114 Blockchain 101: An L&D Introduction to a Mysterious, Disruptive Technology
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, October 24
St. Thomas B
You’ve probably heard of bitcoin and how early adopters suddenly became millionaires by investing in this cryptocurrency. The underlying technology is called the “blockchain,” and this specific technology has the potential to shake up a lot of industries, including L&D and HR. However, for a lot of people, blockchain remains a mystery. What is blockchain? And how could it eventually affect learning and development?
This session will lead you on a journey of discovery, using concrete examples. The possible applications are numerous: recruitment, learning and development, payroll, etc. Blockchain can efficiently be applied to any area where HR and L&D exchange data and where identifiers and transactional processes are required. You’ll take a non-technical deep dive in this session to understand the blockchain lingo, the components, the actors, etc. And you’ll discuss whether, how, and when L&D will be affected by the blockchain. Prepare for the future!
In this session, you will learn:
- How the blockchain works
- The blockchain lingo
- Current blockchain use cases
- Future blockchain use cases
Audience:
Developers and managers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Blockchain, Ethereum, and Hyperledger.
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Mathias Vermeulen
Founder
Winston Wolfe
Mathias Vermeulen, the owner of Winston Wolfe Innovative HR Solutions, has an eight-year track record in L&D and HR management. He received Belgian Learning & Development Awards in 2010 & 2011 and a nomination for 2013. Topics for the 2011 & 2013 awards were in the game-based learning and gamification domain.
207 DevLearn Hyperdrive Showcase
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, October 24
Barbados AB
Back by popular demand, Hyperdrive returns to DevLearn this fall. This year’s Hyperdrive competition focuses on innovation, showcasing projects that are using technology and solutions to create new and exciting opportunities for learning and performance support.
In this session, you will learn from the three winning entries in DevLearn Hyperdrive, the competition that took place before DevLearn began. You will learn from individuals and organizations that are pushing the boundaries of what learning and performance support looks like, and you’ll explore examples of technology being harnessed in ways that most others have yet to consider.
In this session, you will learn:
- From cutting-edge examples of innovative learning
- How the projects provide business value
- Why a design decision was made
- About the technologies used in innovative projects
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and managers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Various.
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Mark Britz
Director of Event Programming
Learning Guild
Mark Britz is the director of event programming at The Learning Guild. Previously he worked for more than 15 years designing and managing learning solutions with organizations such as Smartforce, Pearson Digital Learning, the SUNY Research Foundation, Aspen Dental Management, and Systems Made Simple. Mark is also an organizational social designer, helping businesses achieve the benefits of becoming more connected and collaborative to improve learning and engagement. Mark is the author of Social By Design: How to create and scale a collaborative company, and regularly presents and writes about the use of social media for learning, collaborative networks, and organizational design.
210 Enhancing Learning Activities Using NFC Technology
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, October 24
Montego C
Thanks to learning technology like Articulate Storyline, you are now able to simulate activities normally performed in person, such as role-playing scenarios for learners. But at what cost? What is lost from the learning experience when learners don’t interact with one another in person? What if, instead of “replacing” these in-person activities using technology, you instead “enhanced” them using technology? Using near-field communication technology, now you can.
In this session, you will learn how NFC technology works; how Expedia used it to create a digital card activity to enhance role-playing customer scenarios, and its business impact; and how you can use NFC technology to create learning activities of your own.
In this session, you will learn:
- How NFC technology works
- How it was used at Expedia to create a digital card activity
- What the business impact of that digital card activity was
- How you can use NFC technology for learning activities
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Near-field communication (NFC).
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Jonathan Meisburg
Senior Instructional Designer
Expedia
Jonathan Meisburg is a senior instructional designer at Expedia who specializes in gamification and making learning not only effective, but also fun. He has worked with technology companies such as Expedia, Valve, and Microsoft. Jonathan is passionate about what he does because he gets to combine his passion for education and creativity to create magical educational experiences that positively transform lives.
