INN101 Collaborative Learning in a Cognitive World
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
Collaborative and social tools have transformed how people work together and perform their jobs. These tools and concepts, however, are not yet being used as they could or should be within the learning life cycle—so organizations continue to miss out on key opportunities to optimize the learning experience. This will become even more crucial as L&D moves beyond person-to-person to also encompass personalized interactions with cognitive-based platforms. This session will provide insight into identifying opportunities and implementing new approaches based on real-world examples. It will also provide an overview of an IBM cognitive-based solution that demonstrates the possibilities.
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Dawn Jaglowski
Offering Manager
IBM
Dawn Jaglowski is an offering manager within the IBM Smarter Workforce Learn group. Her responsibilities focus around defining a comprehensive strategy across the Learn offerings. Dawn has worked in software development for the majority of her career across multiple functions such as architecture, engineering, quality assurance, and technical sales support, with over 15 years of that experience within the offering/product management domain. Dawn has an undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from Rollins College. Her background also includes creating and delivering learning content as an instructor in both corporate and higher education environments.
107 Mitigating Hidden Bias in Instructional Design
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, November 16
108
For instructional designers and facilitators, the challenge is to create learning materials that reach and affect audiences positively and do not elicit feelings of exclusion or discrimination. However, you’re human, and every human has hidden or unconscious biases that impact behaviors and thoughts. This can lead to unintentional missteps in design and delivery. As learning becomes more story-driven, you need to be sensitive to how you present characters, including race, gender, gender identity, and organizational roles.
In this session, using the latest neurological research, you will learn where hidden biases come from. You’ll examine how you can uncover hidden biases within yourself and others, and identify strategies to avoid hidden bias in instructional design and delivery. You’ll look at ways instructional designers and facilitators can continue the mission of inclusivity in their day-to-day work, and you’ll learn what will instill pride in your organization and learners and what will cause them to tune out or reject your learning intervention.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to accurately define the concept of hidden bias with reference to the current literature and research studies
- How to identify at least two approaches to recognizing hidden bias within yourself and others
- How to compare at least three examples of learning content or delivery where hidden bias is evident and not evident
- How to list three ways to mitigate hidden bias in instructional design and delivery
Audience:
Novice designers, project managers, managers,
directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
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Steve Yacovelli
Director, Inclusion & Change
SweetRush
Steve Yacovelli, the director of inclusion and change for SweetRush, focuses on helping clients embrace and adapt to using new and innovative ways to work with their employees. Steve has worked with such great organizations as The Walt Disney Company, IBM, Tupperware Brands, George Washington University, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Bellsouth-AT&T. A published author, Steve holds a BS degree in public relations, an MA degree in educational policy and leadership development, and an EdD degree in instructional technology and distance education.
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Erin Krebs
Director of Client Solutions
SweetRush
Erin Krebs, the director of client solutions for SweetRush, heads the company’s solution architect group. Erin has expertise in both instructional design and project management and specializes in capturing the big picture and the details, then crafting solutions that get results for clients. Erin holds a master’s degree in learning systems design and development and is a certified professional in learning and performance. She’s written on numerous topics, specializing in learning techniques for Millennials.
112 eLearning Myth Smashers
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, November 16
113
While there are many practices and models grounded in research that people use to create eLearning, there are also a lot of common statements about the field that may or may not be based in fact. Do learners really remember 50 percent of what they hear? Does L&D need to treat generations differently? Do learning styles matter? While these ideas are widespread, are they actually true?
In this session, you’ll get to put some widely touted ideas to the test. Attendees will review the claims together, take a look at the research, and separate the wheat from the chaff. Digital natives, generations, learning styles, and more will be subject to examination. Come find out which ideas you can trust and which you should question!
In this session, you will learn:
- Why these ideas are so compelling
- What the research says about these ideas
- Which L&D statements don’t pass the “sniff test”
- What you can do to avoid falling for learning myths in the future
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and managers.
Click here for the session trailer
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Clark Quinn
Chief Learning Strategist
Upside Learning
Clark Quinn, PhD is the executive director of Quinnovation, co-director of the Learning Development Accelerator, and chief learning strategist for Upside Learning. With more than four decades of experience at the cutting edge of learning, Dr. Quinn is an internationally known speaker, consultant, and author of seven books. He combines a deep knowledge of cognitive science and broad experience with technology into strategic design solutions that achieve innovative yet practical outcomes for corporations, higher-education, not-for-profit, and government organizations.
113 Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help Master Tough Content
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, November 16
104
Learners, particularly online learners, often suffer from illusions of competence in learning, procrastinate, and fail at breaking down content into smaller chunks to build solid expertise. Each can lead to higher rates of frustration and, ultimately, reduce success.
In this session, you will learn about neuroscientific processes that kick off procrastination, and how to tackle it. You’ll also learn about the default mode network and its role in helping prevent frustration. Strategies for the effective chunking of content, improving recall, and the challenge of developing passion for hard-to-master subjects will all be part of the discussion. Finally, you will explore ways to combat frustration when learning challenging content, and ways that metaphor and analogy can increase the speed of learning.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to tackle procrastination
- How to develop expertise in topics ranging from programming to language study to dance
- How to handle frustration when learning a difficult topic
- How to use metaphor and analogy to speed your learning
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers,
and directors.
Technology
discussed in this session:
PowerPoint with many embedded videos and animations.
Click here for the session trailer
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Barbara Oakley
Professor of Engineering, Oakland University; Visiting Scholar, University of California, San Diego
Oakland University
Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE, is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan; a visiting scholar at UC San Diego; and Coursera’s inaugural “innovation instructor.” Her work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. Barbara’s research has been described as “revolutionary” in the Wall Street Journal; she has published in outlets as varied as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. She has won numerous teaching awards, including the American Society of Engineering Education’s Chester F. Carlson Award for technical innovation in engineering education.
STR103 Beyond the LMS: How Benefitfocus Delivers Awesome Experiences Wherever Its Learners Are
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Strategic Solutions Stage
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Greg Schottland
CEO
Xyleme
Greg Schottland, the CEO of Xyleme, has over 25 years’ experience starting and growing software companies in evolving markets. He has both created and run start-ups, as well as large public companies. Greg founded object-oriented tools leader Advanced Software Technologies, growing it into the number-two player behind Rational Software before it was acquired. He implemented turnarounds as president of Xitec Software and was general manager of BluePhoenix. Greg has also worked for Bell Laboratories, Lockheed Martin, and IBM. He holds an MS in computer science from the University of Illinois and a BS in business from the University of Colorado.
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Eric Spann
Content Development Lead
Benefitfocus University
Eric Spann is a content development lead for Benefitfocus, the world’s most trusted benefits management software provider. Eric, who has more than 15 years of technical publications experience, and the Benefitfocus University team design and develop innovative learning and documentation solutions for their customers and associates to shape the future of benefits management technology and address complex content management challenges. Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Carolina, as well as a master of divinity degree from Southern Seminary.
210 Utilizing Multiple Platforms to Provide Online Training
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, November 16
104
What happens when your current eLearning development tool and your LMS are not enough (and they often are not)? With myriad tools and platforms available, being married to one or only a few is not wise, nor does it provide you the flexibility to create dynamic learning opportunities.
In this session, you will learn ways to utilize multiple platforms and coding such as PHP and WordPress to achieve a better learning experience. You will learn that there are more options than simply using an eLearning software alone with your LMS, as eLearning software can be combined with WordPress and even PHP coding to allow for greater control and ease of use for the learning experience.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to connect your LMS to an external PHP coded page
- How to utilize WordPress within your LMS
- How to combine WordPress along with Articulate Storyline to develop an eLearning course
- How to allow a PHP coded page to track within your LMS
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, and
project managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
WordPress, Articulate Storyline, Taleo Learning Management System,
PHP Coding, Microsoft Access, and mySQL.
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Clint Horn
Training Specialist
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Clint Horn is a training specialist with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He possesses over 20 years of experience in the training and development industry, along with over 10 years of eLearning design and development experience. Clint has worked in the corporate, legal, oil and gas, telecommunications, and medical fields through his career.
