation. Use data-driven approaches to help solve performance problems.

Segmented time stamps:

• (01:55) The challenges of L&D delivery
• (03:13) Overcoming some of obstacles with collaborative learning
• (05:59) The link between collaborative learning and performance outcomes
• (09:57) Performance consulting for L&D and overcoming blockers
• (14:48) Examples of good collaborative learning
• (22:53) Embracing the upfront efforts with collaborative learning and development
• (24:37) Leveraging technology to improve leadership and management skills

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with David on LinkedIn
• Check out 360 Learning
• Check out Looop by 360Learning
• Listen to the Learning and Development podcast
• Listen to the interview with Sebastian Tindall

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In this episode, we delve into a fascinating AR project Rustica Lamb is creating, and how L&D experts can get started with Augmented Reality. We explore the current landscape of how you can implement augmented reality, Rustica’s own personal experience of testing out different AR solutions, and models of learning through Web3.

About Rustica Lamb

Coming from a digital learning background, Rustica Lamb is the founder of Bloom Learning Technologies, an international award-winning learning technologies company that is bringing the cost of elearning way, way down. They help organisations create engaging learning experiences, whilst supporting the business and budget goals.

Key takeaways:

• The learning potential from augmented reality: AR is getting more and more common, but it is not mainstream yet. Rustica sees some massive opportunities in induction and onboarding.
• The current costs: AR is treated a premium currently because it is emerging. Rustica likens it to the early 2000s with the price for a website – like web design, the costs will go down the more mainstream it will be, where there will be more DIY template solutions.
• Where to start: start by researching some use cases to what is possible with this technology, then reflect on how you can apply AR to your work and do mini experiments to find what works best for you.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:01) Rustica’s personal learning experience of using Augmented Reality
• (07:36) Her process of finding the right AR technology to use
• (08:29) What is the learning potential with AR?
• (12:54) The costs associated with AR technology
• (14:26) The three phases of her process/ product development
• (18:53) How does AR change the instructional design process?
• (23:35) Where L&D experts can get started with AR

Links from the podcast

• Visit Bloom Learning Technologies
• Connect with Rustica on Twitter
• Check out Unity
• Check out Niantic
• Check out Lightship
• Check out STEPN

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Todd Moran joins the show to talk about the social aspect of assessment including peer assessment, handling pushback from learning designers and other stakeholders, and some more effective methods of online assessments that quizzes.

About Todd Moran

Todd’s professional career has spanned start-ups to non-profits and large multinationals, and his current role at NovoEd as the Chief Learning Strategist. From the megatrends in learning and enterprise collaboration to technology evaluation and implementation, to the ‘people’ side of organisational change and talent development, he covers the gamut of understanding what it takes to enable a successful digital workplace and deep employee engagement.

Todd holds a B.A. in Organisational Psychology from Middlebury College, and an M.A. in Information & Learning Technology from the University of Colorado.

Key takeaways:

• Assessment needs to be completely relevant and incorporates socialisation. Firstly, we often miss the nature of embedding some of those assessments in the specificity of the context they should reside within. Secondly, the social aspect gives a more holistic view of assessment, that is not just individual knowledge.
• Consider the gradient of effort when scaling assessment across an organisation. Think about lower points of entry that still return big value when it comes to casting a net wider socially, e.g. about who could assess one's work, products, tasks, etc.
• Learning about work should be a team activity and we need to shift the perspective of learning designers and other stakeholders who think it’s just for individuals. Ask them questions such as “how applicable is the scenario or the experience or the intervention you're designing?“, and tie in the alignment to how that individual can then perform in a work setting.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:54] More effective ways of online assessments
• [04:41] Considering the social aspect of learning
• [08:14] What we mean by ‘assessment’
• [10:46] Working with learning designers and other key stakeholders to shift their perspective
• [14:52] Having an education mindset
• [18:33] Making assessment more social

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Todd on LinkedIn
• Learn more about NovoEd
• Listen to NovaEd’s Wildly Capable podcast
• Join NovodEd’s free Learning Experience Design: From Ideas to Impact course

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About Geoff Rip

Geoff Rip is the Founder and Principal Designer at Training That Works. He is a highly experienced and passionate learning professional with rich and diverse knowledge. He specialises in quality production of end to end learning, utilising social learning and technology, with a dedicated focus on increasing capability resulting in performance uplift.

Key takeaways:

• Transfer is a learning process. L&D experts tend to brush over this part, but they need to view it as a fundamental part – we need to be designing for transfer
• Retrieval practice is about pulling learning from the brain as opposed to pushing information into the brain. Techniques include mind-mapping, multiple choice questions and storytelling.
• Reflection is a key skill for each step, so it shouldn’t be left to just the end. This is a great way to help people become ‘self-directed experiential learners’, and can be done through a variety of ways including coaching.

Segmented time stamps:

• (01:56) The main challenges with transferring learning into practise in the workplace
• (05:10) Fitting in formative assessment with learning transfer
• (06:33) What is retrieval practice?
• (12:25) The definition of ‘spacing’
• (13:34) Why it’s so important to help people apply what they have learnt
• (19:01) How to design cycles into the learning experience
• (27:02) Geoff’s top advice for increasing the transfer of learning

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Geoff onLinkedIn
• Read ‘How I Obsessively Learned 90 Skills in Only 3 Years’

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About Keith Keating

Keith Keating is a workforce futurist and his mission is to empower, enable and encourage our workforce to prepare for the future. He is currently the SVP, Chief Learning Officer at Archwell, which provides cross-functional support to the greater mortgage industry. He is the former Head of The Global Learning Network for General Motors.

Key takeaways:

• Learning transfer doesn’t always occur as many of us learn in safe environments, such as universities, but they don’t prepare us for the ‘real’ world.
• The principles of Science of Learning works and teaches us about elaboration, generation, spacing and nesting. It’s an area L&D experts need to learn more about and leverage from. We should be trusted advisors in L&D about how adults learn.
• What happens after the nesting period is very powerful. Archwell conducts ‘assessments’ about a month after nesting, through reflective questions such as how relevant the information has been, how prepared people have felt after the course, etc. It’s more of a reflection piece and not a test.

Segmented time stamps:

• (03:31) The greatest challenges with learning transfer
• (07:17) Adopting academic capabilities as an approach at Archwell
• (09:23) Understanding the science of learning for L&D professionals
• (12:27) Getting people to reconnect with learning
• (16:32) The nesting process
• (23:47) Evolving your post-assessment questions
• (25:24) Advice to people who want to use assessment to drive learning transfer

Links from the podcast * Visit Keith’s Website * Connect with Keith on LinkedIn * Check out Archwell * Check out The Learning-Transfer Evaluation Model (LTEM) * Read ‘Make It Stick’ * Read ‘​​Performance-Focused Smile Sheets'​

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About Cara North

Cara North has worked in the instructional design field for more than a decade and has won multiple awards for her learning experiences. Cara has worked in both higher education and corporate, and runs her own consulting business, The Learning Camel. Some of the clients The Learning Camel has served include Universal Records, WesBanco, NASA, Daisy and the National Association for Talent and Development (ATD).

Key takeaways:

• There are many engaging and impactful ways of conducting assessments. Go beyond just providing formal multiple-choice questions, and try out different types of workplace assessments. Many people get anxious when they hear the word “assessment”, so make it user-friendly.
• It’s important to ask the right questions. When creating your own L&D material, get really clear on what can be achieved. Ask your clients questions such as what are the business needs? What is the desired state? Can training fulfil this? View your role as a consultant, not just content generators, to drive impact.
• Engage stakeholders: your work is more than just a report card. Begin with the basics and find alignment with stakeholders. Then start with the basic tasks to provide hands-on experience that people can learn from, then build up. This is great for task-based assessments.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:12) The opportunities with digital learning development
• (04:50) Handling people’s previous experiences of assessment
• (08:52) Assessment learning can help focus teachers and efforts
• (13:25) The right questions to ask when putting together workplace training
• (21:24) Advice on engaging stakeholders
• (27:31) How to improve your assessment practices

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Cara on LinkedIn
• Check out The Learning Camel
• Read about the Four Levels of Evaluation
• Listen to the interview with Jeff Kortenbosch

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About The Assessment Summit

The Assessment Summit brought together some of the world’s most accomplished learning experts to share a smorgasbord of practical, actionable advice on assessment – and about 80% of the speakers have previously been on the podcast.

Key takeaways:

• Why do people have such negative associations with assessment? Paul Kearney, Enterprising Education Specialist at Enterprise Design Consultancy presented an interesting talk on ‘The Myths Of Assessment’, and he reflected on why so many people have had bad experiences, through exams, etc. As L&D experts, we need to shift our thinking about this term – it’s about feedback and moving forward.
• Assessment design. Often in our practices multiple choice questions are our default as a type of assessment tool and strategy. Jenny Saucerman, Online Learning Instructional Design Manager at Credit Union National Association demonstrated how scenario questions are a great way to predict someone's future performance. We also learnt about VR assessment tools and embracing that assessment happens over time.
• Assessment in the creative industries. Learning is quite often the process of solving a problem, and the evidence to the solution then becomes the assessment. It’s about not giving the answers, but delivering collaborative approaches and peer work assessment.
• Digital Assessment. Cheryle Walker, Founder, Innovator, Consultant and Facilitator at Learn LIVE Online touched on some technical considerations such as running verifiable virtual assessments. Dan McFadyen, MD at Edalex, spoke about using micro credentials as a way to connect, recognise and uncover skills. It was also fascinating to learn more about the rich source of data you can obtain from assessments, which Bikram Kawan, Software Engineer at Sprout Labs delved into.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:16) Why so many of us associate ‘assessment’ with fear
• (04:17) Measuring the impact of our work
• (06:12) Assessment design
• (09:07) Using VR
• (11:18) The role of assessment in creative industries
• (15:28) The opportunities and challenges that come with digital assessment
• (17:06) Leveraging from your rich sources of data

Links from the podcast:

Access all talks from The Assessment Summit

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About Ray Jimenez

Ray Jimenez Ph.D. is the Chief Learning Architect at Vignettes Learning, trainingmagnetwork.com and situationexpert.com. He has worked with the American Bankers Association, Neiman Marcus, the US Air Force, NASA, Blue Cross, Goodwill Industries, Pixar Studios, Edison Missing Group, Dendreon, Netafim, Progressive Insurance, Bridgepoint Education, and the California Institute of Technology among others. Ray's expertise is in microlearning, story-based learning design, scenario-based learning design and creative problem solving.

Key takeaways:

• The frontline leader is someone who coaches and troubleshoots on the job. Ray explains that workers need to focus on developing their skills in troubleshooting and thinking on the spot. Frontline workers day-to-day experience unpredictable environments and unique problems, so we need to empower them to think more.
• The most important tool is to have a dynamic thinking process for every worker – it’s not about having all the answers. This redefines what we mean by working, which is about facing constant trial and error and discovering solutions. By applying tools like consequence thinking, learning becomes a natural byproduct.
• The role of assessments. Ray questions why there needs to be formal assessments alongside the learning process. It’s natural to assess and recalibrate all the time, so assessment becomes a built-in process. It’s not about proving your knowledge to anyone, it’s there to demonstrate if something is working or not working.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:46) What is a frontline leader and how they can become learning accelerators
• (07:58) Why Ray is focusing on the frontline worker
• (11:56) Some tools to help frontline managers become learning accelerators
• (16:58) Informal versus formal learning
• (18:56) The role of L&D in this new way of workplace learning
• (22:05) Rethinking the role of assessment

Links from the podcast:* Visit Ray’s Website * Connect with Ray onTwitter * Check out Situation Expert * Read ‘25 Thinking Tools’ * Listen to our previous interview with Ray Jimenez * Sign up to Training Frontline Leaders as Learning Accelerators

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About Jeff Kortenbosch

Jeff is the author of the acclaimed book ‘20 Questions Learning and Development should ask before talking about training’, in which he advocates measurable performance and business outcomes and relevant solutions that go beyond training. He is also an illustrator of digital explainer visuals. Since he started visualising ideas, his work has been seen by millions of people online.