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Kim Burgdorf
Director, Global Learning & Quality
Expedia Group
Kim Burgdorf, the director of global learning and quality for Expedia Group, is an award-winning leader and learning expert with over 25 years’ experience in organizational effectiveness and business operations. She sharpened her skills at American Express, holding several senior-level positions. During her tenure there, Kim was responsible for developing and executing business and learning strategies for the premium luxury travel organization servicing platinum and Centurion Card members. At Expedia Group, Kim is responsible for strategic performance development for front-line agents and leaders in contact centers worldwide supporting Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and the Expedia Affiliate Network brands across the globe.
SEMT104 CANCELLED: What Is It, and Why Should I Care? A Deep Dive on Emerging Tech in L & D
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, October 24
Expo Hall: Emerging Tech Stage
With the technology landscape changing rapidly, questions are posed to L&D to answer how emerging technologies could be leveraged to improve learning and development across organizations. You may be an emerging technology guru and able to answer these questions easily, or you may be like many of us and struggle to find the time to do your research on every emerging tech trend in L&D.
In this session, you’d learn the information you need to speak with authority on current emerging technologies, their relevance to L&D, their potential impact, and how to get started in exploring their use. Topics will include blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, AR, VR, biometrics, machine learning, adaptive learning, and more. You’ll leave this session armed with the data you need to determine which emerging technologies are most relevant for your organization, which ones may be interesting to explore in the future, and how your organization can be ready for the next wave of emerging technologies to expand your L&D portfolio.
In this session, you will learn:
- What emerging technologies are on the radar for L&D
- How each emerging technology is relevant to L&D
- What companies have been early adopters/explorers in each emerging technology
- Who the major vendors are for each emerging technology (where relevant)
- How to get started in researching or piloting each emerging technology
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VPs, CLOs, executives, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Blockchain, AI, chatbots, AR, VR, biometrics, machine learning, adaptive learning, predictive analytics for learning.
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Koreen Pagano
Founder & CEO
Isanno, Inc.
Koreen Pagano, founder and CEO of Isanno, Inc., is a globally recognized product leader with deep expertise in learning technologies, skills strategy, AI, analytics, and immersive technologies. Koreen has held product leadership roles building go-to-market strategies and technology and content products for learning, skills, and talent markets at Lynda.com, LinkedIn, D2L, Degreed, and Wiley. Koreen previously founded Tandem Learning in 2008, where she pioneered immersive learning through virtual worlds, games, and simulations. She has taught graduate courses at Harrisburg University and provided advisory and consulting services to emerging tech companies in the VR and education markets. Koreen is a seasoned international speaker and author of the book Immersive Learning.
SEMT105 The Future of Software Learning: Virtual Training Labs
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM Wednesday, October 24
Expo Hall: Emerging Tech Stage
When it comes to developer training and software training, many of today’s most common training methods—self-paced, instructor-led, and more—have not kept pace with the needs of the modern learner. In a world of shrinking attention spans, how do you deliver software learning that ultimately keeps your learners focused and engaged?
In this session, you will learn about the power of learning by doing and how it takes shape in the form of virtual training lab environments for software training and developer training. Find out why some of the world’s most innovative organizations are doubling down on virtual labs so their learners can learn and build new software. You will also discover use cases relevant to your software learning needs, such as product training for employees, customer and partner enablement, product demos, lead generation, and more.
In this session, you will learn:
- About virtual software training labs, and why they are a fast-emerging technology
- The advantages of virtual labs over simulations, VMs, and other methods for software learning
- How virtual lab environments are being applied for customer training, partner training, employee training, product sales demos, and more
- How to use virtual labs to lower the friction for getting started with your software or dev toolkit
- How to increase developer mindshare for your product or SDK
Audience:
Novice to intermediate developers, managers, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Virtual training labs, online learning platforms, and personal learning environments.