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David Kohne
Sr. Training Representative
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
David Kohne is a senior training representative with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. David’s experience includes over 10 years of teaching at the secondary level. Additionally, he has designed, developed, and implemented online courses and instructional web applications.
211 Eighteen Awesome PowerPoint Tricks for Effective Presentations
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, November 16
114
PowerPoint is the basis for much of the training material you design and use, and yet it’s text-heavy, dull, and boring. That switches people off, and they don’t learn anything. It’s poorly used for in-person training, dreadful in webinars, and deathly when converted to eLearning. Quite simply, you can’t keep using PowerPoint like this. You can do better.
In this session, you will learn why using more visuals and animations is critical to making PowerPoint work, along with a process for visualization and some techniques in PowerPoint that can bring presentations and other training material to life. You will view a demonstration that you can use yourself, and you will leave this session with the ability to immediately create new and different uses for PowerPoint. Finally, you’ll get a free PowerPoint toolkit to kick-start your efforts!
In this session, you will learn:
- How to delight your audiences with compelling visual slides
- How to create visual slides using the full range of PowerPoint’s tools to generate your own graphics
- How to manipulate photos within PowerPoint so that they convey meaning
- How to use animation, including sophisticated animation, to tell your story effectively
- How to create, edit, format, and animate live graphs and charts quickly and easily
- How to build slides faster by using toolbars and shortcuts
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project
managers, and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Microsoft PowerPoint.
Click here for the session trailer
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Richard Goring
Director
BrightCarbon
Richard Goring is a director at BrightCarbon, a presentation and eLearning agency. He enjoys helping people create engaging content and communicate effectively using visuals, diagrams, and animated sequences that explain and reinforce the key points.
INN104 UX Process—What Can You Learn and Leverage?
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
IDs may be so caught up in content, business expectations, project management, and stakeholder politics that learner needs get overlooked. Today’s learners want personalized learning that resonates with them, solves their problems, and simplifies their jobs. You can’t do that if you don’t know them.
Marketers spend considerable time understanding their target audience to effectively meet their needs. This session will examine the techniques used in UX of building personas, documenting user stories, and creating journey maps to better understand learners. You’ll leave with a better understanding of your audience and evidence to assist your SMEs with meeting users’ needs through the learning you design.
In this session, you will learn:
- How UX professionals analyze to design for users
- How to create personas for your audience members
- How to create a journey map
- How to document user stories
- How to recognize more nuances about your audience
Audience:
Intermediate designers and developers who have some experience with instructional design.
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Jean Marrapodi
VP/Senior Instructional Designer
UMB Bank
Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D., CPTD, has designed and developed eLearning for over 20 years in various industries and higher education. Named a Guild Master in 2016 by the eLearning Guild, she is considered an industry thought leader. Over the last 10 years, Marrapodi has presented more than 75 workshops and webinars for industry organizations and has taught over 40 graduate and undergraduate courses at New England College of Business, where she served as director of eLearning. Her expertise lies in her ability to make the complex simple, and pinpoint client needs to drive to business outcomes. She is a soup-to-nuts eLearning designer, able to single-handedly build a project from idea to rollout and work in a specific role on a project team. She is the chief learning architect at Applestar Productions, providing targeted eLearning and custom workshops for her clients.
MXC105 Moving from eLearning to Performance Support
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Management Exchange Stage
What exactly does performance support entail, and how does it differ from traditional eLearning? Delivery and tracking of performance support is a big differentiator, as you won’t have tests, and you need to get information to where the users are doing their work, rather than on a desktop. This session takes an in-depth look at what makes content performance support, and how you can not only utilize existing training materials but also use a single source to provide both traditional training and performance support. Learn how to track usage patterns of your content, even when it’s used as performance support.
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John Blackmon
CTO and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer
ELB Learning
As CTO/Chief AI Officer for ELB Learning, John Blackmon is responsible for the development and strategy of company products. Prior to ELB Learning, John was co-founder/CEO of Trivantis, where he created the flagship products, Lectora and CenarioVR. John was also co-founder/lead engineer at BocaSoft, which created various software utilities for the OS/2 operating system. His career started at Electronic Data Systems where he designed automatic identification systems for applications at General Motors, followed by time at IBM where he was awarded a patent for seamlessly running Windows applications under OS/2. He also has a patent pending for Responsive Course Design work.
STR105 Expand Your Authoring Experience for SMEs
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Strategic Solutions Stage
Learning content management system (LCMS) ROI is realized over time as both the number of people managing content and the amount of content grow. These are the benefits of single sourcing, multi-modal outputs, and maintenance of content. This is easier for a trained instructional designer to understand. This session covers expanding the LCMS-based approach to a larger group by providing a more visual page-based UI for quickly creating eLearning delivered by the LCMS. This allows all users to find and reuse existing media and content and publish eLearning quickly without becoming an expert in the concepts of object-oriented content development.
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Dawn Jaglowski
Offering Manager
IBM
Dawn Jaglowski is an offering manager within the IBM Smarter Workforce Learn group. Her responsibilities focus around defining a comprehensive strategy across the Learn offerings. Dawn has worked in software development for the majority of her career across multiple functions such as architecture, engineering, quality assurance, and technical sales support, with over 15 years of that experience within the offering/product management domain. Dawn has an undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from Rollins College. Her background also includes creating and delivering learning content as an instructor in both corporate and higher education environments.
301 Communities of Practice: A Cornerstone of Social Learning
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
122
Communities of practice (CoPs) have become a hot topic in the past few years. They are an excellent tool for developing skills, sharing tacit knowledge, and shoring up retention of high-performing staff. But they differ from teams and other types of groups in many ways. Understanding what CoPs are and how they work—rather than just looking at how to create and manage them—is critical to supporting their success.
This session will take a look at the definition and function of communities of practice; examine how successful CoPs work; explore research around the critical CoP issues of learning, meaning, and identity; and identify strategies for nurturing and supporting successful CoPs. This session draws from academic literature on CoPs and offers an evidence-based view of the topic.
In this session, you will learn:
- What a community of practice is and how it functions
- From research on what works, and doesn’t work, in CoPs
- How to nurture and support a CoP
- From examples of successful CoPs
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project
managers, and managers.
Click here for the session trailer
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Jane Bozarth
Director of Research
The Learning Guild
Jane Bozarth, the director of research for the Learning Guild, is a veteran classroom trainer who transitioned to eLearning in the late 1990s and has never looked back. In her previous job as leader of the State of North Carolina's award-winning eLearning program, Jane specialized in finding low-cost ways of providing online training solutions. She is the author of several books, including eLearning Solutions on a Shoestring, Social Media for Trainers, and Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-To's of Working Out Loud. Jane holds a doctorate in training and development and was awarded the Guild Master Award in 2013 for her accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community.
303 Surviving to Thriving as a One-person Training Team
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
108
Are you the trainer, instructional designer, coordinator, project manager, and business analyst for your organization, all in one? Are you constantly moving from one role to the next while feeling overwhelmed by endless training projects? As a one-person training team, it’s common to feel challenged by constant time management, project intake and prioritization, development, delivery, and analysis you have to do on a regular basis. How do you reclaim control from this chaos?
In this session, you’ll focus on practical steps you can take right now to make being a one-person training team easier through strategic planning and processes. You’ll explore strategies for creating structured processes and learn how to use your peers, requesters, and project sponsors to offset your workload. You’ll also find out about methods for focusing on core competencies. Through this session, you’ll learn how to transition from being a “jack of all trades and master of none” to a focused individual who can carefully navigate multiple projects and requests at once.
In this session, you will learn:
- Techniques for creating a training intake process
- Best practices for balancing all of your job responsibilities
- Methods of organizing project tasks and deadlines
- Strategies for communicating with your stakeholders
- Strategies for setting expectations with your requesters and project sponsors
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Google Forms, Kerika, Google Keep, Canva, Gravity Forms, and other low-cost cloud-based tools.
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Matthew Saavedra
Associate Director of Technical Services
University of Washington
Matthew Saavedra is an associate director of technical services for the department of enrollment management at the University of Washington. He has more than a decade of experience in the field of eLearning and instructional design. In his current role, Matt manages a training function for university student information systems, IT, and data functions, and he teaches a course in eLearning design and development. He has previously worked at Washington Mutual, Verizon Wireless, and Adobe Systems. Matt holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of New Mexico and a master’s in business administration from Washington State University.
