I usually start my posts with a short intro about the topic, to entice you into reading more. But today I’m going to admit it up front – this is less of an article and more a collection of my recent musings on how we should be using instructional design. Enjoy! Exploring... more
If your course development projects are taking longer than a week or two you may need to rethink your strategy. In many cases I’d argue that your first course release should take less than a day. But I’m also practical enough to know that every situation is different. And there... more
Why instructional design? Why not just design, period!? I would encourage everyone to engage with others who work in design oriented disciplines. If you’ve never done it, it will be an eye-opening experience. I’ve engage with designers of all sorts throughout the years and have discovered that there are far... more
Do you make teaching part of your learning strategy? Probably not. It might be on HR’s list of things employees at higher levels should do. But I’m not sure we take teaching into consideration as part of a learning strategy. The typical instructional design process separates these roles into subject matter... more
What is Back to Basics? Getting back to basics could mean many things. I first heard the phrase while working at Intel in the ’90s. It’s something executives like to announce when they feel the business has moved too far outside of it’s core value proposition for customers. And it’s also an... more
In 2012 I was introduced to the Business Model Canvas at a gathering of creative design thinkers. Recently I discovered that a colleague in the corporate training community had modified the canvas slightly to be an effective for learning & development. And the Learning Model Canvas was born. The creative mind behind the LMC... more
In a recent blog post I introduced the idea of training course patterns to kickstart your LMS. The needs of every department will vary, but that’s the beauty of patterns. Patterns are broad enough to give you ultimate flexibility in your final design. As I look back on my career of... more
You’ve been asked to create some training for your organization. Don’t panic. That voice inside your head will not steer you wrong. If you have ever been taught, or learned, anything from someone else then you have all the experience you need to design instruction. What did you like about... more
Recording events is easier than ever. If you have a smartphone then you have a video recording device with you right now. Audio only recording works fine too. The important thing is that you capture the content. You may already have a copy of your SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) slides,... more
In a recent post I made the claim that a digital media file (video, pdf, audio, etc.) and a quiz can be delivered as a “course”. That rattled a few traditional ISD cages, but resonated positively with others. There is a wide gap between those who fall into training roles... more