Nate Aune
CEO & Founder
Appsembler
Nate Aune is the CEO and founder of Appsembler, the leading training platform for experiential learning, and an entrepreneur and developer at heart. With over 20 team members globally distributed, Appsembler’s mission is to empower trainers and educators to deliver engaging, hands-on learning experiences so they can focus on what truly matters: their learners. Nate is recognized broadly for his leadership and community role in the development of open-source software. He has served on the Plone Foundation board for three consecutive terms and is active in the Plone, Django, and Open edX communities.
316 BYOD: Beginner’s Guide to Designing a Voice UI Learning Experience
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, October 24
Martinique AB
In the past few years, voice user experiences—like Alexa, Google, Cortana, and Siri—are becoming as prolific as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Learning professionals need to start exploring ways to effectively incorporate voice technology into the learning ecosystem. Designing for voice interaction can be intimidating because the tech is so new. How do you translate your existing skills in order to create engaging voice learner experiences?
In this session, you’ll learn how to translate your existing skills to design for a voice user interface (VUI). You will explore the basics of VUI design, including sample dialogs, flow diagrams, prompt lists, and mocks. Then you will apply these concepts using free tools to develop and test a VUI learning experience that you can then use to program an interaction for a voice AI like Alexa or Google Home. You will leave this session armed with tools that you can take back and use immediately to prototype and demo.
In this session, you will learn:
- How smart devices like Alexa and Google Home work at a high level
- Key voice design elements and their role in the process
- How to design a voice user interface learning experience
- Core principles and best practices of VUI design
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers.
Technology discussed in this session:
SaySpring, Echosim, Alexa SDK, and Google Voice API.
Technology required:
Laptop or iPad.
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Myra Roldan
Program Manager, Technical Curriculum
Amazon Web Services
Myra is an L&D thought leader who brings a unique mix of technical, business, and adult education expertise to the game. She is a TEDx speaker, author, and technical designer who has won awards for her learning designs. Her superpower is her natural ability to make complex technical subjects easy to understand by breaking them down in a way that makes it easy to consume and move forward with action. She strives to evoke transformation by doing her part to decolonize technology. Myra works at Amazon and she has earned a Bachelor of Computer Science, MSEd, and an MBA.
SEMT106 Innovation in Learning: Reimagining the Future of Learning
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, October 24
Expo Hall: Emerging Tech Stage
Curious about how to keep up with constantly changing technology? Wondering how to shift your learning programs to be more relevant and useful for today’s learning? Not sure how to plan for the future workforce? This session explores the evolution and new frontiers of learning technology—innovations that are making learning more immersive, contextual, and relevant for learners both today and in the future.
This session will help you gain a deeper understanding of how technology is evolving to shape learning programs. You’ll explore how to embrace new technology and design and make them an integral part of the learning narrative. See how technologies such as mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and 3-D animation are revolutionizing training. You’ll gain insights into the challenges of learning today, and how innovative learning design and technology can truly bridge the gap.
In this session, you will learn:
- How the technology boom of the past decade impacts learning
- About the latest technological innovations that are revolutionizing learning
- How emerging technologies and thoughtful learning design can transform learning programs
- How to better apply new technologies to meet learning needs
Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VPs, CLOs, executives, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Mixed reality, AR, and VR; artificial intelligence; 3-D and animation; gaming and simulation; and evolving instructional design.
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Anna Kuehl
Senior Vice President Customer Solutions
MPS Interactive Systems
Anna Kuehl is a senior vice president of customer solutions for MPS Interactive Systems, a global leader in learning solutions. She leads customer engagement and success, with a focus on delivering excellence in high-impact, complex, and innovative human performance and development programs. Anna has nearly 20 years of cross-industry consulting experience in learning, having worked as a managing consultant for EDS and as an SBU manager L&D for ACS before joining TIS in 2007.
413 What L&D Can Learn from Marketing’s Use of AI, AR, and Machine Learning
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, October 25
Barbados AB
It’s no secret the marketing industry is investing millions on emerging technology to change people’s behavior. What can L&D learn from their endeavors? How can you capitalize on their success and failures to design learning solutions that incorporate their best practices and are truly effective?