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Bonnie Roberts
Learning Manager
University of Washington
Bonnie Roberts is a learning and communications manager for the department of enrollment management at the University of Washington. She has a strong background in eLearning, instructional design, usability testing, written and oral communication, and document and web design. Bonnie has been in training and design roles in both higher education and corporate industries, and she is passionate about designing and developing innovative training strategies to enhance the learning experience. She holds a bachelor of science degree in technical communication with a minor in communications from Mercer University.
309 Creativity and eLearning Go Hand in Hand
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
114
The corporate eLearning development world may not always seem creative from the outside, but successful eLearning teams use creativity in every project they design and develop. But how, specifically, can this skill contribute to successful eLearning? What kinds of creativity should be part of your eLearning workflow? What benefits does creativity provide to your development process? How can you explain to your stakeholders that increased creativity contributes to business-focused learning objectives?
In this session, you will discover what kinds of creativity are part of a typical eLearning workflow and how you can use them to your advantage. You’ll also find out more about how creativity improves every aspect of eLearning projects for everyone involved—designers, developers, stakeholders, and even participants.
In this session, you will learn:
- About two specific areas of creativity that are integral to successful eLearning
- How creativity can be used to solve functional skill issues
- Ways to explain how creativity contributes to business objectives
- About tools that can facilitate creativity in eLearning development
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Adobe CC suite, iPad/tablet drawing and
sketching tools, brainstorming software, and online creative gallery sites like
Behance.
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Kirsten Rourke
Founder and CEO
Rourke Training
Kirsten Rourke is the founder and CEO of Rourke Training. She is on a mission to create engaging communication in the online presentation and speaking space. She works with business leaders to transform their voice, body language, and content into memorable virtual presentations. She runs a podcast and community, Ongoing Mastery: Presenting and Speaking, to support development and improvement in creating successful, targeted results in pitches, sales presentations, training, and high-stake events. Kirsten speaks on online presenting, creating adaptable teams, public speaking, and productivity at seminars and events across the country.
311 Making Your Instruction Learnable
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
111
Designers, developers, trainers, instructors, content experts, and others too often design and build instruction in ways that interfere with how adults learn. The result is less-than-optimal learning that can lead to a chain reaction of disengagement in learning materials and limited, if any, performance improvement.
In this session, you will learn specific evidence-based practices and tactics that make instructional materials more “learnable” and promote learning. Explore the numerous factors that enable and increase learning through formal methods and materials, where they are often lacking, and how to improve them. You will be able to apply these practices and tactics to specific learning situations in order to learn to use them effectively in your own efforts.
In this session, you will learn:
- What learnability is and how it helps adults learn
- How to use readability scores to help make content easier to use
- About the tasks and realities of learning
- How to apply multiple learnability tactics to learning situations
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and managers.
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Patti Shank
President
Learning Peaks
Patti Shank, the president of Learning Peaks, is an internationally known learning expert, researcher, author, and writer who has been named one of the 10 most influential people in eLearning internationally. She is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books. Patti was the research director for The eLearning Guild and an award-winning contributing editor for Online Learning Magazine, and her articles are found in the ATD Science of Learning and Senior Leaders Blogs and elsewhere.
INN106 Taking Compliance Training from Yawn to Right On!
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, November 16
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
CACI International, a federal contractor, delivers compliance training to 20,000 employees annually to meet federal, state, and company legal requirements. Until 2015, the course was little more than a glorified PowerPoint presentation and check-the-box activity, lacking employee engagement, ownership, and commitment. In late 2014, an L&D team set out to take the training from average (yawn) to awesome (right on)! This session walks attendees through that transformation.
This session will share the process of transforming average compliance training into training that increases content engagement, hits the mark with employees (relatable, interactive, fun), and results in fewer compliance violations and better business-making decisions at all levels. The session will explore and demonstrate instructional techniques used: scenarios, authentic examples, videos, comic strips, and gamification. Learn about the technology, software, and other tools the team used to produce a course that engaged learners and achieved learning objectives. You’ll discover how to replicate a dramatic change to your training and overcome obstacles such as a conservative culture, antiquated LMS, and tight budget constraints.
In this session, you will learn:
- A process to transform training from “yawn” to “right on”
- Instructional techniques that engage learners and achieve objectives
- About tools and software that create engaging, interactive, and gamified eLearning
- Strategies to overcome obstacles
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project
managers, and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Saba LMS, Lectora Inspire, Pixton Comics,
eLearning Brothers templates, and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
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Windy Schneider
Lead Instructional Designer/Developer
CACI International
Windy Schneider is a lead instructional designer and developer with CACI International. She has more than a decade of experience designing and developing multimedia solutions for intelligence community clients. With a BS in media arts and design, MEd in instructional design and technology, graduate eLearning certificate, and gamification certificate, Windy has extensive experience designing and deploying innovative and interactive eLearning solutions. At CACI International, she has deployed annual compliance training to a corporate audience of 20,000 users. Windy has 13 career awards and was a finalist in 2016 for the HR Leadership Awards.
INN201 Prototyping and Designing Experiences: Turning Ideas into Reality
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
Whether you are creating a new project, developing an app, or launching a new platform, join this session to learn about the latest strategies in brainstorming, prototyping, and designing your experiences. This session will highlight tools, techniques, and workflows to help you kick off any project the right way. Learn how to communicate a concept beginning with low-fidelity prototypes, gather user feedback, and translate into high-fidelity prototypes before you start development. Get pumped and ready to take ideas out of your head and make them a reality!
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Nick Floro
Learning Architect/Imagineer
Sealworks Interactive Studios
Nick Floro, a co-founder and learning architect at Sealworks Interactive Studios, has over 25 years of experience developing learning solutions, applications, and web platforms. Nick is passionate about how design and technology can enhance learning and loves to share his knowledge and experience to teach, inspire, and motivate. As a learning architect, Nick gets to sketch, imagine, and prototype for each challenge. He has worked with start-ups to Fortune 500 companies to help them understand the technology and develop innovative solutions to support their audiences. Nick has won numerous awards from Apple and organizations for productions and services.
402 Six Simple eLearning Success Strategies
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, November 17
124
Creating effective learning experiences is not a job for a novice, although many novices are thrown into the role of instructional designer/developer. If beginners turn to the field’s expansive literature, which ranges from cookbook-style guides and blogs to scientific research, they are easily overwhelmed and typically turn to overly simplistic approaches. But even experienced professionals can come to feel they’re never able to do the job that should be done.
In this session, you will learn how to create effective instructional experiences without oversimplifying them. You will come away from this session with six successful strategies that are responsive to research and best practices, simplifying the overall task while addressing the fundamentals needed for highly effective instruction.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to continually evaluate designs as they come together
- How to avoid excessive content presentation as a means to achieve greater content mastery
- How to challenge awareness goals
- How to design backwards (it’s faster, easier, and better)
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Exemplary eLearning applications.
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Michael Allen
Founder and CEO
Allen Interactions
Dr. Michael Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Interactions, has been a pioneer in the eLearning industry since 1975. Dr. Allen has more than 50 years of professional, academic, and corporate experience in teaching, developing, and marketing interactive learning and performance support systems. Dr. Allen has led teams of doctorate-level specialists in learning research, instructional design, computer-assisted learning, and human engineering. He defined unique principles and methods, Successive Approximation process or SAM, and the CCAF design model for designing and developing high impact interactive eLearning experiences that invoke critical cognitive activity and practice.
410 Designing with Animation
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, November 17
112
Animation is a powerful tool for creating engaging eLearning experiences. Sadly, many animations are used without purpose as just a design embellishment. When that happens, the animation distracts the learner from the content rather than helping to elevate it.
This session will explore how animation can be used with purpose to create meaningful and appealing eLearning experiences. Demonstrating multiple before-and-after examples, the session will show how animation can explain complex ideas and create valuable learning content.
In this session, you will learn:
- How animation affects the learning process
- How to use animation with purpose to bring meaning to learning content
- About the various types of animations used within eLearning
- How to explain complex ideas and processes through animation
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.
