113 BYOD: Once Upon a Time: Engaging Learners Through Storytelling
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 7
“Jenny felt an intense pang of despair, and her muscles involuntarily tensed to run for the door. She had just logged in to her online course, only to discover that her professor had uploaded another hour-long lecture full of dense slides in bullet-point format. She fought her growing sense of dread and got up to pour herself a cup of coffee. It was going to be a long night.” Does this scenario seem familiar? Presenting information as a stream of facts and figures can quickly become dull and overwhelming. It can soon lead to cognitive overload and disengagement.
Research shows that providing information in the form of a story results in higher student engagement and better information retention. Creating an interactive story that allows students to make choices and see the effects of those choices can be even more compelling. This may sound intimidating, but you do not need to have a background in creative writing, or expensive or complicated tools, to create a great interactive story. In this session you’ll get hands-on experience with examples of storyboards and interactive stories, and you’ll have an opportunity to create your own powerful story for learning.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the benefits of presenting information in the form of a story
- To identify the elements a story should contain to activate deep learning
- How to create an interactive story for online delivery using a free tool called Twine
- How Twine can help you storyboard more complicated media projects
Audience:
Designers and developers
Technology discussed in this session:
Twine, Muzzy Lane, and Articulate Storyline
Technology required:
Attendees can download Twine if they would like to, but they can access and use it from any browser without creating an account.
Julie Allen
Senior Instructional Designer
Arizona State University
Julie Allen is a senior instructional designer at Arizona State University. She began her career as a journalist before transitioning to a role as a senior editor with an instructional design department at a large online university. She quickly fell in love with the world of instructional design and hasn’t looked back since. She is passionate about building relationships with faculty and helping them design courses that are rigorous, engaging, and meaningful to students.
Mary Chaaban Arcuria
Senior Instructional Designer
Arizona State University
Mary Chaaban Arcuria is a senior instructional designer at Arizona State University with more than seven years’ experience. She loves collaborating with faculty who are passionate about their disciplines and helping them to design and develop engaging online courses. She finds that her insatiable thirst for knowledge is satisfied by her work. She has taught online and on-site classes at the collegiate level for more than 10 years. A proud Jayhawk, Mary holds a bachelor of arts and master of arts in French from the University of Kansas.
F01 Panel: Where is Instructional Design Heading?
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 11
Instructional design is a core component of L&D, but it’s not a topic that should be seen as stable and unchanging. Instructional design needs to evolve as new technologies and approaches emerge, organizations’ goals for success shift, and views on what role L&D should have in supporting learning and performance support fluctuate.
In this session our panel will share their thoughts on where they foresee instructional design heading in the future. They’ll explore short-term factors that impact this world, as well as longer-term ones that may not show their full impact for years to come. They’ll also discuss what skills people need to develop now to be ready for how instructional design will transform over time.
In this session, you will learn:
- What technologies are likely to change our approaches to instructional design
- How shifts in the world outside L&D may affect our work, as well
- What new or evolved roles instructional design may play a part in at organizations
- What can best help you prepare for where instructional design may be heading
Audience:
Designers, Developers, Managers
Technology discussed in this session:
None
Megan Torrance
CEO
TorranceLearning
Megan Torrance is CEO and founder of TorranceLearning, which helps organizations connect learning strategy to design, development, data, and ultimately performance. She has more than 25 years of experience in learning design, deployment, and consulting . Megan and the TorranceLearning team are passionate about sharing what works in learning, so they devote considerable time to teaching and sharing about Agile project management for learning experience design and the xAPI. She is the author of Agile for Instructional Designers, The Quick Guide to LLAMA, and Making Sense of xAPI. Megan is also an eCornell Facilitator in the Women's Executive Leadership curriculum.
Andrew McGuire
Learning Experience Designer
dRofus
Andrew McGuire is a learning experience designer at dRofus, where he specializes in developing engaging content and tracking learner experiences. He has been working in eLearning development for the past five years. Before joining the world of eLearning, Andrew taught English at the college level for seven years. He has an MA in English composition from Northeastern Illinois University.
