The Weekly Learning RoundUp - Edition 3

Welcome to the third edition of The Weekly Learning Roundup. These two weeks have made me more sure of the fact that I'm just dipping my toes into the ocean of knowledge and information other there in this universe of learning and development.

There's a lot that I don't know and there's possibly a lot more that I don't know that I don't know. And a part of me is resigned to the fact that no matter what I do, there will always be knowledge out there, even within the relatively well-defined confines of the L&D space, that will forever be beyond what I can catch up with.

In this edition, you'll find some interesting learning conversations, resources for instructional designers, tips/advice for folks transitioning into the industry, and an assortment of other interesting posts. Let's dig in.

Note: Clicking/tapping the images should take you to the image source.

The World of Learning

Judy Katz opened up an interesting discussion on "How much does visual appeal matter for learning and performance results?"

Why is L&D behind the times? And, what does it need to do to catch up? Jess Almie raises some fantastic questions in this article.

Where are Instructor-Led-Training and Virtual ILT posts on LinkedIn? Why is it that so many conversations on LinkedIn are focused on eLearning, wonders Pat Michaels.

As a learner, what do you appreciate more: have more choices or fewer choices? And is there a difference between a choice and a decision? Read more on this in this insightful article from Zsolt Olah.

How do you reach the top of the L&D mountain? Can you get straightaway to the top or do you have to work your way by starting from the bottom? Interesting analogy by Donald H Taylor in this article. If you're in L&D, fill out Donald's global sentiment survey; it's a 1-minute survey that delivers interesting insights on what your peers think.

What are some of the common misunderstandings surrounding multiple choice questions? Are MCQs any good at all? Read more in this great article from Patti Shank.

Is PowerPoint a reasonable tool for print design? Do people love PowerPoint so much that they use it for things that it was not intended for? Interesting and spicy conversation on this post from Mark Lassoff.

A query from Marh Oehlert on a "LMS market report that also includes a technical architecture overlay" drew some great responses, including some from Trish Uhl that led me to the interesting learning technology stack image you see below from Josh Bersin's article.

Where and when did instructional design originate? Did it really originate from the works of Robert Gagné with the American military? Some thoughts from Blair Kettle in this post.

An interesting article from Niels Floor on the difference between learning experience design and design thinking. You might also want to check out Learning Experience Design vs User Experience Design?and?Learning Experience Design vs Instructional Design.

What do instructional designers and UX designers have in common? Are there common areas of interest or impact that makes it imperative to work more closely? Here are some thoughts in this article shared by Jennifer Sweet.

This article from Paul A. Kirschner quoting some new research was quite interesting to read. Poor fidelity may mean effective education strategies never see light of day. I find that really interesting because I was also listening to a podcast today that dived into why performance improvement solutions fail. And a big reason is that when people get back on-the-job, there's no corrective measure to stop them from slipping back into their old ways or to help them use the new performance support tools in the right way. Also stumbled onto this nice retrieval practice image while I was reading the blog.

Joe Legatz has a solid tip for folks who are creating microlearning. Don't go by arbitrary rules around time requirements. The design guideline to keep in mind is: "As short as possible, as extensive as necessary."

I thought that Bianca Woods did a fantastic job of turning this pretty awful design into something more presentable, likeable even. It's a great rundown of how to handle those "here's my PPT" requests.

How do you use what we know about cognitive load to improve learning experiences? Check out article from Scott Young shared by Mike Taylor. Follow Mike for expertly curated content. There's rarely ever a post from Mike that pops onto my timeline when I think, "nope, that's not useful."

Damien Duddy has some interesting brainfood on the sustainability of learning experiences.

Dave McAlinden shared an Interesting paper on the efficacy of presenting objectives before learning and the effect of pretests on learner outcomes. Dave always posts such great content on his page; I'd recommend connecting with and following his account. For transitioning teachers, you may find his unsolicited advice quite useful.

Jonathan Boymal's post on why the science of teaching is often ignored featured some deeply insightful comments. "What feels right to students — and some professors — is not necessarily what serves them best."

Guy Wallace shared another gem on Sense and Nonsense in HPT. And I couldn't agree more. There needs to be discussions and challenging of assumptions and beliefs. That's how we grow as individuals and as a profession.

Can you use a table-top simulation to deliver effective learning experiences in medical education? Read more in the BBC News article shared by Andy Yeoman. I wonder if this can be extended to board games as well. There's only one way to find out, having discussed the possibility in a recent discussion with my boss.

"We want to learn how to be leaders, not learn about leaders.?Our reliance on “learning to know” has led to an entire new cottage industry of complicated metrics to “prove” (never convincingly) that the workbooks and lectures are really having a real world impact." Interesting post from Clark Aldrich, the author of Short Sims.

Jeffrey Dalto sparked an interesting discussion with his post on tips for compliance training. How can it comply and provide a meaningful learning experience?

Resources

Check out this visually-gorgeous Rise sample from Teresa Moreno. You can reach out to here if you'd like to know more or get a copy of the course.

The xAPI cohort organized by TorrenceLearning is now live. Registrations for the current spring cohort are still open. If you want to learn xAPI by doing, head over to Megan Torrence's post for more details.

Arun Pradhan is being super generous and giving away a bunch of performance consulting goodies, including a 40-page reference guide to help you shift from being an "order taker" to a "performance partner."

"Laws of UX is a collection of best practices that designers can consider when building user interfaces." Check out this toolkit shared by Chris Willis.

You've heard about the STAR method of answering interview questions. But, have you heard about the CARL method? Check out this job aid from Rebecca Stump based on Erin Lewber's post.

How to Design Effective eLearning? I wasn't sure where to list this: under learning conversations or resources, but because this is a fantastic "how to" video, I'm listing it here. In this video, Devlin Peck walks you through the process of designing an effective scenario-based learning experience using a smashing example.

You want to capture your learner's name in Storyline? Check out this free template from Jeff Batt that works around some of Storyline's kinks.

For folks who are new to the world of instructional design, check out this primer from Andra Arsene that covers some of the important words and phrases that you'll encounter as you step into this world.

James Bevelander was at his hilarious and insightful best again with this great take on choosing color palettes. Haven't done that often, but from now on I'll be looking at my bathroom for color inspiration.

Do you want to include a wider representation of diverse populations in your elearning? Check out these resources shared by Christy Woods.

Transitioning into Instructional Design

If you're looking for your first job as an instructional designer, is it too early to call yourself an instructional designer on LinkedIn? An interesting question posed by Elisya Hively in this post.

Carissa Johnston has an unpopular opinion: Not all former teachers are qualified for every other job! I think it makes a lot of sense.

Sarah Cannistra bust some job-search myths in this post including this: You need to know ALL of the L&D models, theories, principles, processes etc.

What does a day in the life of an ID look like? Claudette Cardey shares her experience as a new instructional designer for a large corporation.

Life and Such

Aneesa Chisti doesn't post often, but whenever she does, she posts really short and insightful animated videos. Here's one on burnout and going through the motions.

Matt Smith with a tongue-in-cheek post on self-proclaimed greats and greatest.

Thank You

[Incomplete. Will return to add more once I get through the other rabbit holes.]

Thank you for reading this edition of The Weekly Learning Roundup. If you found this week's edition useful, share it with a colleague who might find it useful as well.

Until next time, take care, stay safe, and happy learning.