In this game-based session, you’ll explore the leading practices the world’s top marketers are using in artificial intelligence, chatbots, augmented reality, machine learning, and personalized learning. These practices are changing behavior, and you’ll examine how you can apply them in a learning program. You’ll see the success and mistakes that marketers have made, and you’ll apply best practices to create effective training solutions.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to apply effective marketing best practices in artificial intelligence and machine learning to a training program
- The successful augmented reality techniques that marketers have used to change behavior
- The best practices that marketers have refined to effectively use chatbots
- How to integrate proven marketing techniques into microlearning
Audience:
Designers and managers.
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Danielle Wallace
Chief Learning Strategist
Beyond the Sky
Danielle Wallace is the chief learning strategist at Beyond the Sky: Custom Learning. Previously, as a marketing leader with Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo, she learned strategic marketing principles which she now applies to learning and development to create compelling breakthrough solutions. Danielle is a sought after speaker at global conferences and her thought leadership is found in numerous industry magazines and publications.
STRS203 Voice and Visual Performance Technologies in the Workflow
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM Thursday, October 25
Expo Hall: Strategic Solutions Stage
Often, employees have no simple way to find relevant information in the flow of their work. Printed or digital information can be difficult to find and search through, all while seconds and minutes are ticking away with an unresolved problem or need—resulting in a missed opportunity with a customer, a failed process that slows down a team’s productivity, or a larger issue that requires more resources to solve later.
In this session, you will learn how emerging technologies can improve overall employee performance, address an issue before it becomes a problem, call up product information quickly, use geo capabilities to find location-relevant information, and scan an object to find the supporting assets and training, all within seconds, by giving workers the ability to access information when and where they need it. You’ll leave the session with a vision of how you can leverage innovative technologies to improve processes, increase competence, instill confidence, and give all stakeholders a higher level of trust.
In this session, you will learn:
- What technologies are the best fit for various environments
- How you can implement emerging performance support technologies across multiple industries
- How you can combine technologies like 3-D, voice search, and visual scanning to enhance support assets
- Strategies for organizing performance support content
Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Siteline (an AllenComm performance support tool), voice search, 3-D, AR/VR, scanning, and mobile devices/on-demand learning.
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Todd Miller
Vice President of Technical Services
AllenComm
Todd Miller is a vice president of technical services at AllenComm, where he leads delivery of the latest learning technologies to clients. After 27 years with AllenComm, Todd has extensive experience in successfully implementing innovative learning technologies into world-class and award-winning solutions, and a keen interest in applying new technologies in the realm of workplace enablement.
514 Dreaming of Electric Sheep: The Future of Learning
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, October 25
Jamaica AB
In 2016, the first iteration of this session explored seven aspects of emergent and innovative technology. This rolling session will be an update on that—seeing what has emerged, what has strengthened, and what has fallen by the wayside. Participants will look to the future: What will impact organizational learning in a three- to five-year time frame? What should be on your agenda right now?
This session will explore the future of learning. A grand aspiration? Yes—this is a future-facing session for people who want to look not just at what is on their doorstep, but at the things they need to put in place to shape tomorrow. This year, the topics are: (1) wearables updated: beyond Glass, (2) trusted technologies: into blockchain, (3) beyond LMS: distributed systems, and (4) connecting expertise: expert currency systems. This session is intended as a glimpse into the future; it will also be participative, as no one has all the answers.
In this session, you will learn:
- Not to consider specific technologies, but rather categories of technology and the ways they’ll transform learning
- About the impact of wearables on performance
- About AI and its impact on knowledge
- About the impact of collaborative platforms upon knowledge itself
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Wearables: Glass to Oculus, watches to phones. AI platforms, specifically a research project out of SRI, as well as some of the bots focused on storytelling/captioning activities (photo analysis, etc.).