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Tim Slade
Creator
The eLearning Designer's Academy
Tim Slade is a speaker, author, award-winning freelance eLearning designer, and creator of The eLearning Designer's Academy. Having spent the last decade working to help others elevate their eLearning and visual communications content, Tim has been recognized and awarded within the eLearning industry multiple times for his creative and innovative design aesthetics. Tim is also a regular speaker at international eLearning conferences, a recognized Articulate Super Hero, and author of "The eLearning Designer's Handbook."
411 eLearning Dirty Secrets: Our Worst Examples
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, November 17
113
J.M. Barrie said, “We are all failures; at least, the best of us are.” When attending conferences, you often get the opportunity to see individuals sharing their best work. What isn’t visible is everything that fell apart in the process of achieving something great. These are great opportunities to learn from.
This session will explore the experiences of a panel of eLearning professionals who have a checkered past of designing and developing training solutions. They will share some of their eLearning dirty secrets—the worst examples from past projects—and discuss what they learned. They will also invite attendees to share their own eLearning dirty secrets, creating a real-time collection of lessons learned. You won’t want to miss out on this opportunity to see firsthand how others best learn from mistakes.
In this session, you will learn:
- From examples of bad eLearning projects
- About better ways of approaching eLearning design and development
- How to build your confidence to try something new and different
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, and
project managers.
Click here for the session trailer
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Shawn Rosler
Senior Instructional Designer
Office Practicum
Shawn Rosler has been an instructional designer, project manager, and developer of dynamic, interactive, and highly efficient eLearning and other instruction for over 20 years. He's a frequent contributor to industry-based publications, and he has presented to academic, medical, and corporate audiences on an expansive array of topics. From the basics of adult learning theory to the real-world application of converting instructor-led training to a computer or web base, he is an evangelist for trimming down processes while keeping them effective.
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Sarah Mercier
CEO & Strategic Consultant
Build Capable
Sarah Mercier, CEO and strategic consultant at Build Capable, specializes in instructional strategy and learning technology. Sarah is known for translating highly technical concepts and research to real-world practice. She is an international facilitator for the Association for Talent Development and Greater Atlanta ATD Past President. Her innovative learning solutions have been recognized by winning industry awards, such as Best of Show at FocusOn Learning DemoFest for xAPI for Interactive eBooks, and Best Performance Support Solution at DevLearn DemoFest for Critical Success Factors training and assessment tool. Sarah is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and business events on topics such as instructional design and development, accessibility, data strategy, and learning ecosystems. Her work has been published in ATD’s 2020 Trends in Learning Technology, The Book of Road-Tested Activities, TD Magazine, Learning Solutions Magazine, CLO Magazine, and a variety of other training and workforce publications.
414 The Experience Economy: How Learning Resonates
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, November 17
122
The opportunities to create transformative learning experiences have never been greater: There are more devices capable of delivering immersive media experiences to more people than ever before. Yet many learners are habituated to be wary of traditional, mandatory corporate learning programs. How should learning leaders understand this landscape, and how can they develop learning experiences that resonate with audiences?
In this session, you will learn how today’s audiences value experiences over all else, and how you can elevate learning to exceed these expectations and truly resonate. You will hear about examples of holistic learning programs that matched and surpassed the expectations of a very discerning audience. You will discover how to effectively leverage enhanced media and storytelling techniques to create memorable learning experiences. Explore ideas for implementing learning and communications programs that have succeeded in resonating with both learner and business audiences.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to deliver learning “experiences”
- How to effectively and sustainably earn the mind share of your audience
- How to use creative storytelling to communicate value and authenticity
- How the expectations of learners have changed
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed
in this session:
Mobile technology, video, and gamification.
INN202 Getting Started with Design Thinking
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
Design thinking—a prototype-driven, human-centered innovation process—can aid in the creation of experiences for the “real world” in a variety of form factors. It can help you develop emotional connections with your intended audience while you imagine new solutions and create user-centered prototypes for hands-on, high-energy design challenges. Sound exciting?
In this session, you will explore implementation of the design thinking process and learn about several best practices currently used in business as well as in education. You will learn about the seven stages of design thinking—define, research, ideate, prototype, choose, implement, and learn—and create user-centered prototypes for hands-on, high-energy design challenges. Learn how to design learning opportunities and thinking around real-world problems and solutions. Appreciate how the design thinking process applies to your personal innovative strategy and to solving problems within your organization.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the seven stages of design thinking
- From three case studies of design thinking applied in the real world
- How to create prototypes for hands-on, high-energy, time-based design challenges
- How to move from design thinking to design actions
Audience:
Novice designers and project managers.
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Laurie Burruss
Education Innovation Advisor
Lynda.com
Laurie Burruss is an education innovation advisor at Lynda.com, where she has advocated for academic initiatives, supported teaching and learning, and provided integration and implementation solutions since 2009. Laurie is also a professor emeritus at Pasadena City College in California; before working at Lynda.com, she served for 22 years as a professor in interaction design and as the director of the college’s digital media program, providing a regional resource for collaboration between education, industry, and the community. Her passion is digital storytelling.
507 Ukulele Learning: Exploring the Relationships Between Music and Learning
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, November 17
109
A large amount of research in recent years has explored the value that music has for the brain and learning. Everyone has experienced it in some way, be it from listening to music while studying, learning something from a catchy song, or learning to play an instrument.
In this session, you will explore the many relationships between music and learning. You will examine and discuss how people learn to play an instrument—there will even be ukuleles available for some to participate hands-on—and what this might mean for learning in general. Using the introductory ukulele lesson as a framework, this fun session will help you explore the many ways that music impacts and enhances learning. (Ukuleles made available during this session will be donated to the Children’s Hospital of Nevada UMC after the conference.)
In this session, you will learn:
- How music enhances learning
- How people learn to play an instrument, and what that means for learning
- How music might enhance your practices
- How to play a ukulele!
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers,
developers, project managers, and managers.
Click here for the session trailer
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Jane Bozarth
Director of Research
The Learning Guild
Jane Bozarth, the director of research for the Learning Guild, is a veteran classroom trainer who transitioned to eLearning in the late 1990s and has never looked back. In her previous job as leader of the State of North Carolina's award-winning eLearning program, Jane specialized in finding low-cost ways of providing online training solutions. She is the author of several books, including eLearning Solutions on a Shoestring, Social Media for Trainers, and Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-To's of Working Out Loud. Jane holds a doctorate in training and development and was awarded the Guild Master Award in 2013 for her accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community.
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Shawn Rosler
Senior Instructional Designer
Office Practicum
Shawn Rosler has been an instructional designer, project manager, and developer of dynamic, interactive, and highly efficient eLearning and other instruction for over 20 years. He's a frequent contributor to industry-based publications, and he has presented to academic, medical, and corporate audiences on an expansive array of topics. From the basics of adult learning theory to the real-world application of converting instructor-led training to a computer or web base, he is an evangelist for trimming down processes while keeping them effective.
510 Next-gen Blended Learning: Creating the Perfect Mix
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, November 17
114
“Blended learning” was one of the hottest buzzwords back in the day. In its infancy it was, at best, a design construct that focused on combining the best elements of face-to-face with eLearning. At worst, though, it merely gave the learner the choice of attending class in person or online. This was a cutting-edge approach at one time, but the tools and media for learning have expanded far beyond this. To get the most out of blended learning, you need to shift your thinking and look at how you can use all of today’s tools in the blend.
In this session, you’ll discover what’s beyond the traditional application of blended learning and dive into the next generation of this approach. With this new view on blended learning, your toolkit will move beyond just in-person classes and eLearning to include elements such as assessments for content personalization, simulations, mobile interventions, games and gamification, social learning, user-generated content, knowledge management, and yes, even performance support.
In this session, you will learn:
- What makes next-generation blended learning work
- What tools you should consider adding to your blend, and what the best practices for application are
- How instructional intent applies to this next-gen blend
- What modern blended learning solutions look like in action from real-world examples
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, developers,
managers, and directors.