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.
Bianca Woods
Customer Advocacy Manager
Articulate
Bianca Woods is a customer advocacy manager at Articulate. Her past experience includes working on the community and event programming for the Learning Guild, learning and communications roles at BMO Financial Group, and teaching art. Bianca is passionate about how visual design and multimedia can help people learn, loves test-driving new technology, and collects photos of bizarre warning signs.
Christy Tucker
Learning Experience Design Consultant
Syniad Learning
Christy Tucker is a learning experience design consultant with over 20 years of experience helping people learn. She specializes in using scenario-based learning to engage audiences and promote skill transfer to real-world environments. She has created training for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit associations, state and local government agencies, universities, and more. Christy has been blogging about instructional design and eLearning for over 15 years and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.
SDD102 SMEs Are from Mars, Instructional Designers Are from Venus
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Tuesday, March 26
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
Course design is a partnership between subject matter experts (SMEs) and instructional designers (ISDs). The process has a technical side and a “people” side. Although the technical component can be rigorous, the people issues require SMEs and instructional designers to work together and produce a result. SMEs know their area of expertise, but they are not always familiar with the learning process. Likewise, instructional designers are well versed in the science of learning but often unfamiliar with the subject matter for which they are designing a course. Creating a common language between SMEs and instructional designers is possible if you have the right techniques to combat issues that arise.
This session will explore techniques to facilitate a productive SME/ISD relationship, including how to apply a partnership agreement, and you’ll learn about a four-step design process that increases accountability. The session will begin with an activity to connect to your experience and build a learning community. You’ll learn about motivators for SMEs to participate in course development and a partnership agreement, which you will complete. The session will continue with a virtual role-play as you observe a dialogue between an SME and instructional designer characters. Next, you’ll examine the four-step design process to increase SME/designer accountability. The session will conclude with a key learning review and action planning exercise to help you create a true partnership and productive relationship with SMEs.
In this session, you will learn:
- Techniques to facilitate a productive SME/ISD relationship
- How to apply a partnership agreement to an SME/ISD relationship
- A four-step design process that increases accountability
- How to apply four principles of learning to the SME/ISD relationship
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and subject matter experts
Technology discussed in this session:
Video, virtual meeting tools, and document collaboration sites
Tara Holwegner
Learning and Performance SME
Life Cycle Engineering
Tara Holwegner is a learning and performance SME for the Life Cycle Institute. She specializes in building programs that meet business objectives and ensure behavior change. Tara has achieved the designations of certified professional in learning and performance (CPLP), project management professional (PMP), and certified maintenance and reliability professional (CMRP). Her articles have been published in industry publications, anthologies, and learning apps, and she is a sought-after speaker for industry conferences.
201 Get Graphic: eLearning Tips from Comic Book Theory
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 5
You have a slew of tools to choose from to author eLearning, but regardless of the tools, creating a unique user experience that engages learners is important and often relies on your skills as a storyteller. One way to improve your eLearning storytelling skills is through comic book theory. Using special tricks and tips from comic books and graphic novels, you can create a unique user experience—no matter which authoring tool or platform you use.
In this session, you’ll gain insight on how to improve creative storytelling skills and how to use comic book theory to develop engaging, learner-centric content. You’ll also learn the “language” of comics, graphic novels, and sequential art and how they effectively communicate within the visual milieu. Finally, you’ll explore real-world examples of how to implement these newfound storytelling skills in eLearning.
In this session, you will learn:
- About comic book theory
- How to improve your storytelling skills
- How effectively comics communicate
- About the “infinite canvas”
- Tips and tricks to use in your eLearning
Audience:
Designers and developers
Technology discussed in this session:
HTML5, mobile devices (tablets), touch/gesture controls, and basic concepts of animation
Michael Sheyahshe
Founder and Technologist
aNm
Michael Sheyahshe, a founder and technologist at aNm, has a vast breadth of experience in information technology, eLearning, and innovation spanning two decades and several industries. His extensive career encompasses design and development of various eLearning and training content, specializing in animation, simulations, and interactive content. Michael is an expert in numerous 3-D software tools, game engines, programming languages, mobile devices, platforms, and coding frameworks. He holds two bachelor of arts degrees from the University of Oklahoma in film and Native American studies, and a master of fine arts degree in 3-D modeling from the Academy of Art University.