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Julian Stodd
Author and Founder
Sea Salt Learning
Julian Stodd is an author and founder of Sea Salt Learning, a global learning consultancy helping organizations adapt and thrive in the social age. Much of his consultancy work is around the need for social leadership, the design of scaffolded social learning, planning for organizational change, and the impacts of social collaborative technology. Julian comes from an academic background in communication theory, psychology and neurophysiology, learning design, educational psychology, museum education, and philosophy. He is a proud global mentor with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and a Trustee of Drake Music, a charity that works to break down disabling barriers to music through education and research. He was awarded the Learning Performance Institute’s Colin Corder Award for Services to Learning in 2016. He has written 10 books, including The Social Leadership Handbook, Exploring the World of Social Learning, and A Mindset for Mobile Learning.
SEMT204 How Virtual Reality Is Changing Learning and Training
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM Thursday, October 25
Expo Hall: Emerging Tech Stage
Virtual reality technologies are finding new ways to enhance our ability to perceive the world that surrounds us. With the focus being on the learner experience, VR offers opportunities to organizations that implement VR into their training toolkit. This session explains how to create an effective VR learning game from an organization that has built from them from the ground up using the VIVE and the Rift.
In this session, you will learn what it takes to make an effective VR learning game or simulation from the start to finish and explore the processes taken to develop VR games with HTC VIVE and Oculus Rift. You will examine the effort it took to develop a project from start to finish for multiple case studies and experiences and gain an understanding of the current state of the industry, including how long until VR is fully adapted by the L&D industry.
In this session, you will learn:
- The difference between spatial 3-D VR and 360 video VR
- How to produce a VR project
- What it takes to create a VR project
- Why VR is going to continue to be dominate
- What it takes to implement VR into your organization
- What it costs to do VR
- What tools to use for VR
- When not to us VR for training
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VPs, CLOs, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, VR games, VR simulations.
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Andrew Hughes
President
Designing Digitally, Inc.
Andrew Hughes is the president of Designing Digitally, Inc. and has over a decade in the strategical planning and development of enterprise custom gamified learning solutions for government and Fortune 500 clients. Andrew is also a professor at the University of Cincinnati and prior to this was a contractor for the US Department of Education, Ohio Board of Regents, and General Electric. Andrew oversees a team of 30 employees and is focused on ensuring the clients’ challenges are met with engaging, educational, and entertaining learning experiences.
613 The Technologies Enabling New Approaches to Learning
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, October 25
Montego DE
Learning is a vital part of individual and organizational success, but traditional methods of instruction are falling flat. Today’s learners not only want, but expect, consumer-grade learning experiences—not only regarding content, but accessibility of information and sophistication of learning interfaces. Now, L&D professionals are being tasked with creating learning and training ecosystems that provide information at the point of need and meet the on-demand workflow of today’s professionals.
The world of L&D is entering the next frontier of learning, and in this session, you will explore how organizations can leverage emerging technologies to enable and encourage more relevant learning methods that meet the needs of “anytime-anywhere” learners. You will learn why performance-adjacent tools—accessible with minimal friction, allowing quick support to solve a problem and return to a workflow—are critical for today’s learners; and about the technologies that make this method of learning possible in modern eLearning environments, such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and natural language processing (NLP), among others.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the impacts that technologies like VI, AI, AR, Jupyter Notebook, and NLP are having on learning interfaces
- The importance of performance-adjacent learning and high-scale/high-interaction learning in the modern learning portfolio
- How to incorporate these learning strategies in your organization to enable continuous, frictionless learning
- About the data that supports the demand for these new forms of learning, and how they’re already being implemented
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
eLearning tools, voice interfaces, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, natural language processing, Jupyter Notebook, and mobile devices.
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Karen Hebert-Maccaro
Chief Learning Experience Officer
O’Reilly
Karen Hebert-Maccaro is the chief content officer at O’Reilly, responsible for leading the organization’s content and learning strategy. She oversees the development programs for O’Reilly’s learning and training platform, manages both creation and curation of available content, and directs the internal editorial teams in acquisition, development, and delivery of content for learning, training, and events. Prior to O’Reilly, Karen served in various talent management roles including vice president of people development and chief learning officer for companies in biotechnology and healthcare. She holds a PhD from Boston College, an EdM from Boston University, and a BA from the University of Massachusetts.