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Brenda Enders
President & Chief Learning Strategist
Enders Consulting
Brenda Enders is the president and chief learning strategist for Enders Consulting, a St. Louis, MO-based company. She is a consultant, author, and public speaker specializing in leveraging innovative technologies to improve employee performance. She has 19 years’ experience in the learning and development field. Brenda’s first book, Manager’s Guide to Mobile Learning, was published in 2013. Prior to founding Enders Consulting, Brenda was the chief learning strategist and learning services practice leader for a custom learning solutions provider for 12 years, where she led the design and deployment of innovative and award-winning custom learning solutions.
511 Adding Adaptive Learning Principles to Your eLearning
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, November 17
111
As websites and apps get increasingly more sophisticated and personalized, people are coming to expect a similar experience from learning as well. Adaptive learning is one such technology that promises this experience, but many of the platforms that exist are expensive and currently geared primarily toward K-12 and higher education. How can L&D professionals in the corporate space find ways to provide their audience with this more tailored learning experience?
In this session, you’ll learn about the basics of adaptive learning, why it has been gaining momentum in K-12 arenas, and why it should be on your radar in the corporate environment. You’ll discuss obstacles to implementing full-scale adaptive learning technologies within the corporate infrastructure, and how you can leverage some of the adaptive philosophies within your current learning culture. You’ll also discover budget-friendly ways to use tools you already have, like Storyline or Captivate, to incorporate adaptive learning principles and give your audience a tailored learning experience.
In this session, you will learn:
- Where eLearning software falls on the spectrum of adaptive learning technology
- Three ways you can apply adaptive learning principles to eLearning
- How to create an adaptive learning path
- Which Storyline 2 features support adaptive learning design
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and developers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Articulate Storyline 2, Adobe Captivate, and Smart Sparrow.
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Rebecca Lucas
Director of Instructional Strategy
ThinkingKap Learning Solutions
Rebecca Lucas, a director of instructional strategy with ThinkingKap Learning Solutions, has over 24 years of experience developing training. Becky is a certified performance technologist (CPT) with degrees from Indiana University: a BS in marketing and advertising, and an MS in instructional systems technology. Becky’s expertise includes designing eLearning solutions using Articulate Studio and Storyline. She has also served in various capacities on the board of the International Society of Performance Improvement’s Chicago chapter.
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Tim Buteyn
President
ThinkingKap Learning Solutions
Tim Buteyn, the president of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions, has over 15 years of experience in eLearning. He has worked with a full range of clients, including IT service providers, national healthcare organizations, and international food service organizations. Prior to his current role, Tim was the training director for several technology companies. He has won multiple Articulate Guru Contests for courses that use scenario-based training as their foundation.
INN204 “But We’re Different”: Instructing the Uninstructables
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Innovation Showcase Stage
Have you ever found yourself in front of a classroom of reluctant learners who, arms crossed, decline to participate? Have you ever carefully crafted eLearning, only to hear later that learners rig paper clips in the keyboard so the course will automatically advance while they peruse Car & Truck Trader? “But we’re different. You don’t get us,” they say. Reluctant learners present a huge barrier to achieving good training results.
This session will explore the reasons behind this attitude in the context of three specific industries: firefighting, manufacturing, and aircraft maintenance. You will learn how to overcome this resistance and deliver training solutions that meet employee needs. You’ll also discuss strategies for developing buy-in from tough learner audiences.
In this session, you will learn:
- Strategies for creating training for a resistant audience in a way that builds buy-in and yields good training results
- About motivations behind the “But we’re different” attitude toward training
- About characteristics of skilled trade experts that contribute to a “But we’re different” attitude
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers,
developers, project managers, and managers.
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Janet Ann
Content Developer II
Alaska Airlines
Janet Ann, a content developer with Alaska Airlines, has been a passionately student-centered educator and trainer for nearly three decades. At Alaska Airlines, Janet creates technical instructional materials for aircraft mechanics. She has also developed training for aerospace manufacturers, limited English speakers, and adults with disabilities. Janet enjoys the challenge of drawing out highly technical, compliance-driven content and turning it into engaging training.
MXC204 Research Says: Current Research to Inform Practice
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Management Exchange Stage
During design and development, SMEs sometimes suggest ideas or practices that are antithetical to good instructional design. For example, a designer might have a stakeholder who believes it’s best to simply film a daylong stand-up training session and deliver it as one video. When this happens, it is helpful for the designer to be able to identify research findings to help the SME understand why learning should be designed differently.
This session will outline the most current research regarding assessment, usability, and multimedia in eLearning. Being able to cite research with SMEs and other stakeholders can assist the designer in creating quality instruction, as decisions are based on findings. Knowledge of current research is also one way for designers to remain current with regard to best practices in their professional field. Framed as a story, the session will use scenarios in which research is used to make design decisions, and attendees will receive a list of places to look for current research to inform eLearning practice.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to cite research in three areas: multimedia, visual design/usability, and assessment
- How to successfully use research to make data-driven decisions for design and development
- How to find sources of eLearning research
- How to conduct a research-based discussion with SMEs
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers,
and project managers.
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Stevie Rocco
Assistant Director for Learning Design, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Penn State University
Stevie Rocco is assistant director for learning design at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State University. Stevie has more than a decade of experience working with faculty to create and manage online learning. At Penn State, her team produces and uses tools and technologies that create quality online course experiences. In addition, Stevie consults on a wide variety of topics, including faculty development for online teaching, accessibility, usability, open source and free tools, and social media. Stevie holds a BS degree in secondary education and an MEd degree in adult education.
MXC205 Quicker—Cheaper
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Management Exchange Stage
Trends show that the volume of custom-developed compliance content and custom content in general is rising. Additionally, much of the content developed over the past 10 years is expiring and must be refreshed. How should you approach this problem? Explore the path to quicker, cheaper methods of managing the ever-changing complexities of compliance and custom-developed content. In this session you will learn three key areas of focus that will save you time and money.
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Mark Prasatik
Vice President of User Experience Services
Bluewater
Mark Prastik is the vice president of user experience services at Bluewater Learning. Mark assists clients in aligning learning user experience and reporting/analytics to business strategy because he feels that user learning experience and reporting/analytics are the most predictive factors in the adoption of talent and learning systems and solving business problems. Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in employee training in the areas of oil and gas, aviation, retail, financial services, life sciences, and technology. Mark is certified in instructional design, human performance improvement, and project management and is a past president of ATD Houston.
STR205 Jailbreaking the LMS: Making Your Learning Program Work for Millennials
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Thursday, November 17
Expo Hall—Strategic Solutions Stage
Millennials make up a quarter of the US population and will be a majority of the workforce in less than 10 years. Learning is a priority for Millennials, but how they learn differs greatly from previous generations, and new approaches are needed. This session will explore Millennial learning needs and discuss strategies that will engage them and keep them coming back for more.
Tad Goltra
Vice President of Product Management
EBSCO
Tad Goltra is a vice president of product management at EBSCO, which provides best-practices content to facilitate employee soft skills development. EBSCO’s Leadership & Management Learning Center features content from thought leaders in a variety of formats, including summaries of business books, articles, and videos, and has won awards from Chief Learning Officer magazine, Brandon Hall Group, and others.
607 Ten Practical Pointers for Working with Diverse Stock Images
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
104
Admit it: You have a love/hate relationship with stock photography websites. Sure, you love how using stock images can inspire your creativity, but you also hate how hard it is to find ones that look genuine and aren’t exaggerated. eLearning developers rely heavily on stock-image-based designs for building workplace eLearning. And it’s not just a problem of finding stock images full of people with the right poses or expressions. The bigger challenge is that the images you find often just don’t feel authentic.
In this session, you’ll learn 10 practical pointers for overcoming these challenges. Explore the research behind authenticity in images and find out how you can modify images to increase their authenticity. The session will cover when it’s acceptable to use stock images and when you should seek alternatives. You’ll learn about websites that provide diverse images, and you’ll leave with loads of free resources and inspiring ideas you can immediately apply to your projects.
In this session, you will learn:
- What research says about why authentic images really matter for eLearning
- How to find better-quality, more authentic imagery
- About specific websites that specialize in diverse imagery
- Different search terms to broaden the pool of images
- Easy techniques to add more authenticity to stock photos using tools you may already have
- When to consider alternatives to stock imagery
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project
managers, and managers.