Key takeaways:

• Drawing and producing graphics is a great way to learn. It has been a great creative outlet for Jeff as it has helped him visualise ideas through simple graphics – ranging from graphs to icons. Investing in courses has helped him develop some foundational skills in drawing. Jeff’s best advice is to be minimal with your design, and see what you can draw from quotes, thoughts or visual metaphors.
• Sticking to a daily habit of drawing has helped Jeff develop his drawing style. He started off with a target of drawing for 100 days, and kept a notepad to hand for whenever he got inspiration. The daily habit ensured he wasn’t fixated on perfection but simplicity: “create fast and publish fast”. The key is to start small, whether this is through length of time to draw or finding a good time slot that you can stick to daily.
• The power of visuals: as the adage goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words", so being able to harness your visual skills is powerful as a learning designer. From presentations to your own personal learning process, visual design is a powerful method. It can also give you a great reach online, as visuals help draw people into your blog posts, newsletters, courses, etc.
• Drawing teaches you additional skills: Jeff found that by drawing regularly, he also learnt more about publishing, social media marketing, ideation and finding new ways to keep ideas flowing.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:44) Regularly publishing graphics
• (06:17) Some of the most well-received graphics Jeff has designed
• (07:32) How to stick to a daily habit
• (09:48) Why drawing diagrams is a great way to learn
• (14:22) Using drawing as a micro-learning strategy
• (16:30) What to incorporate in a visual email marketing course
• (19:16) How to build a regular habit of drawing

Links from the podcast:

• Visit Jeff’s Website
• Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn
• Read ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear
• Check out Figma
• Check out Blair Rorani’s work
• Read ‘20 Questions Learning and Development should ask before talking about training’
• Listen to our previous interview with Jeff Kortenbosch

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About Joshua Gillingham

Joshua Gillingham is an author, game designer, and editor from Vancouver Island, Canada. His fantasy trilogy ‘The Saga of Torin Ten-Trees’ is an adventure inspired by the Norse myths and the Icelandic Sagas. Joshua is also the co-author of ‘Old Norse for Modern Times’ alongside Ian Stuart Sharpe and Dr. Arngrimur Vidalin.

In partnership with Outland Entertainment, Joshua is the founding Worldsmith of the trans-media Outland 'Althingi' World set in Viking Age Iceland, featuring his original card game Althingi: One Will Rise and the groundbreaking anthology Althingi: The Crescent & the Northern Star.

Key takeaways:

• Give learners/ players agency: Learning is an internal process, so figure out how learners can take the information you’re providing, and make it a part of their lives. Learners need flexibility and relevant information so that what they learn can be applied for the long-term. To understand different perspectives within the company, consider conducting small group discussions. Prompts and reflective questions are a great way to give agency.
• The role of ‘randomness’ in games has the advantage of surprise and chance. It frustrates the stronger skilled player, whilst the less-skilled player can see an opening and a chance. In learning design, this could be done through suprise questions. Strategically, make sure you give learners a bounded space, e.g. a physical game, to keep them on task, but provide enough agency so they are engaged.
• Leveraging physical space on game boards: Learning Designers can build a physical space for people to learn from. For game designers, every piece on a board has a cost attached to it, so ask yourself “is this enhancing the experience?”. Be clever with using the most from as little as possible.

Segmented time stamps:

• (02:13) What do we mean by ‘space’ in game design?
• (04:39) How Learning Designers can give players first-level agency
• (07:52) The notion of ‘roles’, and why Learning Designers need to consider this more in their strategy
• (09:50) Strategies for building ‘randomness’ in game design
• (13:07) Learning from the rule books of the most popular games
• (16:10) On the space of physical boards
• (20:29) Multiple pathway learning

Links from the podcast:

• Visit Joshua’s Website
• Connect with Joshua on Twitter
• Listen to the Learning While Working Podcast interview with Warren Kennard
• Check out Magic: The Gathering
• Check out BoardGameGeek

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Michelle Ockers is an organisational learning strategist and modern workplace learning practitioner. She helps organisations build high-impact L&D functions by developing and implementing their learning strategy, mindset and skills – and helping L&D professionals become business partners that create value. In this episode, we reflect on what are some of the critical skills for L&D teams, being mindful of our blindspots, how L&D experts are ‘impact explorers’, and some key insights from her podcast, Learning Uncut.

About Michelle OckersMichelle spent close to three decades in learning and development. After 16 years in the Royal Australian Air Force, she brought her training and project management experience into the corporate sector. In 2018, she started her popular podcast, Learning Uncut, helping L&D professionals share real stories about their work. The podcast became a global go-to source for examples of leading edge industry practice, matching her vision for the industry’s potential – and how we can achieve that together. She then made Learning Uncut into a network to offer L&D leaders everywhere the opportunity to thrive, with the support of leading experts.

Key takeaways: There are some critical skills needed for L&D teams to be relevant. Michelle highlights some ‘human skills’’ like leadership, critical thinking and communication, as key skills to develop within your L&D team. We can’t master every skill ourselves, but if we ensure some of the most critical skills across our team are covered, we are able to watch out for any blindspots. * Performance consulting is a must-have skill in particular. A successful L&D team is able to demonstrate business impact, not just learning impact. Michelle best describes this skill from the Learning and Performance Institute definition: “it’s about partnering with customers and clients, to analyse performance gaps, recommend appropriate interventions and measure the outcomes.” * Consider some mindset shifts for your L&D team. If we do a good job with our learning programs, we don’t need to be there the whole time. L&D teams are very supportive, but they need to know when to let go. Review how we can partner and equip with the rest of the organisation – and how we can effectively* support learning.

Segmented time stamps:(02:45) What are the key capabilities that L&D professionals need to demonstrate?

(07:46) What we mean by ‘soft skills’ - Rethinking these as ‘Human skills’

(12:21) On speculative learning

(13:18) What is ‘performance consulting’?

(19:11) Not being tied to one learning technology

(20:52) Some key mindset shifts for L&D professionals

(25:39) Michelle’s Gap finder tool

(28:25) The art of role modelling

Links from the podcast:* Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn * Listen to the Learning Uncut podcast * Download Michelle's Gap Finder Tool Capability Gap Finder resource * Find more about Learning Uncut * Check out The Future of Jobs Report 2020 * Listen to the Learning While Working Podcast interview with Jeff Kortenbosch * Check out The Learning and Performance Institute Map * Check out Emerging Stronger * Check out RedThread’s Research on Learning Technology Ecosystems * Listen to the Learning While Working Podcast interview with with Dani Johnson

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About Ant Pugh

Ant is a self-employed learning design consultant and instructional designer, with a career in learning and development spanning twenty years, with experience working in several continents, and global clients including ANZ, Westpac, Link Group, Microsoft and Carnival. He is renowned for using a performance-based approach to design training, passionate about implementing human-centred solutions to change behaviour, improve performance and deliver measurable business results.

Key takeaways:

• The vast majority of learning is ineffective. Ant unpacks how a great learning designer questions everything and trusts their instincts. It’s very easy to just copy what others are doing, but if you ‘break out’ of the L&D world and review how else you learn in your day-to-day life, it’s easier to think outside of the box.
• Writing is a great way of teaching (and learning). From writing a daily email to his mailing list, Ant has become a better writer and has learnt a lot more about learning design. Find your medium where you can capture – or report – daily on what you have learnt or thought about to a community, no matter how small.
• Some of the biggest blockers for writing are not knowing who you are writing to and your mindset around writing. Ant has reframed what writing is to him – it’s about documenting, not creating content. This has been a powerful way to beat overwhelm for Ant, which enables him to write so frequently in a flow state. Focus on being a reporter rather than a leader or teacher, and simply share with others what has worked for you so far.

Segmented time stamps:

• [02:26] How to become a better learning designer
• [04:34] Ant’s strategy to seeing things differently
• [07:10] How to move forward in new ways of thinking
• [13:57] Why learning designers should write more
• [17:41] Making the time to write daily and Ant’s writing process
• [21:20] Some of the biggest blockers for writing – and how to overcome them

Links from the podcast:

• Subscribe to Ant’s daily newsletter
• Connect with Ant on LinkedIn
• Find more about Ant Pugh
• Check out GaryVee’s YouTube channel,
• Watch GaryVee’s ‘Document, Don’t Create’ video on youtube
• Watch recording of Sprout Labs webinar ‘Creative thinking for learning designers’

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About Dani Johnson

Dani is the Co-founder and Principal Analyst for RedThread Research. Before starting RedThread, Dani led the Learning and Career research practice at Bersin, Deloitte. Her ideas can be found in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CLO Magazine, HR Magazine, and Employment Relations. Dani holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Key Takeaways

• RedThread's Next-gen Learning Method Report demonstrates that the ways people work are changing – and that the methods companies use to learn must keep pace with those changes. Their research shows that there are more than 60 methods that enable employee L&D, from the way employees consume information to how they can learn from one another.
• When it comes to analysing data, it’s important to be able to ‘sift through’ and identify actionable information. Dani gives a great example of benchmarking, and that it shouldn’t be a primary influence for an organisation, but a consideration. She also stresses the importance of being tech-agnostic.
• Dani also shares how skills development is important as L&D roles are becoming more central to organisations. The need for durable skills such as critical thinking, communication and leadership will be needed for such roles.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:50] Why RedThread produced the next generation learning report
• [03:20] The RedThread Employee Development framework
• [04:46] On how they conducted their research and what surprised them most from their findings
• [07:54] Some key takeaways for L&D professionals
• [11:56] Why L&D experts are making use of what they already have in organisations
• [15:25] On the need for skills development
• [17:10] The need for mindset shifts for L&D professionals

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Dani on LinkedIn
• Find more about RedThread Research
• Check out RedThread’s Learning Methods Infographic

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About Geoff Rip

Geoff Rip is the Founder and Principal Designer at Training That Works. He is a highly experienced and passionate learning professional with rich and diverse knowledge. He specialises in quality production of end to end learning, utilising social learning and technology, with a dedicated focus on increasing capability resulting in performance uplift.

Key takeaways:

Geoff’s methodology is 'performance first', meaning it is applicable if there is a performance need that requires a learning solution that is best met with a training program. It also starts with a clear picture of successful on-the-job performance. Two key models that are part of the methodology are the Training Effectiveness Equation (Formation x Transformation = Results) and the Ready-Set-Go-Show Model.

• Geoff shares his Six Lenses Evaluation Model:
• LENS 1 is Participation, which includes Attendance and Activity and is common to many other approaches to training evaluation.
• LENS 2 is Perceptions, i.e. participant reactions to the learning process in the READY and SET Phases, e.g. perceptions of psychological safety.
• LENS 3 is Realistic Performance. If we don't move people as closely as possible to workplace performance, the chances of them actually using their new knowledge and skills is significantly diminished.
• LENS 4 is Recall Performance. It relates to Imperative 1 in the GO Phase and is based on research into retrieval practice. Training designs that don't incorporate retrieval practice will inevitably be followed by a steep forgetting curve.
• LENS 5 is Real-world Performance. This relates to Imperative 2 in the GO Phase. There are three components (or levels): Perceptions, Process and Competence or Proficiency.
• LENS 6 is Performance Outcomes. This includes productivity measures and financial measures/metrics. It also includes ROI (as a financial measure).
• Geoff recommended a storytelling technique as participants find it easy to tell stories about application. A practical guide for storytelling is SHOW - Situation, How, Outcomes, and Wisdom. We need to evaluate real-world performance, even if it's only at the level of perception, and we need to treat this performance as a learning process.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:37] What most learning evaluation activities miss – and how Geoff designed a model to measure competency
• [06:32] The three phases to Geoff’s evaluation model: Ready, Set, Go, Show
• [11:00] Geoff’s approach to learning flow over using templates
• [14:25] The Six Lenses Evaluation Model
• [34:55] Measuring ROI on select parts of a learning process, as opposed to the entire process
• [36:44] How to evaluate learning effectiveness by telling a story through the SHOW acronym
• [38:12] Geoff’s key advice to improving your evaluation process

Links from the podcast * Connect with Geoff on LinkedIn * Read Geoff’s LinkedIn article on the Ready-Set-Go-Show for Effective Training * Read Geoff’s LinkedIn article based on the podcast: Six Lenses Evaluation Model * Browse the Learning Scientists website * Download Geoff's Six Lenses Evaluation Model

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About Jeff Kortenbosh

Jeff has over 20 years of experience in Learning and Development, working for global organisations like Philips, AkzoNobel, and IKEA. He is currently working at de Volksbank. Jeff is the author of the acclaimed book ‘20 questions Learning and Development should ask before talking about training’, where he unpacks measurable performance and business outcomes and relevant solutions that go beyond training. He is also an illustrator of digital explainer visuals.