614 Using Chatbots to Scale Training Resources
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Thursday, October 25
St. Thomas A
Training teams are too commonly asked to do more than their resources allow. Training executives are left scrambling to tackle the challenge of servicing a complex organization with learners spanning different geographies, job functions, and development needs. While the recent investment boom in learning technologies has started to scale capacity, it still can feel like it’s not enough, leaving training executives searching for better solutions.
In this session, you’ll learn how chatbots can be an effective platform to scale training resources. Chatbots can be both a cost-effective and robust solution to engage learners in any country and language, and can support all levels of employees and leaders. You’ll learn how you can design a chatbot to be both a performance support tool (providing on-demand job aids) as well as a virtual facilitator and coach (ensuring knowledge transference and learning accountability).
In this session, you will learn:
- What a chatbot is
- About common uses for chatbots in training
- From case study data showing engagement rates among different learner groups
- About different chatbot authoring and design options in the market
- When to choose a chatbot versus a mobile app
- How a chatbot can deep link into existing learning resources
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Facebook Messenger, Telegram, LINE, WeChat, and SMS.
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Vince Han
CEO
Mobile Coach
Vince Han is the founder and CEO of Mobile Coach and a frequent speaker at conferences such as Training Conference, DevLearn, Learning Solutions, the Learning Conference, ATD ICE, ATD Techknowledge and others. He holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Vince is an industry thought- leader for learning and learning technology with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and chatbot technology. Vince has founded several successful technology companies and resides in Utah.
707 Meme-ing Today’s Hottest Learning Trends
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, October 26
Montego A
Technology has completely changed the way we live, work, and learn. Technology has brought us the internet, smartphones, tablets, and many more tools that have changed our lives forever. Of course, these same technologies have also brought us memes like Socially Awkward Penguin, Success Kid, and yes, Grumpy Cat.
In this session, these two worlds collide as six industry experts use today’s memes to explore the hottest trends in our field. The rules of each presentation are simple: Each speaker’s presentation has 20 slides that automatically advance every 20 seconds. That provides each speaker with six minutes and 40 seconds to paint their vision for the future of learning. And there’s one last rule—slides can only use common internet memes for visuals. Join us for what is sure to be a fun and informative session.
Here are the topics our speakers will be exploring:
- Julie Dirksen: Neuroscience, The Good, Bad, and Ugly
- Jane Bozarth: Evidence Vs. Myth
- Tracy Parish: Robots are Taking Over the World
- Sam Rogers: Big Data & Little Problems
- JD Dillon: The Only Learning Platform Your Will Ever Need!!
- David Kelly: Do You Suffer From SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome)?
In this session, you will learn:
- The truth behind some of the biggest trends in learning
- How to separate the fab from the fad
- How Ignite session formats can create unique learning opportunities
- Way more about internet memes than you ever thought possible
Audience:
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.
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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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Tracy Parish
Education Technology Specialist
Parish Creative Solutions
Tracy Parish is an accomplished instructional designer, eLearning developer, and consultant based in the Greater Toronto area. With a unique blend of skills in computer programming, adult education, and eLearning design/development, she has built a successful career in instructional design. With over 18 years of experience in instructional design, development, LMS implementation and administration, Tracy is a respected figure in her field. She is a speaker, active Articulate Community Hero, co-host of the Toronto Storyline User Group and webcast Nerdy Shop Talk, the marketing director for the Canadian eLearning Conference, and moderator of the monthly Twitter event #lrnchat.
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David Kelly
Chairman
The Learning Guild
David Kelly is the Chairman of the Learning Guild. David has been a learning and performance consultant and training director for over 20 years. He is a leading voice exploring how technology can be used to enhance training, education, learning, and organizational performance. David is an active member of the learning community, and can frequently be found speaking at industry events. He has previously contributed to organizations including ATD, eLearn Magazine, LINGOs, and more.