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Trina Rimmer
Director, Community and Customer Engagement
Articulate
As the director of community and customer engagement with Articulate, Trina uses her many years of eLearning design and development expertise to guide the creation of inspiring content for our community of workplace learning professionals, E-Learning Heroes. Before joining Articulate, Trina worked as an instructional designer, eLearning developer, and writer focused on delivering creative, engaging, and effective learning solutions to various companies, from global aid organizations to Fortune 500s.
609 Workplace Stories: Step-by-step Inspiration for eLearning Engagement
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
121
Using workplace stories to engage learners and enhance your content is a hot topic in learning and development. But when you’re getting started with storytelling as an instructional design technique, you’ll likely have a lot of questions about where to find effective stories for this purpose and how to make sure they not only entertain but also foster learning at the same time. You’ll also want to know how best to integrate storytelling techniques in the tools you already use.
In this session, you’ll discover how best to leverage the power of workplace stories in your eLearning projects. You’ll take a look at a broader model for finding and building instructional stories in general, and also explore how to convey these stories using the specific strengths and weaknesses of eLearning. You’ll learn how using stories strategically can boost engagement from your audience, and even how to use stories to motivate them before and after each course. This session will also introduce you to a variety of tools that can help you share these stories in exciting new ways.
In this session, you will learn:
- What the basic elements of story are, and how to use them to tell a story in the context of eLearning
- How workplace stories can increase engagement while also teaching and reinforcing content
- How to find real workplace stories to use in your eLearning
- How to determine whether your instructional story just entertains or also fosters learning
- About tools that can help you find and bring to life workplace stories for your eLearning projects
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
eLearning development tools (Captivate,
Storyline, etc.); animation tools (PowToon, CrazyTalk, etc.); augmented reality
tools (Aurasma, etc.); and social media tools (brainstorming, sharing, chat,
etc.).
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Katie Stroud
Master Story Crafter
Incremental Success
Katie Stroud is a master story crafter at Incremental Success. Her roles in instructional design, technical writing, and consulting led her to develop a story-based approach to address the unspoken culture that lingers in every corporate initiative. The process is based on scientific studies that explain why people do what they do. It helps to find what inspires them to change behaviors in support of corporate goals.
611 Engaging Modern Learners: When to Push and When to Pull
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
114
When you’re developing strategies to engage your learners, you need to keep your audience and their anticipated learning environment top of mind. But with more and more people shifting when and how they want to access training content, it’s more important than ever to make sure your design strategies reflect this. Your success in reaching the modern learner will depend on understanding how these shifts should influence your technology selection, implementation strategy, and design approach.
In this session, you’ll learn more about how the design of learning should be influenced by where and when it is anticipated to occur. You’ll look at best practices from experts on the Five Moments of Learning Need, principles of modern workplace learning, and “push” versus “pull” training culture. Through exploring how to design pull learning for specific environments, when to use microlearning techniques, which media formats can help, and how social technologies may assist you, you’ll be better able to make design decisions that meet the true needs of modern learners.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why modern learners need a different approach to stay engaged with your content
- How to integrate best practices on engagement from experts
- How to design pull learning for specific learning environments
- When microlearning techniques are most appropriate for increasing engagement
- How formats like video, infographics, and short eLearning modules support different situations and moments of need
- What role social and collaborative technologies play in a pull learning environment
Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and
managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Social and collaborative learning tools and
microlearning.
Click here for the session trailer
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Jennifer Hofmann Dye
Founder and President
InSync Training
Jennifer Hofmann Dye is founder and president of InSync Training. She specializes in the design and delivery of engaging, innovative, and effective modern blended learning. Jennifer has written and contributed to a number of well-received and highly-regarded books including The Synchronous Trainer's Survival Guide: Facilitating Successful Live Online Courses, Meetings, and Events and Live and Online!: Tips, Techniques, and Ready to Use Activities for the Virtual Classroom. Her latest book, Blended Learning (ATD, 2018), introduces a new instructional design model that addresses the needs of the modern workplace and modern learners.
612 Panel: Designing Accessible Learning Experiences
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
122
Accessibility is about more than just doing the bare minimum for compliance. It’s about the difference you can make when you ensure everyone has equal access to what you’ve designed. While this intent is good, in the real world, actually making all your content accessible can seem like a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be.
In this session, you’ll find out just how easy it can be to learn how to design for everyone. You’ll hear from a panel of seasoned designers and developers who will share their personal stories about accessibility and how they’ve used best practices to design universal or inclusive solutions. You’ll learn how to start the conversation with stakeholders, create accessibility standards, and even teach others about accessible solutions.
In this session, you will learn:
- About basic accessibility standards
- How to create accessible content
- How to get buy-in from stakeholders
- About the basics of user research
- About different types of users
Audience:
Novice designers, developers, managers, directors, and senior
leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
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Brian Dusablon (Host)
Founder
Learning Ninjas
Brian Dusablon, the founder of Learning Ninjas, is an entrepreneur, coach, and generalist who has worked in the eLearning industry for over 20 years as a trainer, developer, instructional designer, LMS administrator, project manager, and consultant. At Learning Ninjas, Brian leads a collaborative consultancy focused on creating and teaching about accessible and effective learning solutions and technologies. Working with organizations and individuals, he applies existing and emerging technologies to simplify processes, improve performance, and measure outcomes. Brian frequently speaks on a range of topics, including accessibility, user experience, innovative technologies, and entrepreneurship.
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Jean Marrapodi
VP/Senior Instructional Designer
UMB Bank
Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D., CPTD, has designed and developed eLearning for over 20 years in various industries and higher education. Named a Guild Master in 2016 by the eLearning Guild, she is considered an industry thought leader. Over the last 10 years, Marrapodi has presented more than 75 workshops and webinars for industry organizations and has taught over 40 graduate and undergraduate courses at New England College of Business, where she served as director of eLearning. Her expertise lies in her ability to make the complex simple, and pinpoint client needs to drive to business outcomes. She is a soup-to-nuts eLearning designer, able to single-handedly build a project from idea to rollout and work in a specific role on a project team. She is the chief learning architect at Applestar Productions, providing targeted eLearning and custom workshops for her clients.
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Jane Bozarth
Director of Research
The Learning Guild
Jane Bozarth, the director of research for the Learning Guild, is a veteran classroom trainer who transitioned to eLearning in the late 1990s and has never looked back. In her previous job as leader of the State of North Carolina's award-winning eLearning program, Jane specialized in finding low-cost ways of providing online training solutions. She is the author of several books, including eLearning Solutions on a Shoestring, Social Media for Trainers, and Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-To's of Working Out Loud. Jane holds a doctorate in training and development and was awarded the Guild Master Award in 2013 for her accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community.
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Diane Elkins
Owner/Founder
E-Learning Uncovered
Diane Elkins is owner of Artisan E-Learning, a custom eLearning development company, and E-Learning Uncovered, where she helps people build courses they're proud of. She has built a reputation as a national eLearning expert by being a frequent speaker at major industry events for ATD, The Learning Guild, and Training Magazine. Her favorite topics include accessibility, instructional design, and Articulate Storyline. She is co-author of the popular E-Learning Uncovered book series, as well as E-Learning Fundamentals: A Practical Guide, from ATD Press. She is a past board member of the Northeast Florida and Metro DC chapters of ATD.
614 Critical Thinking—Can You Afford to Ignore It?
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
112
Critical thinking is an incredibly valuable skill in today’s workplace. In fact, the US Department of Labor proclaimed that it’s the raw material of workplace success. But while organizations value this skill, they don’t always systematically seek out and support it. Many employers actually say their employees struggle with critical thinking skills, and most want to provide more development opportunities in this area. How can the L&D field address this gap and help amp up people’s ability to think critically?
In this session, you’ll find out what critical thinking is, what it looks like on the job, and, most importantly, how you can contribute to building expertise in it at your organization. You’ll explore which training forms are most effective for building this complex skill and how mediums like video, mobile, and performance support can play a part. You’ll also find out about research-based methods and strategies to make your critical thinking training more effective. This session will help you create compelling experiences that encourage people to not sleepwalk through work but, instead, actively analyze and evaluate the work they do to make better connections and decisions.