Key takeaways:

• See if your client already has a solution in mind, to help identify what they really want. As the learning designer, give them space to articulate ideas and get a sense for how committed they are to those ideas.
• Consider reverse engineering exercises to help identify the bigger picture, and the tangible steps needed to get there. Jeff suggests asking questions such as ‘What does success look like?’. And it’s okay if you clients don’t know what good looks like yet – just focus on getting the team together to work it out for themselves.
• It’s important to find the key learners to work with from the beginning of the training process, as it helps prevent potential pushback from employees. Jeff’s advice is to start small, for example seek the five key learners that you can begin working with, then build up from there.

Segmented time stamps:

• [02:03] How Jeff’s 20 Questions training works
• [05:59] The Parking Lot question
• [09:11] Getting to the route answer by defining success
• [13:06] Getting access to the right learners
• [16:12] Jeff’s learning process of co-creation
• [22:58] Jeff’s strategy for potential pushback from employees

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn
• Read the book 20 Questions Learning & Development should ask before talking about training!

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About Warren Kennard

Warren Kennard is a globally connected higher education professional and reformer with extensive leadership experience across EdTech, strategy, marketing, business development and partnerships, principally in last-mile learning institutions positioned to scale. He is currently Principal Consultant of Digital at Melbourne Business School.

Key takeaways:

• We are undergoing a rapid pace of change in society that demands certain skills. Transformation needs to happen within Higher Education to ensure that there isn’t a broadening gap with market requirements. Higher Education needs to also review its own business models to keep up with the pace.
• The ‘disruptors’ of the traditional education model, such as tech boot camps, are offering training that is more practical and project-based. Consider ways to work together with these boot camps that provide such technical skills.
• Organisations and universities can leverage the future skills in workplaces by working together. Even though they operate very differently, hence the rise of third-parties like boot camps, it’s important to be patient, clear on each other’s expectations and establish a partnership of learning.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:56] Why Higher Education is rethinking the way its working with industries
• [04:30] Working with the ‘disruptors’ of Higher Education
• [07:27] Bootcamps versus university short courses
• [15:00] Advice for organisations who are considering working with universities
• [17:54] Innovation labs at universities
• [20:15] Exploring the different learning styles across programs
• [23:01] How would Warren like to see the development of future skills in workplaces

Links from the podcast

Connect with Warren Kennard on LinkedIn

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About Aman Ed

Aman Eid is a social neuroscientist of learning and an organisational designer concerned with how organisations transform via learning efforts. Coming from an interdisciplinary colourful background enabled Aman to have a unique approach to tackling the challenges facing organisations. In the last 14 years, Aman led and contributed to designing and redesigning 100s of learning journeys of agile teams, leadership communities, and organisational landscapes. For organisational reinventing to work, we need to reinvent the ways we learn together in organisations, and for organisational learning to work we need to reinvent the intentions of leading the learning efforts.

Key takeaways:

• As many of us are reimagining the world of work, we also need to reimagine how we learn. Many of us have been caught up in the traditional way of working which focuses more on task mastery, neglecting the human side of work. Aman highlights that organisations are essentially “you and me” – a place where humans work together.
• We can learn from big tech companies when it comes to reimagining the future of work. As they are growing at an accelerated pace, we can quickly see what their success and failures are, and apply where needed to our workplace. A common weakness of big tech companies is their lack of hiring diverse talent, often due to their pace of hiring, so this helps us stick to the path of maintaining a diverse culture.
• L&D experts can help organisations reimagine learning by ensuring all employees have a platform to share their voices. By nurturing the “invisible leaders”, the key decision makers can then listen and be open to change.

Segmented time stamps:

• [01:50] Why we need to reimagine organisational learning
• [04:25] Redefining work relationships
• [06:14] What we can learn from Big Tech companies, including their struggles
• [12:44] Bringing diverse talent to the organisational level
• [15:31] How an L&D expert can help facilitate the “invisible leaders”
• [20:32] Aman’s key advice with reimagining workplace learning

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Aman Eid on LinkedIn
• More about Aman Eid

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About Eva Keiffenheim

Eva Keiffenheim left teaching in Summer 2020 to become an EDUpreneur. Her life’s mission is to make education fairer and better for as many learners as possible. She is a writer, and helps research, consult, and implement education projects. She also co-founded Speed Up, Buddy!, an NGO to support first-gen students. She shares in her weekly newsletter of +3K subscribers, Learn Letter, where she shares useful tools and resources.

Key takeaways:

• Eva shares the three things that organisations can do to help their employees become lifelong learners:
• Provide opportunities for continuous learning. This might be a formal learning pathway that is made up of courses or collections of resources. It could be structured stretch projects, peer groups or suggested workplace learning activities.
• Leverage from powerful technologies. Studies have shown low completion rates come from limited engagement, e.g. just watching videos, and there are plenty of EdTech solutions that help provide more active learning, for example Maven, a cohort-based course (CBC) platform. Ultimately, adopt technologies that can help facilitate ways of engagement, e.g. testing, leaderboards and immediate feedback.
• Make space and time to learn and practice. It helps learners get into the flow of absorbing information, and gets them out of the ‘content consumption’ trap. The main thing is to make sure that learners have enough time to repeatedly practice what they’re learning.
• The human brain’s ability to recall information diminishes, and it’s no flaw of human memory, so include this fact in your corporate learning designs. E.g. revisit the topics, don't just lecture!
• Good grades alone don't reflect acquired learning. Having just a visual dashboard and tracking time spent are not enough. Consider accountability systems and ways to embed motivation within your learning platform.
• Encourage learning exchange and the concept of learning in public through feedback and connections. For example, share your notes or internal blogging.

Segmented time stamps:

• [02:50] The three things organisations can do to help their employees become lifelong learners
• [05:41] Why it’s important to schedule in time for learning
• [07:47] Key strategies to practise new skills in the corporate environment
• [09:12] Leveraging technology to acquire new skills
• [13:36] The role of dashboards and measuring real progress
• [20:28] How to make the most out of note taking
• [22:27] Applying cognitive science to your learning design
• [27:22] Eva’s key advice to L&D experts

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Eva on LinkedIn
• Eva’s Website
• Follow Eva on Medium
• Find more about Roam Research
• Read the book Make It Stick
• Read the book Atomic Habits
• Do a course on Maven
• Do the course Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects with Barbara Oakley

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About Britt Andreatta

Britt Andreatta is a thought leader who creates brain science-based solutions for today's challenges. As CEO of 7th Mind, Inc., Britt draws on her unique background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and learning to unlock the best in people and organizations.

Former Chief Learning Officer for Lynda.com and Senior Learning Consultant for Global Leadership and Talent Development at LinkedIn, Britt is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience.

Key takeaways:

• The basal ganglia is a group of structures found deep within your brain. They are activated when you perform habits. This is “autopilot” mode, which helps enable you to do tasks quickly, accurately and without conscious thought. A useful mindset as a learning designer is to think about design habits.
• The brain’s reward system is a powerful motivation for humans to complete tasks. As learning designers, it’s important to leverage this concept and implement cues within your learning design.
• Ensure you are fully analysing what needs to be done and how effective your learning material is. Don’t take clients' analysis at face value, so go back to square one and be clear on what the best solution is.
• You can apply brain-based strategies to both in-person and online environments. The main thing is giving the learners enough space and time to practise. Britt recommends simulations, role plays and virtual reality for this.

Segmented time stamps:

[01:50] The link between habits and workplace learning

[05:04] Integrating cues and rewards in learning design

[08:08] Brain-based strategies used for building habits

[11:10] The importance of analysing the full learning experience

[13:24] Strategies for digital learning

[16:25] When to consider using VR for learning

[21:16] Why learning designers don’t apply enough brain-based strategies

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Britt on LinkedIn
• Britt’s Website
• Read the book ‘Wired To Grow’ by Britt Andreatta
• Books and resources Brit recommended
  • ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg
  • ‘Make it Stick’ by Henry Roediger III, Mark McDaniel and Peter Brown
  • Nature
  • Scientific American

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About Kuva Jacobs

Kuva is a Learning Design Strategist, Instructional Designer, and the Founding Director of Redpoint Consulting. Her passion for learning design seeded from a PhD in mathematics when she created visual, interactive, flash based modules that brought complex mathematical equations to life.

Kuva’s focus is on improving the experience of the learner through interactivity, engagement and creative use of multimedia. She creates highly technical training materials right from the analysis phase through to design and delivery.

Key takeaways:

• Constructivism is a theory that learners construct new understandings and knowledge – integrating with what they already know. Constructivism is the ‘Grandfather’ of human centred design. Constructivism and human centred design helped shift the learner to the centre of the learning experience.
• It’s important that learners design something for themselves for the product to work effectively. The use of virtual design sprints can help ensure the clients are engaged and involved along the process.
• Online whiteboards such as Miro enable online remote design sessions. Miro allows users to be all in one space, and you can organise and structure the information really well.
• Design thinking gives you a closer connection to your learners. Be open to innovating in ways that suit your audience through working with key learners and identifying what people want to know.

Segmented time stamps:

• 01:35 How Kuva came to use design thinking in her learning design practice
• 08:06 A process for using virtual design sprints
• 12:34 How Miro succeeds a lot more when used virtually than in-person
• 15:00 Using a survey to gather opinions for the prototype
• 16:48 Shifting to design thinking in learning projects – and learning from epic fails
• 22:19 The importance of understanding your audience and identifying how they want to learn
• 23:05 Advice to people about using design thinking

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Kuva Jacobs on LinkedIn
• Redpoint Consulting
• Read Kuva's article on How I Applied Human Centred Design principles to Learning Design
• Miro

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About Trish Uhl

Trish works with learning & talent development professionals, people leaders, and other businesses executives on engineering dynamic ecosystems to equip and empower their people with data, analytics, and tech to enable the cultural transcendence necessary to power this kind of strategic change.

Key Takeaways

• One thing L&D people get wrong when it comes to data is starting by looking at data. Instead, it should be more about starting with a business challenge or opportunity in mind—and then sourcing the data we need, whether it’s already available or needs to be generated or a combination thereof.
• It’s not about the learning function as much as it is about using data to generate the insights to drive the outcomes that allow others in the organisation to make better decisions.
• Data should be used to improve our processes. Data should allow us to expand our understanding and the context in which we’re using data to help us make more quality decisions.
• The whole point of evidence-based practice is to use the best quality data we have available, and this can include:
• Data
• Our judgment and expertise
• Stakeholder’s expertise, experience, and perspective
• Scientific literature and academic research
• There are so many other data sources that we can use in addition to learning data, for example, Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation or smile sheets. We can line those pieces up to be able to have a journey that actually helps us over time to drive outcomes.
• While financial performance has been a critical indicator of organisational success in capitalist countries, the performance metrics are changing as we move into a more sustainable business world.

“Even though profit is important, it can’t be the sole focus anymore – it’s about people, the planet, and prosperity for all” – Trish

• Using existing logic frameworks and measurement scales that have been academically vetted and rigorously tested in the field can help us collect data and reach conclusions faster.
• We should use existing logic frameworks to answer the big questions - there are proven ways to measure qualitative data such as employee engagement, culture, safety, leadership, and much more. We just need to become aware of what tools already exist and take advantage of their reliability.

“It’s not just about the analyses, and it’s not just about playing with data. It’s also about being able to compel action. We need to take that analytical insight and actually compel action with that” – Trish

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Trish Uhl on LinkedIn
• Trish Uhl on Linktree
• Learn more about Owl’s Ledge
• Utrecht Work Engagement Scale - for reliable, validated instrument for measuring, monitoring, managing employee engagement

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About Austin Welch

Austin is the co-founder of Sage Media, a company focused on producing training and development content that is captivating and engaging for the learner audience. He combines research from behavioral psychology, cognitive science, and adult learning theory to create educational films that resonate with the audience and drive behavioral change. Through a combination of learning strategy, story design, and video production, Austin is revolutionizing the way that companies train and connect with their employees.

