#IDIODC Instructional Designers In Offices Drinking Coffee

If you're new to Instructional Design, or a more experienced L&D professional, you've probably seen the need for our skills spike recently. There has never been a better time to be an Instructional Designer. Job growth is predicted to be at the top of the list of professional careers. Emerging technologies and a systemic migration of our definition of a learning space has created a wave of innovat...

Damn it, Jim! I'm an Instructional Designer! Not a scientist! That may be so, but it doesn't mean you can't perform experiments. Testing things out is how we learn. You can ask experts, consultants, and thought leaders, to give you all the answers, but you'll never truly know what will work until you do it.  So, let's learn how to experiment within L&D. Trying things out first is how we gain the c...

Building a learning culture is the latest trending priority within many organizations. It's a daunting task. However, it's not impossible. Even the smallest shift in the corporate culture towards a learning culture can offer significant outcomes. But where do we start? The most important step is to define a culture of learning within your organization. While there will be significant similarities...

In this episode of IDIODC we have the pleasure of talking with the founder of the 5 Moments of Need, Dr. Conrad Gottfredson. Dr. Gottfredson recently released a white paper titled EnABLE: The 5 Moments of Need Instructional Systems Design Methodology.  And if you missed it, or have not downloaded it, I would encourage you to do so prior to this amazing episode of IDIODC. The brief white paper intr...

Building measurement skills is critical for corporate training professionals who seek to align their L&D programs to business outcomes for organizational success. Achieving measurement maturity is a change effort requiring commitment and discipline. Understanding your current capabilities and gaps is an essential first step followed by determining where your organization wants to go in this area....

As an aspiring, or new, instructional designer, PowerPoint is okay to start building eLearning graphics. But at a certain point you'll need to level up your skillset in graphics creation by moving to Photoshop. After all, you're a professional now.  It's time to start working like one and using professional-grade tools.  Photoshop is a powerful tool that will support you in designing and creating...

We often forget that creating a training event is only one part of the process. Just because you build it does not mean anyone in the business will hear about it, or want to engage. Some might say that if you use good enough instructional design practices that you don't need to do anything else.  However, if you've spent any time at all working on large launches, or new initiatives, you know there...

VR Headsets? Avatars? Metaverse? You may have heard these terms, but aren't sure how you might apply them in your learning solutions.  You may still believe they are too expensive and out of reach for you and your team.  In this episode we wanted to help training professionals understand where the VR industry is at and if anything has changed over the last few years. I was pleasantly surprised by...

When done well, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training creates space for courageous conversations that acknowledge hard truths around systemic inequities and explores topics that touch on people’s vulnerabilities in all facets of their lives. For those of you who do this work, there has not been a clear path to follow for making progress. As a DEI trainer, you have forged your own way and...

"You must ENGAGE your learners!"  Have you heard anyone say that before? Yep. Us too. We've had a few guests talk about it on IDIODC in the past.  And from those conversations we've learned about games, experiences, and making learning fun.  But what, exactly, do we mean by creating "engaging learning"? Dr. Clark Quinn joins us to talk about how we need to make our learning solutions meaningful to...

Blockchain, NonFungible Tokens, Crypto, ethereum, and other terms are making their way into L&D. Welcome to Learning3: The L&D version of Web3.  Nobody has any idea what it is, but we might as well start calling it what we always call these evolutions when they hit our industry. All joking aside, now is a really good time to start having these conversations. L&D may not feel any real impact of Web...

Instructional Designers and eLearning developers play an important role in DEI programs.  When stock characters are required it's often difficult to find the right image that reflects your requirements.  And when you do find something that works it's often quite boring and unfitting of the style you had designed. So, we're often left wondering, "I wish I could make my own diverse set of characters...

The world of Learning and Development has changed over the decades, but many companies have a difficult time deviating from the comfortable path of "the way they've always done it."  As instructional designers and corporate training professionals we make it our responsibility to improve all forms of learning within the organizations we serve.  But that is no easy task.  It's often a very long jour...

As instructional designers, we're often working on projects related to very specific processes.  We want to be clear, precise, and concise, in training that process.  However, there are many other situations where training is asked to influence behaviors and build better cultures.  This requires nuance, and creating training that impacts how the learners feel.  This is where dramatic storytelling...

We had so much fun with Jeanne Bakker last year that we had to invite her back. With a strong background in psychology and the science of education, Jeanne has a keen understanding of how we learn and has applied that understanding to training companies around the world. We'll talk with Jeanne about a broad range of topics related to designing instruction like storytelling, gamification, and measu...

It seems like every time you blink, a new learning platform pops into existence with some new innovative twist. There are now well over 800 learning platforms on the market. The real question is: what are we supposed to do with that information? How does any organization even begin to make sense of the crazy LMS (...or more like Learning Platform) market place. Tune in for an informal discussion a...

Have you ever wondered why training solutions often don't actually solve business problems? Or maybe you just inherently know that the REAL issue is something other than a training issue. How can you be sure? And if you're right, how do you effectively communicate that to management? Performance Improvement Consulting, or PIC, is an outstanding answer to that question. Guy Wallace is a long time P...

Do you still look at Microlearning as simply shorter videos? That's not necessarily wrong, but if that's all they are, then why don't we just call them "short videos"? Microlearning has been a hot topic for several years now and we finally know what makes great microlearning more than just short videos. Dr. Robyn Defelice joins us to talk about Microlearning as a concept or methodology in addition...

Video content is the future... of the internet. If you haven't noticed, everyone is creating and consuming more video content than ever before. Even interactive eLearning programs incorporate more video than I can ever remember. Not everyone has jumped on this particular trend, but it's never too late to get onboard. Josh Cavalier is joining us to talk about video production processes and other ti...

Many Instructional Designers work within Human Resource departments.  So, it would makes sense to learn as much as possible about the things that are important to HR leaders.  Learning and Development has been a hot topic for HR departments for many years.  However, in a post pandemic world suffering from "the great resignation" it is more important than ever. Janet Clarey, from McClean & Company...

Most new small businesses fail.  You've heard that, right?  It seems even more common within our industry.  But don't let it scare you. Some succeed where most fail.   One of our industry success stories is Kevin Thorn.  He's joined us for several Drink'n'Draw episodes over the years.  But in this episode, The Chief Nuggethead of Nuggethead Studioz wants to help YOU start your eLearning consulting...

From agriculture to transportation, entertainment to medicine, and banking to social media, artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how humans do practically everything. We experience AI in our daily lives through our fitness trackers, home digital assistant systems, and curated news services, to name a few examples. For talent development, this is no different. But does this change anything for...

Most eLearning designers and developers don't have much say in choosing the LMS or authoring tool provided by their company. But successful practitioners always have a few tech tools and toys that level up their production capabilities. We all wear many hats. Building your own tool kit is part of being a successful eLearning practitioner in today's work environment, and even more so in a post-COVI...

Games are great tools for learning.  And just so we're clear, designing games for learning is very different from gamification.  Learning is a large part of all games, but building a game with the specific intent of teaching a specific concept, idea or process, is not easy.   Myra Roldan created a game to teach about the basics of blockchain.  And if you're asking yourself what the heck is blockch...

Supporting the future leaders of L&D is an important task for us all. The new young minds entering our field are unhindered by the past.  They forge new trails in the training departments of businesses around the world.  Unafraid of new technologies they experiment and innovate. They are curious and want to make corporate training better than it's been. Kavindya and LaTarshia will share their Lear...