In this session, you will learn:
- What critical thinking really is, and why it’s so essential to L&D
- How you can contribute to the development of critical thinking at your organization
- Research-based methods and strategies you can use in your content to boost critical thinking skills
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
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Allison Rossett
Principal
Allison Rossett & Associates
Dr. Allison Rossett, long-time Professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University, is in the Training magazine HRD Hall of Fame, and was a member of the ASTD International Board of Directors. Recipient of ASTD’s recognition for lifelong contributions to workplace learning and performance and designated a 2008 LEGEND, Allison co-authored Job Aids and Performance Support: Moving from Knowledge in the Classroom to Knowledge Everywhere and a new edition of her book, First Things Fast. Rossett edited The ASTD E-Learning Handbook: Best Practices, Strategies, and Case Studies for an Emerging Field. She also wrote a white paper for the American Management Association, Blended Learning Opportunities and another, on learner engagement, for Adobe Systems. Allison’s client list includes IBM, HP, Ingersoll Rand, the Getty Conservation Institute, Fidelity Investments, Kaiser Permanente, BP, the IRS, Amgen, Royal Bank of Scotland, USAA, National Security Agency, Transportation Security Administration, and several eLearning start-ups. Allison was awarded the Guild Master Award in 2013 for her accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community.
616 BYOL: Design Thinking for Course Design
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, November 17
123
“Design thinking” is a common buzzword in both business and L&D these days. But while the term is talked about at length, the actual process for design thinking and the strategies associated with it are mentioned much less often. What makes design thinking so useful? What strategies do you need to keep in mind while using it? And most importantly, how exactly can you use it to create better courses and content?
In this hands-on session, you’ll build an understanding of the design thinking process and learn how to apply it to the design and development of your learning content. Through reworking a real course or lesson plan that you bring with you to this session, you’ll learn various strategies to assist with gaining a stronger understanding of your learner, generating big ideas, and prototyping the learner experience. You’ll leave this workshop with a practical collection of useful strategies and a concrete beginning to a new course or learning experience!
In this session, you will learn:
- What design thinking is and how to apply this process to your course design
- Strategies for researching and empathizing with your learners
- Methods for collaborating and generating ideas
- Approaches for prototyping
- How to apply these concepts to your own work
Audience:
Novice designers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Stormboard.
Technology required:
Attendees will need to sign up for a free Stormboard account.
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Kristin Machac
Design Thinking Consultant
Kristin Machac is a Design Thinking consultant She has more than a decade of instructional design experience in corporate and higher education environments. Kristin has led creative thinking and problem-solving workshops, and she has presented regionally and nationally on topics such as solving business problems with design thinking, enhancing online learning with personal interaction, and applying design thinking to course design.
701 Talk to the Elephant: Design for Behavior Change
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, November 18
124
Frequently, learning design is about showing people how to do the right things, but actually getting them to change their behavior can be another story. It’s particularly challenging to get people to change those intractable habits and behaviors that everyone struggles to avoid, despite the wealth of available information about better choices.
This session will explore how to design with behavior change in mind. You will examine behavior change from a number of different angles, using techniques from the fields of neuroscience, behavioral economics, behavioral psychology, persuasive technology, user experience, and even game design.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to identify and understand the barriers to behavior change
- Ways to design solutions that don’t just inform learners, but also inspire behavior change
- How to use specific models and techniques for designing a change effort
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, and managers.
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Julie Dirksen
Learning Strategist
Usable Learning
Julie Dirksen, a learning strategist with Usable Learning, is a consultant and instructional designer with more than 15 years' experience creating highly interactive eLearning experiences for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to technology startups to grant-funded research initiatives. She's interested in using neuroscience, change management, and persuasive technology to promote sustainable long-term learning and behavior change. Her MS degree in instructional systems technology is from Indiana University, and she's been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is the author of Design For How People Learn.
709 The Neuroscience of Design for Virtual Learning
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, November 18
111
Employees at a global technology giant were enrolling in a popular performance improvement workshop at a rapid clip. The learning activities and exercises were interactive, hands-on, and practical. But wait lists were long, mostly because capacity was limited by the delivery format: two days of face-to-face instructor-led training. The challenge: to scale enrollments while reducing costs, without sacrificing learner engagement. The solution: a brain-friendly virtual learning environment and experience.
In this session, you will hear the story of learning solutions architects and instructional designers who transposed this location-bound workshop to a live, virtual, web-based delivery platform. You will see how their redesign allowed for more course offerings, lower costs, and improvements to learner interaction and engagement. You will learn how they used the latest research from the neuroscience of learning design to accomplish four key design objectives: maximize learner attention and focus on activities and outcomes; induce learner-generated meaning, associations, and insights; stimulate emotional connections to the learning through positive social pressure; and encode new learning in long-term memory through spaced repetition.
In this session, you will learn:
- Four key principles of the neuroscience of learning
- How to maintain learner attention and focus in a virtual learning environment
- How to stimulate learner-generated meaning and insights
- How to design for emotional commitment to the learning through positive social pressure
- How to use spaced repetition effectively to encode learning to long-term memory
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project
managers, managers, and directors.
Technology
discussed in this session:
WebEx, Adobe Connect, and Citrix.
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Joe Pulichino
Principal Consultant
Athena Learning Solutions
Dr. Joe Pulichino is principal consultant at Athena Learning Solutions. Joe has been a leader in the field of learning and development for over 40 years. His expertise covers compliance & ethics; leadership development; sales and technical training; human capital and talent management; and training assessment and evaluation. He holds an EdD in education technology from Pepperdine University. He is the author of the LinkedIn Learning courses Brain-based eLearning Design and Instructional Design Essentials. Formerly research director at The eLearning Guild, Joe has published widely in business and academic journals and has presented his research at many industry conferences.
711 Designing Learner Personas: The New Needs Analysis
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, November 18
122
With the advent of so many new technologies, ensuring the learner has the best access to the right-size, right-format content, delivered at the right time, is challenging. Coupled with rapid development cycles, this means designers have less time to do thorough or extremely detailed needs analysis.
Take time and do your homework! What is motivating your learners? How do their goals and experiences alter your learning strategy? Why do you care about their feelings or emotions? In this session, you will explore strategies used in learning and marketing to identify techniques to tackle learner needs as you design learner personas. You will learn about a tool that can capture these personas, and finally, you will find out how to use user stories to showcase these learner profiles.
In this session, you will learn:
- New approaches to tackle learner needs
- How to capture personas within a new tool or framework
- How to craft user stories to showcase learner interaction with learning components and technologies
- How to assess ways in which learning can utilize techniques from the field of marketing
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and
managers.
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Sara Thompson
Digital Transformation Consultant
CLO
Sara Thompson is a digital transformation consultant and learning technology leader with over 15 years of experience driving innovation in retail operations. Her career is defined by a relentless pursuit of efficiency and automation, leveraging her expertise in learning design, digital solutions, and data analytics. Throughout her professional journey, Sara has consistently demonstrated her ability to bridge the gap between traditional retail practices and cutting-edge digital technologies. She has successfully implemented transformative solutions that enhance operational excellence while aligning with customer-centric values. Sara's passion for process efficiency and automation is the driving force behind her work. As a sought-after consultant and thought leader, she continues to shape the future of retail by pioneering innovative solutions and equipping teams with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the digital age.
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Lacey Jennings
Service Delivery Leader
Xerox Learning Services
Lacey Jennings is a service delivery leader at Xerox Learning Services, where she partners with business leaders to create and implement enterprise learning services that enhance performance and drive business impact for clients in the high-tech sector. She is also an experienced business advisor, client manager, and learning practitioner. Before joining Xerox, Lacey was a manager of custom instructional design for PDI Ninth House, now KornFerry, and led its multimillion-dollar product development effort for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Interactive Edition. More recently, her teams received nine industry awards in 2014. Lacey holds an MEd from George Mason University.
716 BYOL: 508 Compliance and WCAG 2.0 in Storyline
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, November 18
101/102
What is 508 compliance? What is WCAG 2.0? How can you make your courses compliant? What is the easiest way to create alternate text? How does a course that is taken by someone using JAWS even function? How can you make sure you’re thinking of your learner? These are some of the questions that demand answers for the Storyline user, as many instructional designers lack both the understanding of what 508 compliance really means and the competence to effectively develop compliant courses.