Key Takeaways

“We must create environments in which learners can find their own intrinsic motivation.” - Austin

The three key nutrients for intrinsic motivation include:

1. Sense of autonomy: allowing free will to guide your decision making
2. Sense of mastery: feeling good about your skills and what you do
3. Sense of relatedness: how we relate to the world and the people in ours
4. When creating a mandatory course for employees, you can still create a sense of autonomy by giving them options such as what order they flow through the course or being able to choose when to take the course.
5. A sense of mastery can be encouraged when you ask them to bring their own life experiences and lessons into the course.
6. To boost relatedness, you can create message boards and forums where learners can bounce ideas off each other and connect around the content they’re learning
7. Deductive learning is the traditional approach where you’re provided information, examples to reinforce it and are quizzed on it later. Inductive learning is where a learner is provided with examples and then they’re asked what they can infer from it, really tapping into the critical thinking element. This taps into their autonomy, mastery, and relatedness.
8. Research supports that using traditional pen and paper workbooks while learning helps commit the information to memory and behavior. Workbooks provide an opportunity for exploration while reinforcing learning concepts and ideas. They help leverage the mastery/competence and autonomy factors.
9. We should shift our mindset from checking if employees are completing the training just to check a box to whether they’re demonstrating the results of the training. This will tell us more about whether an employee is a good fit, whether the training is effective, and if adjustments need to be made.
10. When creating a training on sensitive topis such as anti-harassment, language like “don’t do this or this will happen” tends to feel accusatory and divisive but rather, find ways to create a sense of relatedness between the learner and the content. For example, asking “As a leader, how can you step in to create a culture that feels safe for your staff?” focuses more on building relationships and fostering a healthy company culture than the laws and regulations of harassment.

To learn more about learning motivation, Austin recommends reading research on intrinsic motivation and self determination theory.

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Austin Welch
• Learn more about Sage Media
• Read Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being
• Learning tools for increasing Learners’ Motivation
• Explore The Learner Engagement Summit resources

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About Arun Pradhan

Arun is a leading innovator in the field of learning and development with over two decades in the field. He’s the co-founder of ModelThinkers.com, a platform that aims to provide solutions that empower people to be smarter and faster by cataloging a playbook of the world’s most powerful ideas. These ideas can be used to make better decisions, interrupt bias, and solve complex problems.

He’s passionate and ever curious about topics such as cognitive psychology, behavioural economics, marketing, and anything that provides insights into how people think, behave and change.

With his understanding of consumer behaviour and experience in learning and development, he brings an interesting perspective to the table regarding the role of design thinking in L&D.

What is Design Thinking?

Design thinking, or co-design, is the process of understanding the user, challenging assumptions, and redefining problems in order to identify alternative solutions that may not always be evident at first glance. This process involves several steps, including empathizing with and understanding the user, defining their needs or problem, creating an innovative solution, designing a prototype, and testing.

Key Takeaways:

• Design thinking is still relevant and useful in L&D however, it tends to be overused.
• Co-design is overused because people tend to think of it as a way to convince others to buy into their idea or solution, be it the consumer or the executives of a company. People tend to associate it with getting sponsorship.
• The overuse of design thinking can prove redundant for your audience. When done too often, an audience that’s already overwhelmed and busy will view the experience as just another project to add to their plate and won’t feel enthused about participating.
• Design thinking is still useful when there’s a level of complexity to the problem you’re aiming to solve.
• When you’re engaging with your audience, the primary goal should be to understand their context, needs, and pain points, not for them to help you come up with a solution, per se. That happens behind closed doors once the data is being reviewed.
• Sometimes clients just want a solution delivered to them. In some cases, it’s best to lean on previous experience and expertise to develop a viable solution rather than going through a design exercise.

Segmented Time Stamps:

• 2:25 How is design thinking being overused?
• 4:10 When is design thinking useful, and how can it be used more effectively?
• 9:09 The role the audience plays in co-design
• 15:09 What’s the best approach for the prototype phase?
• 23:18 What’s next for using design thinking in L&D?
• 25:17 How can L&D teams become more dynamic with the way they use design thinking tools?

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Arun Pradhan on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Model Thinkers, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter
• Read Arun Pradhan’s Linked post on rethinking Design thinking in L&D

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About Sumit Gupta

Sumit, now a leadership coach, comes from 16 years of working in tech companies. He's now moved away from the technical side of things and slowly transitioned his passion for tech to management and leadership. Today he works with leaders from various tech and social organizations to overcome some of the biggest challenges they face in their individual leadership or with managing their teams.

"Learning is the foundation which helps your team to adapt to whatever is coming next. Learning is the foundational element of any team and of any kind of leadership" - Sumit

Key Takeaways

• A one-on-one between a manager and employee is a foundational tool to ensure that there is space to learn and perform. Additionally, a one-on-one should be a place for a manager to listen to the people's concerns and work to provide solutions to their needs.
• A great one-on-one happens at regular intervals, once a week or every two weeks. The manager and employee are both present in a safe, private space to discuss not only status updates, but also to build the relationship. It should feel like a place where staff can disclose what's bothering them so they can work alongside their manager to develop the appropriate support they need to meet their objectives.
• When working with an employee who isn't meeting expectations, instead of using critical language like “underperforming,” consider reminding them of the expectations they signed up for, discussing where they're currently hitting the mark, and ask them what's missing for them to reach the level you need them to reach. And then work to offer a solution to help them hit their objectives.
• As leaders, if you see that your staff may be lacking certain soft skills, it's your responsibility to help develop them through coaching or mentoring.
• One of the best ways to prepare a new leader or manager is through on-the-job practice - not just learning in a classroom setting. And also having a dedicated coach who can listen to what's happening and offer that one-on-one support and feedback.
  "Everything which is difficult, or where you are not hitting the mark is an invitation to practice" – Sumit
• Ratings can be useful in measuring performance metrics, but managers shouldn't identify their employees by these numbers. There has to be that human connection and relatability still.
  "If you measure a fish by its ability to climb a tree, you will always be called a poor performer" – Sumit
• Listen to your people to understand what they're good at, bad at, and what they want to learn. This can allow you to see if certain employees would be better suited for different roles based on their strengths and interests.
• To build a stronger learning culture, managers should set aside dedicated time for learning, thus creating a rhythm of learning each week or month.

Segmented time stamps:

• 2:06 An introduction to Sumit Gupta
• 3:00 How leaders can foster a learning culture in tech companies
• 4:01 The opportunities and challenges tech companies face with learning at work
• 5:16 How to use staff/manager one-on-ones for fostering a learning culture
• 12:42 How to prepare leaders and managers in directing the one-on-one conversations
• 15:00 The effects of using labels such as “underperformer” or numbered rating systems to evaluate employees.
• 19:12 How to provide feedback to an employee without using a rating system or label
• 21:53 The key to making sure employees have dedicated time for learning
• 23:43 The importance of building trust with employees and structure around learning at work

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Sumit Gupta on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Deploy Yourself
• Read "How to Have Career Development Conversations With Your Employees? Or How to Care for Your People?"

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In this episode, Robin chats with Panos Siozos, co-founder and CEO of LearnWorlds, an e-learning platform allowing companies and individuals to create their own online training school. He shares how the platform is used to onboard their own developers/technical staff, ways to encourage continued learning in a remote environment, and ways to streamline the creation of learning content for your courses.

“Success is not being defined by all the things we know, or how excellent we are at what we do today, but I guess it’s more determined by how fast we learn and how fast we adapt to the new ways of doing things” – Panos

About Panos Siozos

Panos Siozos has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology, with a specialization in Computer Assisted Assessment. He’s a co-founder and CEO of LearnWorlds; an e-learning company focused on transforming self-paced online learning. He has extensive work experience as a computer science educator and as a software engineer and IT manager.

About LearnWorlds

LearnWorld offers professional trainers, training organizations, and businesses a hassle-free way to create their own, personally branded online school where they can offer courses directly to the public as individual courses, bundles, or subscriptions.

Key Takeaways:

• All employees hired at LearnWorlds go through training by taking courses designed for their job role directly through the LearningWorlds platform. This helps them not only learn about the job, but also gives them firsthand experience of how the platform works and what it’s like to use it.
• Companies that use an online platform for their onboarding program should focus on repurposing existing content that can be shared across the organization. Course content can be created through many channels, such as through recorded internal meetings or webinars created for a specific customer or audience. You can take existing content and reframe it into the context you want to teach it without reinventing the wheel. Learning content doesn’t always need to be polished as long as it’s relevant. Sometimes growth happens too fast to keep up with training content, so repurposing can be sufficient.
• If you provide employees with a place and the infrastructure to exchange ideas and teach each other, growth and continued learning tend to happen organically. People actually like to share what they know and to help other people in turn, helping to create learner and user generated content through discussions and open forums.

“It’s an environment of constant challenges and problem solving this is what drives us forward” – Panos * Even when working remotely, you can engage staff in a culture of learning. You can do this by giving them interesting problems to solve, by communicating expectations and company direction clearly, and by continuing to foster and build personal connections with your team members. * You can encourage learning and growth with some of your most senior team members by giving them opportunities to teach or mentor more junior staff on the team; thus, giving them a new challenge to keep them engaged.

Segmented Time Stamps:

1:25 An introduction to Panos Siozos

2:35 How LearnWorlds is using their own e-learning platform to onboard new talent

5:31 Is polished course content as important as relevant content?

9:14 How do you get people and teams engaged with generating content?

12:11 How to embed a culture of continuous learning during the onboarding process

17:06 The key to maintaining a learning culture in a fully remote work setting

19:50 What opportunities are there for more senior employees to learn and grow?

24:44 Advice for businesses thinking of transforming their onboarding program

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Panos Siozos on LinkedIn
  Learn more about LearnWorlds

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Join us for a new episode of Learning While Working as Robin chats with John Danner from Dunce Capital – a company focused on investing in the future of learning and work. In this episode, John shares his insights as to why tech companies need to be focused on developing their own talent pipeline as opposed to continuing to bid from a dwindling supply of senior engineers.

About John Danner:

In the 90’s John co-founded Net Gravity, which was one of the first online survey companies. He then sold it and pursued a Master of Education to become a high school teacher. Then, in 2006 John co-founded Rocketship Education, a not-for-profit charter school network focused on providing equal learning opportunities to low-income and minority students. He now runs Dunce Capital, where the focus is on investing in the future of learning at work. Through his varied professional experience, he’s gained a deep expertise that crosses over technology, learning, and business.

What should a talent pipeline for a tech company look like?

Ten years ago, there weren’t nearly as many tech companies with a need for senior engineers and the more prominent companies like Apple and Netflix were able to pay the salaries to scoop up the available ones for hire. But now, we live in a time where the demand for senior engineers is higher than ever before, but there isn’t a pool of candidates big enough to fill the need.

We'll see companies bring in young engineers, and then either internally or through external partnerships, train those engineers for the first couple of years so that they're not a liability. So that would be my prediction about what's going to happen in the tech industry over the next few years, and I think it’ll be a big advantage – John Danner

Key takeaways

• The demand for senior engineers has far surpassed the available demand meaning that the future of hiring and training of engineers will need to change.
• Tech companies are going to advantage themselves by figuring out how to bring in much younger engineers and train them in their own culture and how to be an engineer.
• When companies invest in developing their employees and create clear career paths for them to work toward, they’re likely to get better retention.
• It can be a challenge for both small and large companies to train from within - each size company has its own set of problems.

“An earlier stage startup doesn't have the capacity to do great training because the number of senior folks they have that would be capable of mentorship is just not strong enough yet. And you have the more mature companies, which until today have just been able to use the market to get the scarce resources that they need” – John Danner

In neither case are companies really focusing on how to develop people from within.

“A lot of the companies, I think look at it as somebody else's problem still, and they wish that they could just find people that were ready to hit the ground running, and I think that's been true up to maybe five to 10 years ago in tech, but it's fairly clearly not true anymore. There is not a large enough supply of hit the ground ready folks anymore.” – John Danner

• The focus should also be put on bringing diversity into tech so that there can be a representative group of people that mirrors the population. Companies can’t wait for the elite schools to become broadly representative and deliver them with diverse grads. And that’s why some of these post-grad accelerated Computer Science programs are so important; they help promote the diversity that elite schools and companies aren’t yet focusing on.
• The sooner companies get onboard with internal training and development programs, the better positioned they’ll be. The time of bidding up senior engineers is over.

Segment time stamps

(00:16) Introduction to John Danner

(1:51) What should a talent pipeline for a tech company look like?

(6:37) Investing in employee development as a means of retention

(8:13) Can smaller companies compete with the professional development larger companies can provide?

(10:41) Achieving the proper ratio of junior to senior employees

(12:07) Focusing on building diversity in tech

(13:53) Should accelerated tech schools have a role in helping people once they start in an organisation?

(16:24) John’s advice for developing a talent pipeline

Links from the podcast

• Connect with John Danner
• Learning more about Dunce Capital
• Follow John Danner on Medium
• Read Johh's post on Tech needs to stop whining about talent

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About Zachary Minott

Zachary Minott has a background in computer science, game and augmented reality programming and web and salesforce development. Beyond software engineering, Zach is an avid reader and learner. He’s also a talented writer on Medium where he’s amassed quite the following. Zach is passionate about expanding his knowledge, exchanging ideas with others, and finding new ways not only to create but to innovate.