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JD Dillon
Chief Learning Architect
Axonify
JD Dillon became a learning and enablement expert over two decades working in operations and talent development with dynamic organizations including Disney, Kaplan, and AMC. A respected author and speaker in the workplace learning community, JD continues to apply his passion for helping people around the world do their best work every day in his role as Axonify's chief learning architect. JD is also the founder of LearnGeek, a workplace learning insights and advisory group.
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Sam Rogers
President
Snap Synapse
Sam Rogers, the president of Snap Synapse, creates more effective, efficient, and engaging ways to deliver learning for clients including Google, Capital One, Deloitte, and AAA. He produced YouTube’s first online certification training, and he is a writer, director, producer, composer, and performer for stage and screen. Sam also writes and speaks frequently at conferences, sharing his passion for solving the problems that matter and inspiring learners to action.
711 Creating and Deploying Useful Chatbots for Learner Engagement
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, October 26
St. Thomas A
Keeping students engaged in their learning is always a challenge. Can messaging enhance the learning experience? Could chatbots open up a whole new communication backchannel? Automatically? And safely? This exciting session will address these questions and more, including a hands-on demonstration.
In this session, you will learn how to easy it is to create and deploy a useful chatbot that automates many communication tasks. You’ll then discuss many use cases for maintaining a dialogue with your learners using Facebook’s Messenger platform and the Chatfuel authoring service. Discover the power of automated assistants! Bring your own device and sign on to Messenger for the optimal experience.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the landscape of automated assistants (chatbots)
- About use cases for delivering lesson content, notifications (homework, deadlines, task ticklers, etc.), and more
- How the Facebook Messenger platform and its growing community ecosystem work
- How to quickly create a useful chatbot
- What it’s like to use a chatbot, through a demonstration
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.), content experts, and teachers.
Technology discussed in this session:
Facebook Messenger, Chatfuel, and Google Drive.
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Andrew Brewer
Instructional Technologist
Northwest Area Health Education Center
Andrew Brewer, an instructional technologist with the Northwest Area Health Education Center, has 20 years’ experience in educational new media. Andrew holds a master’s degree in instructional technology. In 1996, knowledge industry publications ranked him among the Top 100 multimedia producers.
714 Creating a Learning Innovation Lab: Tips for Fostering Different Thinking
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, October 26
Antigua A
Many L&D teams and organizations suffer from a lack of innovation and different thinking. They can easily become stagnant, always looking at their world at the LMS level with no thoughts about the art of the possible. But innovative thinking can drive up engagement and significantly enhance the learning experience. So how can you increase it at your organization?
In this session, you will find out how a learning innovation lab can help you do just that, and you’ll learn from a year’s worth of experience gained at McKinsey as it built up its first lab of this kind. You’ll uncover what comprises a learning innovation lab and what benefits this incredible opportunity can offer in an L&D organization. You’ll then discuss how to foster healthy disruption in a climate of stagnation and norms, what pitfalls to avoid in forming a lab, and what areas of innovation are best suited for a lab’s R&D efforts.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to start an innovation lab in your organization
- What pitfalls to avoid
- Where to focus your R&D efforts
- The right composition of a lab’s structure
- How to “fail fast”
- What it means to challenge conventional thinking
- The optimal way to experiment with new technologies
- What innovation is and isn’t
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Augmented reality, virtual reality, sandbox servers, APIs, personalization, machine learning, AI, content curation, content relevancy, and mobile app development.
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Duncan Larkin
Digital Learning Innovation Manager
McKinsey & Company
Duncan Larkin is the head of the digital learning innovation team at McKinsey & Company. He is a passionate advocate for simple, elegant, and transformative solutions that push the boundaries of innovation and put the learner first. Duncan is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and the author of two books.