In this session, you will see how Articulate Storyline can help you create eLearning modules that are more accessible for users. You will see how a learner uses JAWS to complete your courses. You will learn how to use alternate text to describe screen elements, and you will learn to build courses with closed-captioning effects. Finally, you will leave this session with hands-on understanding of the Storyline features that support accessible content.
In this session, you will learn:
- What 508 compliance and WCAG 2.0 mean to you as a developer
- How to view a course through a learner utilizing JAWS
- How to create appropriate alternate text for objects
- How to create closed-caption text for your learners
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, developers, and project managers
who are familiar and comfortable with Windows,
the Storyline user interface, and eLearning concepts.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Articulate Storyline 2; Windows 7, 8, or 10, or Mac running
Parallels; Adobe Flash Player 10.3 or later; JAWS screen reader program.
Participant
technology requirements:
Laptop (PC or Mac running Windows); Storyline 2,
update 5 or later (installed and operating).
Click here for the session trailer
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Stefanie Lawless
VP Training
Yukon Learning
Stefanie Lawless is the vice president of training at Yukon Learning, where she manages the design and development of customizable off-the-shelf courseware in Rapid Course and provides virtual training for the Articulate suite of tools. She has spent more than 10 years training people on software products and policies, as well as developing eLearning content and custom courseware for organizations worldwide. Stefanie holds a BS in information technology and an MBA from Western Governor's University.
801 The Magic Behind Interactive Webinars
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, November 18
124
Have you ever watched a really engaging web-based conference session and wondered, “How’d they do that?” When slides or polls appear or videos pop up and play automatically, it’s not magic! There’s a person behind every action who must click, type, or drag to make things happen. And learning how to use these features when you run your own webinars is surprisingly easy.
If you’ve always been a participant and never a presenter, this session will give you a behind-the-scenes peek at how interactivity in webinars can be done. To get started, you’ll explore the Adobe Connect software from a presenter’s point of view so you can see what aspects of it you’ve been missing. You’ll find out more about how to choose the right kind of webinar room to set up, which settings you’ll want to customize to get ready for interactions, how to work with participant questions and tech problems, and what the main differences are between the presenter view and the participant view.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to choose the right type of webinar room (meeting, training, event, webinar) for your event
- How to customize settings and features to accommodate planned interactions
- How to manage participant questions and technical issues
- What presenters do that participants don’t see
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Adobe Connect.
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Karen Hyder
Online Event Producer and Speaker Coach
Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting
Karen Hyder, online event producer and speaker coach at Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting, has been teaching about technology since 1991, when she delivered instructor-led software courses for Logical Operations. She was promoted to director of trainer development, helping trainers improve skills and earn certifications. In 1999 she created a course for trainers using virtual classrooms, and helped launch The eLearning Guild Online Forums in 2004. She continues to host The Guild’s Best of DemoFest, and was honored with the Guild’s Guild Master Award. Currently, Karen provides coaching and production support for a series of online courses at Hearing First, a not-for-profit that serves audiology professionals earning CEUs.
807 Developing eLearning like a Marketing Professional
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, November 18
111
eLearning has fallen behind other sectors in developing engaging, immersive experiences. While the world of advertising is continually exploring new ways to affect people’s habits and decisions, eLearning developers often focus purely on knowledge acquisition. This session will explore how the psychology of marketing can affect the efficacy of eLearning.
In this session, you will learn marketing techniques that you can apply to eLearning development for a more comprehensive approach to learning. You will explore psychological perspectives on learning and developing healthy habits. Learn about key strategies for supporting the needs of the whole student, including the social and emotional components that create impactful learning. You will be able to identify how learning resources can be leveraged to their full potential: not just to relay knowledge, but to inspire behavioral change.
In this session, you will learn:
- About straightforward changes you can make to dramatically increase the impact of your learning resources
- From examples of different eLearning approaches to understand the differences that make a difference
- About the psychology behind behavioral change, and how to apply it to eLearning design
- How to ensure your eLearning resources are developed with the whole student in mind
Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project
managers, managers, and directors.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline.
Click here for the session trailer
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Juliana Trichilo Cina
Solutions Director
Learnography
Juliana Trichilo Cina is a solutions director with Learnography. Holding BA and MA degrees, she is a marketing, communications, and business development professional with experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Juliana is a University of Toronto alumna who has focused her career on effective communication. From marketing to conflict resolution, she has spent more than 10 years exploring how to effectively communicate and avoid the negative consequences of broken dialogue. Her professional experience includes education standards policy work, marketing and business development, coaching, and communications-specific adult education.
808 Got Style? The Importance of Style Guides in Training
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, November 18
112
Some of the best training out there looks like it was developed by a single designer, regardless of how many people worked on it. But often when more than one learning professional is in the mix and there aren’t established design standards, even with the best of intentions the final product suffers from inconsistency and results in training that looks hodgepodge. The bigger the team, the worse that inconsistency can become. Consistency is key—and the solution resides in detailed style guides, design documents, and templates to make your work look polished and professional.
In this session, you’ll discover how using style guides for your team projects can lead to quicker development times, more consistency, and easier decisions about the look and feel of future projects. You’ll explore what a detailed approach to style guides looks like and discover best practices to use in creating your own. Developing and using these style guides will save countless hours—time that you can spend making more top-notch training instead of trying to clean up inconsistency.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to judge whether something needs a standard “style”
- About the importance of templates
- What a design document is
- How to create a style guide in Microsoft Word, and why you need one
- How to use screenshots to enhance your style guide
- How to know when you need to update your style guide
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers,
and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop,
Adobe Flash, and Snagit.
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Tina Turner
Multimedia Design Analyst Senior
SAIC
Tina Turner, a senior multimedia design analyst with SAIC, is a trained artist who has been in the graphic design field for 20 years. Since joining SAIC five years ago, she has been learning, researching, and creating eLearning products with a highly skilled team of design and training specialists. Tina’s software knowledge includes the Microsoft Office Suite; Lectora; and Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Audition, Edge, and Captivate, among others.
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Colleen Dickens
Senior Instructional Designer
SAIC
Colleen Dickens is a senior instructional designer with SAIC. Before joining SAIC, she served with the Coast Guard, where she spent four years as instructor for the Electronics Technician School. Upon retirement, she worked as an OSHA authorized instructor. Colleen graduated from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice, then went on to complete both her master of science degree and her doctorate in psychology.
811 Using Immersive Simulations to Develop Real-world Skills
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, November 18
114
Simulations can provide learners with safe environments in which to learn how to use new skills through practice and failure. When done well, they give people the opportunity to get things wrong and learn from that experience in a way that has little to no risk involved. They can also be deeply immersive, replicating the actual experience of doing something in a realistic and engaging way. Because of this, they can be incredibly effective tools for learning. But how do you create simulations on your own, particularly if you’re on a tight budget?
In this session, you’ll explore both the learning theory and practical application that you’ll need to start designing simulations that build workplace skills. You’ll learn how to apply game design techniques and architectures to learning, as well as how they can contribute to your learning goals. You’ll also discuss examples of real simulations that are used in the workplace now and look at ideas of where simulations may go in the future to increase their effectiveness.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to design immersive and engaging simulations
- How applying aspects of game design can make your simulations more effective
- About low-cost technologies that are available to help you create simulations yourself
- How to address the challenges of delivering simulations on mobile devices
- How to design simulations for an audience that has limited time available for learning
Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Browser-based simulations, Unity 3D, augmented reality, virtual
reality, Oculus Rift, and Microsoft HoloLens.
Click here for the session trailer
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Keith Quinn
Learning Technologies Manager
Scottish Social Services Council
Keith Quinn, the learning technologies manager for the Scottish Social Services Council, has 30 years’ experience in the social-service sector, with 25 of those years spent in learning and development. Throughout his time at the Scottish Social Services Council, Keith has taken on the lead role for the development and implementation of technology-enhanced learning solutions to support workforce development. He has won a number of awards for this work—the Microsoft Prize for eLearning (at the University of Ulster), the Guardian Public Service Award for Innovation, and most recently a Create in Fife Innovation award for an SSSC project to develop mobile-learning resources. His work has also been featured in case studies developed and promoted by the Adobe Corporation.