What is a learning engine?

“What a learning engine is to me, is how many components are you going to put into your mind, that will allow you to move forward and be better than yesterday? How many ideas can you fill your head with, positive and negative, to optimize those things to your advantage” – Zachary Minott

A learning engine is essentially the driving force that pushes us to continue learning and absorbing new information so that we can expand our knowledge and skillset.

In developer terms, you can be a good developer if you know coding language but, what makes a great developer stand apart from the good ones is their ability to problem solve creatively. So, it’s not just about the core skills, it’s about adopting skills outside of what is traditionally expected for your work to stand out as exceptional.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The importance of creative thinking: Sometimes looking out of your own profession, and your own discipline can trigger different ways of looking at things as well.
• The more you learn, the more angles you explore, the broader your view. And now, you can find connections between concepts like art, psychology and coding and combine them to create a more elegantly and intuitively designed code.
• Where a lot of developers are missing the mark is going beyond their technical coding skills when rather, they could be diving further into the problems they’re seeking to solve and the experience they’re trying to create for the customer. It takes a certain level of intuitive and creative thinking to go beyond what the technical aspect of programming can do.

“Because when you're creative, but you're not exactly a master at the technicalities, you're able to figure things out on a similar level, just because you're able to see those things in ways that they can't see them.” – Zachary MinottThe best way to develop your learning engine is to just start small. Think of what knowledge can bring you the most value, or is of most interest to you, and then, pick up a book and commit to reading 10 pages a day. Watch videos, listen to podcasts, read newsletters even 10-30 minutes each day. Over time, the knowledge compounds and you easily become an expert in that field.

SEGMENTED TIME STAMPS

(00:25) Introduction of Zachary Minott
(00:29) The importance of connecting pieces of knowledge to creatively perfect your craft
(10:00) Strategies to build upon your knowledge and tips for building new habits
(17:45) What is a learning engine?
(20:41) Writing as a means to share knowledge and exchange ideas with others
(26:45) Zachary’s advice for someone developing their own learning engine

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Zachary Minott
• Read his articles on Medium

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This podcast is a conversation with Toby Newman from HERE Technologies about how to foster a learning culture. HERE Technologies is a Netherlands-based company that provides mapping and location data services. In the interview, Toby provides examples of the strategies and approaches that Nigel Paine and Sonia Malik talk about in the previous interviews on learning cultures. One of the key points from this interview is the importance of supporting employees to be able to share and capture knowledge. Toby also provides many other strategies of fostering a learning culture during the interview.

• Find out more HERE Technologies
• Connect with Toby Newman

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In this podcast, Robin talks with Sonia Malik from IBM about reskilling your workforce. Sonia has more than twenty-five years of experience working in various roles in the education technology industry. The conversation starts with Sonia talking about how the pandemic has put reskilling and learning at the core of organisations and the opportunity this has provided for L&D. We then move into talking about how organisations can plan for reskilling, to enable learning to be at the strategic core of an organisation and so learning becomes a core part of daily activity.

Sonia talks about how your approaches to reskilling plans needed to include perishable and durable skills. Examples of perishable short-term skills working might be cloud technologies. These types of technology skills change quickly and often are only valuable for a few years. Examples of durable skills include presentation skills, communication skills, creative thinking, teamwork and collaboration.

Sonia also talks about what the organisation does to provide the learning infrastructure. Learning infrastructure is both the learning experiences and the recognition of learning that motivates an employee to learn. This enables learners to become motivated, self-guided, super learners. IBM has done research work into figuring out who their super learners are. There is a link to that below.

Links from the podcast

● Connect with Sonia Malik

● Sonia’s articles on the IBM Training and Skills Blog

● Increase your employability: Become an intentional Super Learner

● Burning Glass Technologies report After the Storm - The Jobs and Skills that will Drive the Post-Pandemic Recovery

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This is a podcast with Dan Mottau from RedBubble on Future ways of working. RedBubble is a global online marketplace for print-on-demand products-based designs submitted by artists. Dan has previously been on the podcast and talked about Agility as being The Secret to Greater People Experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world and is transforming how we work and live. Remote working has transformed many workspaces and employee’s lives and we are seeing the rise of hybrid workplaces. One of the key messages from this podcast is that hybrid workplaces are about allowing people to work the way they want to and if organisations don't allow for that flexibility they risk losing employees.

Links from the podcast●  Listen to the Agility as being The Secret to Greater People Experiences podcast with Dan

●  Find out more about Red Bubble

●  Connect with Dan on LinkedIn

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What is a learning culture and how is a learning culture fostered, supported and enabled? In this podcast, Robin is exploring these questions with author and podcaster, Nigel Paine. Nigel's latest book is called Workplace Learning: How to build a culture of continuous employee development. This podcast builds upon and discusses themes from the book.

About Nigel Paine

Nigel Paine is a change-focused leader with a worldwide reputation and a unique grasp of media, learning and development in the public, private and academic sectors.

Nigel focuses on the use of learning technologies, organisational development, leadership and creativity with a spotlight on maximising human potential, innovation and performance in the workplace. Nigel is a strategic thinker, able to motivate, lead and drive organisations forward to deliver business and training objectives.

Nigel has been involved in corporate learning for over twenty years.

He has a Professorship from Napier University in Edinburgh and is a Fellow of the CIPD, LPI, the RSA and a Masie Learning Fellow in the USA. He presents a monthly TV programme (Learning Now TV), shares a weekly podcast (with Martin Couzins) called From Scratch, and regularly writes articles for magazines and journals about development, technology and leadership.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about Nigel Paine
• Connect with Nigel Paine
• Read Workplace Learning: How to build a culture of continuous employee development
• Watch Learning Now TV

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This podcast is a return to talking about live online learning. When people signed up for the 2020 Remote Learning Conference we asked them what they wanted to know more about and inclusion was one of the themes to emerge. In this podcast Robin is talking with Brigit Ritchie from WE. WE is a learning studio facilitating workshops, retreats and art experiences to re-imagine relationships in and out of work. This podcast explores what inclusion is and it’s importance. It’s also partly a case study of how WE delivers live online learning. Brigit wraps up with a great discussion about the importance of listening.

About Brigit Ritchie

Brigit is the founder of WE. Brigit’s vision is to develop Relational Mindfulness® to equip people across the world with relational skills to thrive in life. Over the past decade, WE has facilitated experiences for thousands of people to explore how to connect deeply with themselves, each other, and our communities. Brigit leads this work within the WE community across the USA creating cultures of inclusion and belonging in companies like Google, Instagram, and lululemon. Brigit is a mother of two living in LA with an active studio practice where she paints commissions and murals for clients and brands.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about WE
• Connect with Brigit Ritchie on LinkedIn and visit Brigit Ritchie’s own site.
• Connect with WE on Instagram

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In this conversation Robin is talking with Gareth Killeen from Reece about how they used design thinking to re-imagine their leadership development program. Themes include human centered design, design thinking and micro-learning and spaced learning. This is another podcast that was recorded at LearnX 2019.

Links from the podcast * Connect with Gareth Killeen * Find out more about Reece * Find out more about LearnX * Sprout Labs eBook on design thinking and L&D.

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This is the next in the series of podcasts from LearnX 2019.  This podcast is a return to a series of podcasts that were recorded face-to-face at LearnX 2019. Future podcasts may keep on exploring live online learning and learning in hybrid workplaces.  In this podcast Robin is talking with Zoe Sharan from Amicus about how she is using the 70:20:10 learning model in their leadership development program.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about the 70:20:10 learning model
• Find out more about LearnX
• Connect with  Zoe Sharan on LinkedIn

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The remote learning virtual conference brings together guests from the Learning While Working podcast series on virtual facilitation. It's four half-day sessions over 3 days from November 17th 2020 (Australian time zones). One of the sessions is designed for the European/UK time zone.

The event is a mixture of group sessions and small breakout sessions with your peers where you will be exploring the issues and possibilities of live remote learning. If you're listening to this after November 18th, 2020 you can now buy the recordings from the event.

Sign up here

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In this podcast Rachel Burnham is talking about sketchnoting as a way for accelerating the process of learning and cognitive science behind the practice of sketchnoting. If the idea of sketchnoting is new to you, Rachel explains what sketchnoting is at the start. Also, towards the end of the session Rachel talks about how she is now teaching sketchnoting online.

About Rachel Burnham

Rachel helps trainers and L&D professionals become even more effective. She has over 25 years of experience in training and L&D, this includes a wide range of organisations from the private, public and voluntary sectors.

Links from the podcast

• Read L&D Matters by Rachel
• Connect with Rachel Burnham
• Connect with Rachel Burnham on Twitter
• Rachel’s upcoming events on EventBrite

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How do you make sure a virtual event runs smoothly and is engaging? Your event producer is key to a successful virtual event but what does a producer do? In this podcast, Robin is talking with Karyn Gleeson about this question. The podcast focuses on large events but producers are also key to small events. In smaller groups, producers can help new online facilitators, support the learners with technology and help read the digital body language of participants.

About Karyn Gleeson

Karyn Gleeson is an online events production manager for The Learning Guild, where she manages both the tactical needs of producing online events as well as the strategic needs of managing the staff and event deliverables. Previously, Karyn was an LMS administrator and manager of technical support staff for an online curriculum provider. Karyn also has years of experience as a business analyst, project manager and trainer for a custom software development firm.

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Karyn Gleeson
• The Complete Virtual Classroom Checklist: 30 Tips for a Successful Event by Karyn Gleeson
• Prepare, Plan, and Practice for Your Virtual Classroom Sessio by Karyn Gleeson

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Conference style events have a different set of problems to events that are designed for small group learning, they are even harder to make engaging. For Barbara Covarrubias Venegas the key to making an event memorable is the connections between the speakers and audience and connections within the audience. In this interview Robin is talking with Barbara Covarrubias Venegas about approaches to building connections and designing large virtual events.

About Barbara Covarrubias Venegas

Barbara Covarrubias Venegas is a virtual events expert and new ways of working researcher. She is founder of #virtualspacehero where she works with a diverse team of people from across the globe and she designs and produce EXTRAordinary and memorable virtual events.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about Barbara Covarrubias Venegas
• Find out more about virtualspacehero
• Connect with Barbara Covarrubias Venegas

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Scenarios are a powerful way to ensure your learning is performance focused. Using scenarios moves your online sessions away from being information dumps to being active and engaging experiences, where participants are sharing and problem solving together. One approach Ray talks about, is working with the group to bring out their experiences and basing the learning on those scenarios instead of fictional scenarios.

About Ray Jimenez

Ray Jimenez Ph.D. is the Chief Learning Architect at Vignettes Learning, trainingmagnetwork.com and situationexpert.com. He has worked with the American Bankers Association, Neiman Marcus, the US Air Force, NASA, Blue Cross, Goodwill Industries, Pixar Studios, Edison Missing Group, Dendreon, Netafim, Progressive Insurance, Bridgepoint Education, and the California Institute of Technology among others. Ray's expertise is in microlearning, story-based learning design, scenario-based learning design and creative problem solving.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about Vignettes Learning
• Connect with Ray Jimenez

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Conversations are at the core of how we learn with each other, too often live sessions both face-to-face and online are presentations not conversations. Moving online does make designing learning around conversations more challenging but not impossible. In this interview Robin is talking with Joshua Davies from Knowmium about what a conversation architect does. Powerful conversations helping people transform the way they think and behaviour don't just happen, they need to be planned and designed. This podcast will give you ideas and strategies on how to design conversations.

Joshua and the team at Knowmium have put together the Radically Remote Facilitation Toolkit which is a book, a toolkit of templates for activities, a short course and tutorials on using Zoom.

About Joshua Davies

Joshua is the founder of Knowmium. He has 14 years of business and communications training experience in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, as well as both South and North America. He has worked with Fortune 100 companies around the world, conducting research, coaching and workshops on various areas of communications improvement at all levels of management.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more Knowmium
• Connect with Joshua Davies
• Radically Remote Facilitation Toolkit
• Find out more about Liberating Structures
• Whiteboarding tools - Miro, Conceptboard and MURAL
• Polling - Typeform, Mentimeter
• Tools for analysing your online sessions - Otter for transcripts, Marco for monitoring participation and Cyran for automatic analysis

Questions and ideas to explore from this interview * How could your online sessions become conversations? * Could your session planning be more like designing a map of options and different directions for a conversation rather than writing session notes? * Learner expectation about what online learning is. How can these expectations be broken down? * What Liberating Structures could you use in your online sessions? * How could you make your sessions be more like ‘spaces’ by using collaborative whiteboard tools such as Miro? * How can you structure and scaffold complex, powerful questions so they are easier for your learners to interact with? * Does your icebreaker and check-in actually prepare your participants to share deeply in the session? * How could you use video to bring the physical space around your participants? * How could you use transcriptions to analyse your sessions?