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Nicholas Pappas
Digital Learning Innovation R&D Lead
McKinsey and Company
Nicholas Pappas is the digital learning innovation R&D lead for McKinsey and Company. He is responsible for running the research and experimentation of digital learning technology to surface and develop relevant use-cases that significantly enhance the learning experience. Prior to joining McKinsey, he served as the director of technology for SpotMe, a mobile event app startup.
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James Pritchard
Digital Learning Innovation Manager
McKinsey & Company
James Pritchard, the digital learning innovation manager at McKinsey & Company, has led the custom development of McKinsey’s personalized learning journey portal and served as a product owner and content developer. James holds an MFA in fiction writing from New York University and a BS in management science and engineering from Stanford University.
814 How AR, VR, Games, and Simulations Are Ushering In a New Era of Learning
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 26
St. Croix B
A new wave of game-playing professionals are entering the workforce. Professional football players already rehearse their moves with video games. Pilots earn flight miles in flight simulators. Soldiers are recruited and trained with the America’s Army game. How will corporations develop the next generation of learners who have spent more time with video games than in school? How will they bring immersion, engagement, and presence to new levels?
In this session, you’ll explore the real ways leading companies prepare their employees with on-the-job training simulations, such as business leadership, cyber defense, and executive selling. You’ll discover how these experiences challenge players to level up through increasingly complex real-world tasks and offer feedback and recognition along the way. You’ll also find out how virtual and augmented reality are ushering in a new era of experiential and visceral learning that promises to upend training and human performance.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to develop games that thrive on a sense of engagement, storytelling, character identification, immersion, problem-solving, and accomplishment
- How to develop a 3-D transmedia strategy to leverage the cost of developing for VR and AR by deploying the same simulation to desktops, tablets, and phones
- How to use virtual reality as “the ultimate empathy machine” to develop customer service and people skills
- How to leverage the 2 billion phones that were just turned into a magic lens of augmented reality to develop everything from onboarding to performance support
- How to develop mobile business sims
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Virtual reality: Windows; mixed reality; and augmented reality: phone-based and Magic Leap mobile simulations.
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Anders Gronstedt
President
The Gronstedt Group
Anders Gronstedt, PhD, is president of The Gronstedt Group, which is instrumental in helping global companies like Walmart, Pfizer, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Daikin improve performance with their custom-developed multi-player VR simulations and learning games. He is a frequent industry speaker and writer with articles appearing in the Harvard Business Review.
815 BYOD: Voice Experience Design: Giving Your Learning a Voice
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 26
Martinique AB
Voice technology is becoming essential to everyday life. Speech recognition accuracy has gone from 95 to 99 percent, which has people using it all the time. In less than two years, 50 percent of searches online will be performed via voice. Voice is faster, less cumbersome, near-universal, and effective. It’s natural! So why not use it to deliver just-in-time training for your learners?
In this session, you’ll be designing and developing two simple skills for Amazon Alexa that you will be able to use after DevLearn. The first will be a flash briefing skill, which will deliver important information to learners (e.g., an OHS update or a message from the CEO). Second will be a custom skill: You’ll build a wellbeing skill that is integrated with Google Sheets so it can dynamically be updated. You’ll learn how to ensure your language is natural, and what is required to publish your skill or keep it private for internal business use.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to define voice experience (VX) design
- How you can use VX skills in your organization to deliver just-in-time training
- How to use the free Amazon Developer Console to create two simple skills
- How to ensure your voice is natural
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VPs, CLOs, executives, etc.).
Technology discussed in this session:
Amazon Alexa, Amazon Developer Console, AWS, and Alexa Skill Kit.
Participant technology requirements:
Participants should bring a laptop. They should also have signed up to AWS and Amazon Developer Console.
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Cath Ellis
Learning Experience Designer
Cath Ellis Learning Design
Cath Ellis is a freelance learning experience designer at Cath Ellis Learning Design, a boutique eLearning company in Victoria, Australia. She has more than two decades of experience creating award-winning learning experiences for clients across the globe. She has a bachelor of adult learning and development and a master of digital technology in education from the University of Melbourne.