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Everyone who is working remotely knows the experience of Zoom fatigue and the negatives of video conferencing; pixel vision, seeing yourself all the time, and what sometimes feels like an ocean of blank faces; but video conferencing also has many powerful possibilities for learning.

These are the possibilities that Robin explores with Chad Owen in this latest interview.

One of the themes that often recurs in interviews around online facilitation is showing up as human online and really connecting with others. Chad explores ways to use video to help with being human online. The interview also includes some great tactics and finishes with a discussion about whiteboarding. There is a sub-theme in this podcast about working visually online.

About Chad Owen

Chad is the founder of Stimulus. Stimulus specialises in team acceleration for disruptors and innovators. Chad has a background in video making and storytelling and has worked for companies such as NIKE, CISCO and Wells Fargo. Chad has recently moved to learning and training. He creates immersive experiences to teach and practice new ways of working to reshape how people and systems operate. Recently, as well as moving his own learning experiences online, he has been helping other learning professionals move their work online.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more Stimulus
• Connect with Chad Owen

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Great live virtual learning sessions happen with a combination of facilitation skills, learning design and visual design. L&D professionals often struggle with visual design. In this podcast, Sprout Labs visual design lead Iona Dierich, talks about the importance of visual design in online facilitation. Iona has a unique set of skills, as well being a visual designer and an occasional instructional designer, she has a background in teaching design. She now runs Sprout Labs visual design for our learning lab. In our programs on online virtual facilitation and design skills, Iona’s sessions on visual design are often what people get the most excited about. In this podcast Iona talks about a simple, practical idea on how to improve your visual design.

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Iona on LinkedIn and on Instagram
• Iona’s Thinking Visually - presentation slides from 2019 Learning While Working virtual conference
• Sprout Labs Visual design for learning lab that Iona runs

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In this podcast Robin is talking with Nancy White about how we can rethink how we work and learn online.  Nancy is one of the pioneers of virtual communities, social learning and online facilitation. She now works mainly in organisation development focusing on how we meet. Nancy’s interview gives a different feel to other interviews in this series, it's less about formal learning and more an exploration of how to reimagine working and learning online. In the podcast, Nancy uses a powerful statement that is picked up in the title ‘creative destruction.’ Creative destruction is a great mindset for rethinking and refocusing the way we work.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about the work Nancy does at Full Circle
• Connect with Nancy White on LinkedIn

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In this podcast Robin and Lori Niles-Hofman are talking about performance consulting. This podcast is another in our series on live online teaching and facilitation being recorded in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Many organisations have rapidly switched from face-to-face learning to live online facilitation which feels like a fast agile way to get learning to employees who are remote. There are other rapid agile approaches to help your people learn and performance consulting is key to deciding the right learning for the employee’s need and the best way to reach them. Lori and her business partner Amanda Nolen, have produced the COVID-19 Learning Triage flowchart. This is based on an existing tool Lori and Amanda use for performance consulting. Lori was on a podcast talking about data driven learning and how marketing works with data. In this podcast, she shares her vision for what she calls the invisible LMS, which applies some of the data driven personalisation methods we see in digital marketing strategies to learning.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more NilesNolen
• Connect with Lori Niles-Hofmann
• The COVID-19 Learning Triage flow chart
• Lori’s article on Crisis Tips for Learning Professionals

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In this podcast Robin is talking with Patti Shank about blending learning design for live online sessions. Patti Shank focuses on transforming research into learning with tactics and practical approaches we can use in workplace learning. A lot of her recent focus has been on assessment and she uses examples in this podcast from her Writing Learning Assessments course.

The rush to provide live learning often highlights what is wrong with our face-to-face session, as too often face-to-face is focused on content delivery. Patti and Robin start off by talking about what synchronous learning and asynchronous learning is best suited from a learning design perspective. Asynchronous learning is better for content, synchronous learning is great for aiding learners with their deep mental processing.

Links from the podcast

• Connect with Patti Shank
• Find out more about Patti Shank
• Patti’s online course on Writing Learning Assessments
• Patti’s eLearning Industry articles on (The Right) Learning Modalities To Deliver Digital Learning: Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3, Part 4
• Bridging (Neuro)Science & Education - Efrat Furst

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This is another podcast in our series on live online teaching and facilitation. In this podcast Robin and Ben Faranda explore what is safe online and what it means to be human in online sessions. Ben is an experienced face-to-face and online facilitator who has worked with some of the biggest tech companies in the world.  Robin and Ben talk about what safety means online and then move into talking about strategies which can be used to help with building safety online. The conversation then goes into what it means to be human online.    

Links from the podcast

• Connect with  Ben Faranda

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In this podcast Robin is talking with Cheryle Walker on the future of live online learning. Cheryle is an experienced online facilitator who helped get Sprout Labs’ webinar program up and running. The title of the podcast is the future of live online learning but that is not where the discussion started, Robin and Cheryle started with exploring how live online learning can reach more people and then they moved onto how the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the move towards more live online sessions and how organisations are going to become a hybrid of remote and physical workplaces. In the hybrid workplace digital learning is key.      

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about Cheryle Walker on her website
• Connect with Cheryle Walker on LinkedIn

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In this podcast Robin is talking with Michael Gwyther about pivoting to online training. Michael often works with Sprout Labs on online facilitation; he was the host of one room for our first virtual conference. Michael has been helping a number of training providers in the Australian vocational education system to pivot rapidly to live online learning. The discussion is an insight to what is happening in the training sector at the moment and Michael shares a number of ‘learning hacks’. The interview finishes with effective suggestions from Michael about assessing what your strengths are in face-to-face teaching and then thinking about how to bring those to live teaching experiences.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more Yum Studio
• Connect with Michael Gwyther

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This is another podcast in our series on live online teaching and facilitation. In the podcast, Robin is talking with Jo Cook about designing interactive virtual sessions. They start with what an interactive virtual classroom session looks like and then move into how to design engaging, interactive virtual sessions. This podcast is full of practical tips and ideas about designing more interactive sessions and how to become a better facilitator.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about Lightbulb Moment
• Connect with Jo Cook
• Jo’s Webinar and virtual classroom podcast
• Lightbulb Moment Community for virtual classroom and webinar discussions

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This podcast is the start of our series of podcasts on live online teaching and facilitation. Sprout Labs has been busy helping organisations rapidly move from face-to-face learning to live online learning during the COVID-19 crisis.  Virtual facilitation has always been in the background of what we do at Sprout Labs. Virtual classrooms are often a core feature of the learning ecosystems we design. Our own development programs for L&D people focus on live sessions,  and we also have our regular webinars and our virtual conference.  Sprout Labs is now helping organisations design and manage virtual conferences.  

This first podcast was recorded at a stage when restrictions were gradually being lifted in Australia; this doesn't automatically mean we are going back to our offices. Many offices don't have the space to allow for social distancing and commuting is going to be hard.  A hybrid remote and physical workplace is emerging where digital learning is core.  

There has been a rush to live online learning, it feels fast and simple but it's not always the best solution.  In many of these interviews the discussion and thinking has moved to what is the potential ‘right mix’ of mediums to use for learning experiences. This might be live synchronous learning, asynchronous resources or social learning.  In this first podcast Robin and Iona Dierich, one of the Sprout team members, are talking about what great live online teaching and facilitation looks like and how we approach online facilitation at Sprout Labs.

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We are in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis; the world is full of uncertainty, organizations have rapidly moved workforces home, and we are isolated and distanced. Before this started, I talked with Beatrice Bekar and Juan Casasbuenas from Nesta about research they were doing on the future of learning. ‘The Make it FutureFit: Four ways to design better adult learning’ report focuses on preparing learners for the workforce, and it explores four core strategies via a series of case studies.

The strategies the report explores are:

1. Strategies that promote learner identity
2. Strategies that drive motivation to learn
3. Strategies that help learners master a new skill or topic
4. Strategies to develop a community of practice

During the discussion, we focus on how these strategies apply to learning remotely.

Links

• Download the Make it FutureFit: Four ways to design better adult learning
• Find out more about Nesta
• Find out more about Nesta’s Digital Frontrunners and FutureFit programs
• Connect with Beatrice Bekar and Juan Casasbuenas

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This podcast about agility for the internal people experience is a discussion between Robin and Dan Mottau from Zendesk at LearnX 2019. It’s also about placing what people need at the centre of an organisation's culture. If the agile principles are new to you there is a link to them in the notes.

Links from the podcast

• Find out more about the Principles behind the Agile Manifesto
• Find out more about LearnX
• Connect with Dan on LinkedIn

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This is the next in the series of podcasts from LearnX. The interview is with Jake Phillips, Senior Manager, People Capability, ANZ Bank NZ and Matt Proud and James Crosby from Immersive Solutions. The interview focus is a project where ANZ New Zealand has been using virtual reality to simulate interactions with an aggressive customer.

The conversation focuses on the learning experience not on technology. One of the issues with face-to-face learning is often it’s talking about an experience, not having an experience.

Using virtual reality in face-to-face sessions, as talked about in the podcast, means an actual experiential element is added to enhance the learning experience.

Useful links from the podcast

• Find out more about Jake Phillips
• Find out more about Immersive Solutions
• Find out more about about LearnX

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This is the first of a series of podcasts recorded at LearnX in October 2019.  This podcast is an interview with Matthew Stephenson Design Manager from BUPA Health Insurance. The project Matthew talks about is a series of major reforms to a key process. He talks about the way they worked in a holistic, data-driven manner to achieve the reforms.  The way they used data included robust learning checks after the learning experience and making changes to the learning experience based on the patterns revealed in the data. They also used the data to communicate to stakeholders how the program was working.

Useful links from the podcast

• Find out more about Matthew
• Find out more about about LearnX

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In this podcast Robin is talking with Danielle Wallace from Beyond the Sky about approaches that marketing uses to design engaging video experiences and how these approaches can be used to increase the impact of your learning video.

One of the themes Robin often explores on the podcast is the link between marketing and learning. This conversation is a deep dive into how marketers use video and what L&D can learn from that. Danielle built a rich background in strategic marketing before she moved into L&D.

Danielle talks about two key things that L&D can learn from the way marketers use video

1. ``` having a creative concept

2. using drama

```

One of the side topics that is explored in this podcast is creativity and L&D.

Useful links from the podcast

• Find out more about Danielle
• Find out more about about Beyond the Sky
• Resource from Beyond the Sky on how make better learning videos
• The video Danielle talked about in podcast Kids bring their mental wellness issues with them

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In this podcast Robin talks with Yishan Chan about the idea of personal talent stacks and how to develop your own talent stack. Often on the Learning While Working podcast we focus on designing learning and an organisational viewpoint on learning. This conversation with Yishan is a switch to focusing on how individuals learn. Yishan has a great podcast called Digital Learner where she talks with people about making career shifts and learning at work. Some of the topics we talk about include learning from peers, podcasting and side projects as a way of learning.

Useful links from the podcast

• Connect with Yishan Chan on LinkedIn
• Find out more building your talent stack
• Listen to Yishan’s Digital Learner podcast

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In this interview, Bianca Baumann talks about how marketers design engaging experiences and what L&D can learn from these strategies.

She summarises the key strategies as being:

• focusing on emotional impact
• communicating visually
• engaging writing

The interview explores each of these strategies in more depth.

Useful links on marketing and learning

• Find out more about Bianca
• Download Bianca Baumann’s Little Black Book of Marketing and L&D
• The two sites Bianca suggests as a way to learn more about marketing are Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs

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As workplaces and work are changing rapidly, people need to be more in control of their own learning and learn while working. Self-directed learning is a key skill for the future of work. In this podcast Robin talks with Catherine Lombardozzi about fostering self-directed learners in your organisation.

Catherine’s approach to self-guided learning identifies 10 pillars organised into three different areas around individual qualities, learning skills and environmental characteristics. The podcast finishes with Catherine talking about some powerful tactics to help your learners develop these skills.

Useful links

• Connect with Catherine Lombardozzi on LinkedIn
• Find out more about Learning 4 Learning Professionals
• Download Catherine's presentation “Cultivating a Self-Directed Learning Culture” from Learning Solutions 2019
• Catherine’s guide to Scaffolding self directed learning at work and Tactics for scaffolding self direction

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This podcast is an exploration of measuring the impact of learning ecosystems with Steven Foreman, the President of InfoMedia Designs. The podcast starts with Steve outlining his ecosystem model and then he talks about measuring impact. Steve talks about the strategic work that L&D need to be working on and how it leads to a layered approach to measurement. The layers are: the business metrics, then the performance metrics and then learning metrics. These layers form a framework for learning dashboards.

Useful links

• Connect with Steve Foreman on LinkedIn
• Find out more about InfoMedia Designs
• Download Steve 's presentation “Evidence of Impact: How Metrics Drive a Learning and Performance Ecosystem”

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This podcast is with Jeremy Roberts from Infinitude Creative Group on using the Fogg Behaviour Change Model for designing learning solutions that are easier to use and more engaging. The model takes into account your audiences’ motivation, their abilities and prompts to engage them. Jeremy uses some great examples of the model in action. He encourages L&D professionals to go beyond looking at the way other organisations are designing learning solutions to thinking why the marketing is working and how new services are being designed.

Useful links

• Find more about the Fogg Behavior model
• Connect with Jeremy Roberts on LinkedIn
• Find out more about Infinitude Creative Group
• Download Jeremy's presentation “4 Ways to Eliminate Friction in Your Learning Ecosystem” from Learning Solutions 2019

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This the start of a series of interviews with the speakers from Learning Solutions 2019.

This podcast is with Jenny Saucerman on what is broken with assessment in eLearning. L&D is more becoming focused on performance based learning, but the missing element is often assessment. There is often a gap between learning and on the job performance. Jenny has some great thoughts about this challenge and how can simulations be used in assessment, particularly branching scenarios. The podcast will help you to rethink your assessments in your eLearning modules beyond multiple choice questions.

Useful links

• Connect with Jenny Saucerman on LinkedIn
• Download Jenny's presentation on "Show Me What You Got: Simulation as Assessment" from Learning Solutions 2019
• Access the transcript on the Sprout Labs website.

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One of the ways work is changing, is more work being done by remote teams. In this podcast Robin talks with Naomi Waldron from easyA about making remote learning design teams work. This podcast has lots of great advice and ideas and about managing and working in remote teams.This is the last podcast in the series that was recorded at iDesignX 2019. This is the last podcast in the series that was recorded at iDesignX 2019.

Useful links

• Learn more about easyA
• Connect with Naomi Waldron on LinkedIn
• IDesignX

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In this podcast, Robin is talking with James Hanson from Cardno about how their implementation of a learning management system triggered a rethinking of learning at Cardno.

Useful links

• Cardno
• IDesignX

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Smart speakers such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home are changing the way we interact with computers. In this podcast, Robin talks with Cath Ellis about the potential of smart speakers in learning and some of the technology that is used for design and building voice interactions. This is another interview that was recorded at iDesignX 2019.

Useful links

• Learn more about Cath Ellis
• A example voice project CoAbility Support that Cath has done
• Learn more about Amazon Alexa
• Voiceflow - A platform for authoring voice applications
• Connect with Cath Ellis on LinkedIn
• IDesignX

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In this interview Robin talks with Joe Millward from the TAFE NSW Digital Lab about the work Joe is doing on using virtual reality to simulated workplace experience and how they are using AI technologies to drive complex interactive design. The work the TAFE digital labs is hint what is possible with VR and the changing roles of educators and facilitators. This is another interview that was recorded at iDesignX.

Useful links

• TAFE Digital Labs
• Connect with Joe Millward on LinkedIn
• IDesignX

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The way we work and the nature of the work we are doing is changing. In this interview, Robin talks with Jonathan Nalder about the FutureWe framework. In the interview Jonathan talks about his own background, the way work is changing and how the education system is not preparing people for the future of work. The interview then moves onto talking about the FutureWe framework as a response to these changes.

Useful links

Find out more about FutureWe

Listen to The Edunauts podcast

Connect with Jonathan Nalder on LinkedIn

IDesignX

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In this interview, Robin talks with Nick Perch from IMC-AG about designing learning for behaviour change. Nick has some great insights on the difference between transformational learning and learning that is knowledge and education focused. For Nick one useful key to designing learning for behaviour change is getting to know your learners and using design thinking. NB: When episode 63 (previous episode) was originally released, we linked up the wrong audio. This is now fixed.

Useful links

• IMC-AG
• Connect with Nick Petch on LinkedIn
• IDesignX

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This is an interview with Jason Reed from Croomo on why storytelling is a powerful strategy to use in elearning. We explore a lot of topics related to storytelling in this podcast, including why storytelling is important, the skills needed to be a great storyteller and how the learning challenges in workplaces can be great triggers for stories.

• Find out more about Croomo
• Find out more about Jason Reed
• IDesignX

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This podcast is the start of a series that was recorded at iDesignX 2019. They are shorter than most of the other Learning While Working podcasts. There is a bit of background noise from the conference venue. The focus of this series is on learning design. There are lots of great conversations coming up, with people you might not have heard about before.

In this podcast, I’m talking to Nicole White from the ID Crowd and Rebecca Carter from CSIRO about a project in which they are using voice based digital storytelling to increase understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Culture Awareness at CSIRO.

The learning experience they are talking about is not a linear eLeaning, it’s an explorative interface. This podcast is a great summary of their journey to build a really innovative project.

Towards the end of the podcast, Nicole talks about one of the most powerful questions they ask to trigger different approaches to eLearning ‘What would this project be like if it wasn't was eLearning’.

Useful links

• IDesignX
• The ID Crowd
• Find out more about Nicole White
• Find out more about Rebecca Carter

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In this podcast Robin talks with virtual classroom expert Cheryle Walker about Learning Solutions 2019. Cheryle Walker was one of the other Australians who was at Learning Solutions 2019. The conversation was reflecting on and debriefing our experiences of the event. The focus of the podcast is on the keynote sessions.

The keynotes from the event were:

Baratunde Thurston talking about Digital Storytelling Doesn’t Have to Be Boring

Find out more about Baratunde Thurston

**Sarah Prevette on Design Thinking in Learning and Work

**

Find out more about Future Design School

**Sarah Lewis on Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery

**

Find more about Sarah Lewis

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Paul Healy starts this interview by introducing Learning Pool and how they came to chatbots as an approach when they started to think about what a modern learner needs. They felt a modern learner didn’t need another platform, they needed to be able to access learning as part their workflow in other platforms. Chatbots are a perfect way to place learning inside of another platforms. A chatbot means that a learner can pull in what they need just by asking the chatbot a question. Learning Pool’s chatbot, Otto, then goes out to multiple sources, including the content in your LMS and intranet, to find the answers.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

[Download the eBook][1]

Useful links

• Find out more about Paul
• Find out more about Learning Pool
• Find out more about Otto

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Emma Weber is an expert in learning transfer. This is actually the second great conversation with Emma on the Learning While Working podcast; the first conversation focused on the 70:20:10 learning model and learning transfer.

This interview starts with Emma giving an overview of her approach to learning transfer. One of the key features of her approach is what she calls ‘learning breaks’, which are coaching conversations that focus on personal accountability for making changes and reflection.

In the interview, Emma talks about how she struggled to find the right technology to support her approach to learning transfer. She is now using two platforms that work together: an action planning tool called Turning Learning into Action and a chatbot built with the Mobile Coach platform. The Turning Learning into Action platform is free.

What she achieved is a great example of using digital technologies to automate the learning process. It might be not a perfect replacement for a personal learning transfer coach, but it is scaled and affordable.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Emma
• Find out more about Lever – transfer of learning
• Find out more about Coach M – the learning transfer chatbot
• Start using the free Turn Learning into Action tool
• Find out more about learning transfer

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Emma Weber is an expert in learning transfer. This is actually the second great conversation with Emma on the Learning While Working podcast; the first conversation focused on the 70:20:10 learning model and learning transfer.

This interview starts with Emma giving an overview of her approach to learning transfer. One of the key features of her approach is what she calls ‘learning breaks’, which are coaching conversations that focus on personal accountability for making changes and reflection.

In the interview, Emma talks about how she struggled to find the right technology to support her approach to learning transfer. She is now using two platforms that work together: an action planning tool called Turning Learning into Action and a chatbot built with the Mobile Coach platform. The Turning Learning into Action platform is free.

What she achieved is a great example of using digital technologies to automate the learning process. It might be not a perfect replacement for a personal learning transfer coach, but it is scaled and affordable.

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Jamie Good is one of the people who have pioneered using chatbots in L&D. In this interview we explore how chat can be used in L&D. He talks about a great example of a conference chatbot that focused on helping conference attendees to collect their takeaway from sessions and making those takeaways more actionable.

For Jamie, one of the most powerful applications of chatbots in L&D is in performance supports, which is something that Paul Healy from Learning Pool also talks about in a later podcast. This interview is also packed full of great advice from Jamie about getting started with chatbots in L&D.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Jamie
• Find out more about Woebot

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Jamie Good is one of the people who have pioneered using chatbots in L&D. In this interview we explore how chat can be used in L&D. He talks about a great example of a conference chatbot that focused on helping conference attendees to collect their takeaway from sessions and making those takeaways more actionable.

For Jamie, one of the most powerful applications of chatbots in L&D is in performance supports, which is something that Paul Healy from Learning Pool also talks about in a later podcast. This interview is also packed full of great advice from Jamie about getting started with chatbots in L&D.

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This interview with Vincent Han is the start of a section of this series that focuses on chatbots and L&D. When I started to record this podcast series I didn’t expect so many of the interviews would be focused on chatbots. Chatbots are the AI technology that is easiest for L&D application and has a high impact. Vincent is one of the leading thinkers in this area of chatbots and L&D. He is the founder of the Mobile Coach platform, which is an excellent way to get started building chatbots.

While this interview with Vincent is at the start of this section in the series, it wasn’t recorded in this sequence. What happened is, as I was doing some of the other interviews in this section, with Jamie Good and Emma Webber, I discovered that they were both using Mobile Coach to build their own chatbots. As a result, I thought it would be great to talk with Vincent for this series.

Vincent doesn’t come from a learning background; his background is technology, so his focus on learning as behavioural change is refreshing. In this interview, Vincent gives a great overview of how chatbots can be used to personalise learning over time and how the process of a conversation can be emotional, even if it’s with a bot.

Often I think about a chatbot as being on a website. Mobile Coach can be used for building web-based chatbots, but it can also be used with other other chat platforms and SMS. SMS messages are simple, personal and can a be powerful tool for behavioural change.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Vincent
• Find out more about the Mobile Coach platform
• Watch a video about Mobile Coach

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The higher education sector has been using machine learning for some time, mostly to predict if students are at risk of dropping out of a program. In this series, I wanted to include an interview with someone who had been involved in this work, to see what L&D could learn from it.

Mike Sharkey is one of the leaders in this area. His most recent past role was as Vice President of Analytics at Blackboard. It was great to be reminded by Mike in this interview that learning is a complex area and there are so many factors at play. Because of this it’s not a simple area for the application of machine learning.

During the interview, Mike and I also briefly talk about privacy issues with analytics. As workplaces start to adopt more data-driven approaches to learning, there is a lot that we can learn about the work that has already been done in higher education, including how privacy issues can be approached.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Mike Sharkey
• Find out more about Data and graphs
• This example of a university course that is using the AI we discussed

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Ben Betts from HT2 Labs is back on the podcast in this interview. Ben is passionate about using social learning to build high-impact learning experiences. HT2 Labs are also the people behind Learning Locker, which is an open source learning record store for xAPI data.

At the Learning While Working conference, Ben talked about the work that HT2 Labs have been doing on how they are measuring social learning. The recording of that conference session goes into more depth on that work than this podcast does, so if you’re interested in what Ben is doing I encourage you to watch that recording.

The work HT2 Labs is doing is built around a series of machine learning methods that are called ‘natural language processing’, which I think of as a series of methods that look for patterns in language. It’s maybe the most complex area of machine learning.

The podcast starts by exploring data, AI, and automation in L&D, then moves into using natural language processing and measuring social learning data.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Ben Betts
• Find out more

about Learning

Locker

and Curatr Learning Experience

Platform

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For this interview I spoke with Marc Zao-Sanders, CEO of Filtered, a platform that makes learning recommendations. In our daily life, we see recommendation engines in action all around us, such as Spotify and Netflix.

Recommendation engines and learning are a natural fit. The process of seeing patterns in what an organisation or an individual needs, and then finding the right learning experience, is a core function of L&D. This is something a recommendation engine can do.

Marc uses a bit of machine learning jargon at one stage: collaborative filtering. A basic description of a collaborative filter is that it’s a series of techniques that looks at a user’s past actions and interests, and how they relate to those of other users, and makes recommendations based on user behaviour interrelationships.

Filtered’s platform is actually a combination of a chat and recommendation engine. Magpie is a version of this platform that has been designed specifically for L&D people. Magpie is a great way to experience what chatbots and recommendation engines can do.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Marc
• Find out more about Filtered
• Start using Magpie

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This interview with Christopher Brinton from Zoomi is a great way to start this series on artificial intelligence and learning and development. The work that Zoomi is doing now is leading the application of AI in L&D. Zoomi works with your existing platforms and learning data and can apply over 250 different AI and machine learning techniques to do things such as analyse learning content and make predictions and recommendations.

This interview covers a lot of the key ways that AI technologies can be used to bring deep, powerful insights to your learning data and how this can then be used to drive personalisation on a whole new level.

To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Christopher
• Find out more about Zoomi

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Richard Wyles, the CEO of Totara Learn, and Robin talk about how open source learning platforms means learning platforms can be more flexible and customised to meet the needs of an evolving organisation.

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Con Sotidis from Kineo and Robin talk about the state of L&D in Australia.

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Justin Sterns from Allens and Robin talk about using using human-centred design to rethink learning to meet the needs of employees. Part of what they talk about is the difference between human-centred design and design thinking.

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Owen Ferguson from GoodPractice talks about some of their findings from their research into how managers learn.

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Peter Clowes from MAXART talks about how they have been using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in L&D.

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Robin and Brenden Carter talk about trends in digital learning, including microlearning, virtual reality, learning campaigns and xAPI.

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Robin and Robert talk about how Austin Health is using xAPI to share learning data between hospitals. This means that healthcare professionals who work at multiple hospitals don’t need to complete mandatory training multiple times.

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Squiz and Robin talk about how Virtual Reality can be used to simulate experiences in the classroom that accelerate employees’ learning and create more business impact.

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Michelle Gibbings and Robin talk about the future of work and the importance of decision making.

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Terrena Hooper talks about her journey at Sodexo where L&D has gone from being compliance focused to being a value creator for the organisation.

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In this podcast we dive deep into the mindsets that are needed for design thinking with Kylie Savage and Caitlyn Cook from Huddle. Like Portable, Huddle is a service design firm. About half of Huddle’s work is capability development of organisations and individuals. In the other podcasts in this series, we have talked a lot about the design thinking process and the understanding phase in particular. Designing is not just proces, it’s also a mindset. Huddle has a great way of talking about and thinking about what these mindsets are.

To go along with series podcast series we have released an eBook with transcripts of the interviews. The introduction to the eBook gives an overview of design thinking.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• To find out more about Huddle, visit their website.
• Listen to The Huddle Show podcast.
• Read This Human, the design thinking book authored by Huddle founder Melis Senova.

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In this third podcast in the design thinking and learning series, we explore the relationship between the processes of design thinking and instructional design. Traditional instructional design is a form of designing thinking, but often it lacks the creative elements. Also, the ADDIE process does not have the prototyping phase that is so important for finding out if a solution is going to work. This podcast is a great exploration of design thinking in action within learning design.

Download the eBook

Useful links

• Find out more about Connie Malamed by visiting The eLearning Coach

website. * Listen to The eLearning Coach podcast. * Read Connie’s blog post on How To Use Design Thinking In Learning

Experience Design. * Gain some more valuable tips from Connie’s

blog post 10 Things You Should Know About Design and Design

Thinking. * Listen to another interview with Connie on Design

thinking for L&D on the Good Practice podcast.

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With this series we didn’t just want to talk with L&D people about design thinking. Half of the interviews are with design thinking leaders outside of L&D. In this episode, we’re talking with Simon Goodrich from Portable Studios. It’s interesting to hear an outsider's viewpoint on learning systems such as learning management systems and his thoughts on more lightweight approaches to learning systems. One of Simon’s most powerful insights is that design thinking can be used to harness energy for change, and that it’s important to act when the health of a project is strong.

To go along with the podcast we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The introduction to the eBook gives an overview of design thinking and demystifies some of the terms used in the podcast, like ‘ideation’. Download the eBook

Useful links

• To find more about Portable Studios visit their website.
• Portable Studios report on Redesigning Work.
• Design kit from IDEO

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The first interview in the design thinking and learning podcast series is with Arun Pradhan, on why design thinking is important to L&D at the moment. Arun is leading a new way of working in L&D. A key topic we discuss is that understanding the context of work through design thinking can lead you to design learning within the flow of work. In later parts of the interview we talk about L&D people becoming performance detectives, and how design thinking gives us some of the tools to do this. We also touch on core tools and approaches in design thinking, such as journey mapping and co-design with end users.

To go along with the podcast we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The introduction to the eBook gives an overview of design thinking and demystifies some of the terms used in the podcast, like ‘ideation’. Download the eBook

Useful links

• Discover the mobile app Learn2Learn designed by Arun.
• Read Arun’s blog Design 4 Performance.
• Learn more about Arun.
• Watch a video of Arun talking about Learning Innovation – Design thinking for Learning and Performance.

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In this episode you will learn from Paul Kearney about the importance of employability skills and how to develop them in your people. Paul has a deep, rich understanding of how people learn, and has been exploring how to develop these types of skills for close to 30 years. The term 'employability skills' is often seen as a bit of jargon. Paul has a great description: higher order skills. The skills he refers to are problem solving, taking initiative, planning and organising work and cooperating. Paul's background is in education and pre-employment training, but what he is talking about can be applied to help your people become self directed, continuous learners who are prepared for the future of work. During the podcast Paul talks about his framework for developing these higher order skills. Broadly, the framework is about: Increasing learner responsibility Increasing experience and practice for learners increasing reflective thinking in learners Increasing collaboration between learners This can be applied to leadership development, onboarding and trainees. He also introduces a nice model of learning: 'Caught, taught, and bought'. One of the other key takeaways from this conversation is that practice need to be diverse.

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In the podcast you will hear about how GamEffective has linked workplace performance with learning, using microlearning and gamification. Roni Floman talks about how GamEffective started as a gamification of performance platform, then developed ways to help people improve performance with segments of microlearning. Gamification is typically about scores, levels and leaderboards. Roni talks about employees being able to ‘bet on themselves’ to set personal goals around metrics. Adaptive and personalised learning is often only based on employee performance in a learning scenario. The approach Roni discusses is centred on on-the-job performance first. One of the highlights of this interview is where Roni refers to ‘engagement automation’. Marketing automation is fed by triggers. For example, visiting a certain page on a website triggers a series of follow-up messages. When applied to learning, the messages will be tailored and triggered by performance. If an employee’s performance drops in an area, they will be sent (via email or mobile notifications) a series of microlearning messages that are tailored for them. Near the end of the podcast, Roni provides some worthwhile advice for getting started with these approaches: split your learning content into smaller chunks and map these workplace behaviours. That way, if someone needs to improve in an area, you will have the right learning experience ready for them.

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In this interview Robin talks with JD Dillon about continuous learning and how it links with personalised learning.

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Patti Shank is a leader in evidence-based learning. We're excited about the release of her book Practice and feedback for deeper learning, and Patti is our guest on this episode of the Learning While Working podcast where she and Robin discuss the need for more research in L&D.

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Learning transfer professional Emma Weber is our guest on this episode of the Learning While Working podcast. Emma talks about the need to focus on the whole of the 70:20:10 model, and why the '10' is too often overlooked.

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This episode is for learning professionals who are ready to dive deeper into their learning data. Robin speaks with Stewart Rogers from Lambda Solutions about framing your learning analytics with visual dashboards.

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As learners, do we have our own digital body language, and can this be tracked and measured? Learning strategist Lori Niles-Hofmann talks on the podcast in a discussion about her approach to data driven learning design, which begins with some very simple steps.

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In this episode, Sprout Labs digital producer and former journalist Tracey Grady grabs the mic and joins Robin in a discussion about audiences, journalism in the digital age, and content that is 'learner-worthy'—did Robin just coin a new phrase?

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We continue our focus on content curation, this time with Jeevan Joshi from LearnD. An avid curator of podcast content, Jeevan takes us through his pro tips for content curation and explains how well-curated content can help with retention of learning.

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Marketing is often focused on delivering messages that evoke particular emotions. Can learning campaigns use a similar approach? Mike Taylor from Mindset Digital talks about the lessons that Learning can adopt from Marketing.

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Stephen Walsh, co-founder of Anders Pink, joins Robin to talk about the biggest learning eco-system, which can benefit a company's learning resources and which is right at everyone's fingertips: the Internet. But as Stephen explains, careful content curation is key.

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Dr Melissa Bordogna returns to the Learning While Working podcast to discuss social learning and collaboration in the workplace. It's also worth listening to our previous discussion with Melissa on The Future of Work.

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Megan Torrance from TorranceLearning discusses xAPI and how it can bring instructional designers back to the roots of focusing on learning performance.

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Shelly Blake-Plock from Yet Analytics joins Robin on the podcast and talks about how xAPI's data recording reveals streams of experience in learning, and the broad scope of possibilities for the future of learning.

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What is social learning, and what new opportunities can be opened up when social learning is introduced to the workplace? On the Learning While Working podcast, Ben Betts from HT2 Labs dives into social learning and how it can be used with data analysis for more valuable learning outcomes.

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What can digital marketing teach us about learning? Karen Moloney from The eLearning eXperts shares the surprising parallels that she has discovered between the two fields.

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Nick Stephenson from xapiapps discusses the benefits of data capture in getting the most out of the learning experience.

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What happens if predictions that technology and automation will make jobs obsolete on a large scale in a few years turn out to be true? Dr Melissa Bordogna joins Robin on the podcast to discuss what role learning has in the jobs landscape of the future.

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Hamish Dewe from Orion Health joins the Learning While Working podcast to outline some of the practical applications of xAPI and Totara in a company with a global reach.

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This is the second podcast in our series on xAPI. Andrew Downes from Watershed LRS talks about the evolution of xAPI.

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An interview with Andrew Downes from Watershed LRS about a learning interface called Experience API - or xAPI.

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An interview with Michael Roberts from IPM Consulting. Michael explains how his company looks past the compliance model of learning to engage people and achieve results.

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Ben McEwing from Carben returns to the Learning While Working podcast and talks with host Robin Petterd about the emerging role of VR as a storytelling and learning tool.

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A discussion with Clint Smith and Graeme Kirkwood, instructional designers who work with Sprout Labs, and Bruce Ransley, a technical writer we work with. Clint, Graeme and Bruce share their experiences in writing learning programs and offer some valuable advice for designing the best learning experiences.

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An interview with professional storyteller Ben McEwing from Carben about storytelling as a tool in eLearning.

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An interview with Mick Gwyther and Erin McCuskey from Yum Studio about the relationship between transmedia storytelling and blended learning.

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An interview with Matt Smith from Pure Learning about some of the issues facing eLearning professionals today.

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An interview with Lars Hyland, Chief Commercial Officer at Totara Learning Solutions, about how business and learning agility can be increased by using open-source learning systems.

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An interview with Warren Mara from Sysdoc begins with a discussion about trends from this year's DevLearn conference and moves into a discussion about game design for learning.

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An interview with Melanie Hawkins from BECA about a project that she has been working on that is a great example of a learning ecosystem.

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An interview with Graeme Kirkwood, an Instructional Designer with Sprout Labs, about designing guides to help managers with planning workplace learning and coaching conversations.

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An interview with Anna Sabramowicz, Co-Founder of Elearner Engaged about what an instructional designer needs to do before they start working on a storyboard.

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An interview with Clint Smith from LearnWorks about questions that an instructional designer needs to ask to design performance-focused learning.

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A short podcast from Robin about his favourite learning word.

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An interview with Shaun Sheldrake from Growability about the manager's role in learning transfer

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This podcast is a short discussion of the idea that in learning, process is the most important element.

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An interview with Kathy Granger from Fort Hill Company about their online tool 70-20 and how it can be used to activate learning.

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A brief introduction of the Learning While Working podcast.