202 Headache-Saving Process Shortcuts and Tools for Project Management
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 3
It’s not uncommon for many projects to be organized through chains of email after email. But it’s hard to keep track of all the answers to questions, reviewers’ comments, and version control of the documents you need for managing a project. Is there a way to streamline your project management processes to make them easier to manage and follow?
This session will look at tools that can assist with streamlining the back end of project management. You’ll look at Teamwork Projects, a collaboration and project management tool; Slack, a communication tool; and two reviewing tools—Review My eLearning and Articulate Review—that assist with organizing comments and better facilitate the review process. The session will also take time to crowdsource the tools participants use to simplify their process.
In this session, you will learn:
- How collaboration tools aggregate information and simplify versioning
- How Slack organizes communication, allows for quick answers, and eliminates email clutter
- How eLearning reviewing tools organize SME feedback
- How Teamwork Projects creates links to organize an entire project
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Teamwork Projects, Slack, Review My eLearning, and Articulate Review
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.
Jason Kramer
Senior eLearning Designer
Illumina Interactive
Jason Kramer is a senior eLearning designer with Illumina Interactive. He gained critical experience in the corporate training world as a senior instructional designer with Citizens Bank, and was part of the award-winning instructional design team at NECB led by Jean Marrapodi. Jason executed the online build-out of the undergraduate philosophy curriculum at the University of Memphis, where he also served as an adjunct faculty member. Jason holds an MA in philosophy.
203 Using Design Thinking to Take Control of Your Project
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 9
We’ve all been there: the dreaded project meeting where stakeholders tell you exactly what to create and how long it should be. You work very hard over several weeks crafting the product they expect. The result is a training solution that is late, bloated, over budget, and failing to change employee behaviors. With scenarios like this one, it’s no wonder that, according to Harvard Business School, only 10 percent of corporate training is effective. This problem led one team to hunt for a solution that would revolutionize the process of designing learning experiences.
In this session, you will learn how a team at Holiday Inn Club Vacations successfully reimagined the way they engaged stakeholders using a proven methodology: design thinking. You will explore how this model empowers learning designers to take control of the design meeting and create solutions that are compelling and meaningful, and that yield positive business results. You will learn how it all begins by tapping into the stakeholder’s emotions using empathy, which will build mutual trust and understanding. Then you will explore how to clearly define a single performance objective, and the employee behaviors that must change to achieve that goal. Finally, you will practice the art of ideating solutions, crafting rapid prototypes, and testing for desired results.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why design thinking is an effective method for crafting learning experiences that will change behaviors and move the performance needle
- How connecting to your stakeholders’ emotional needs will lead to stronger relationships and collaboration throughout the project life cycle
- How defining a strong performance objective keeps the project on track and your stakeholders focused on the same goal
- How to crowdsource a pool of ideas and turn them into working prototypes that match the performance objective
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and other organizational development professionals
Marco Madrazo
Head of Learning Experience Design
Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Marco Madrazo is the head of learning experience design at Holiday Inn Club Vacations. In this role, he has been a key partner in the creation of innovative talent development initiatives, including the newly formed EXPANSIONS Leadership Development Series. Prior to joining HCV, Marco was the program manager for US retail training at Microsoft. In this role, he supported the launch of flagship products such as Office 365 and Xbox One. Throughout his 16-year career in learning and development, Marco has crafted numerous award-winning programs that have increased competence, confidence, and advocacy.
205 Bust Out of Operational Debt with the 7P Framework!
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 14
As teams compete for scarce resources, investing your current resources in activities that have a high rate of return is critical to not only surviving but using learning to solve your business’s biggest, baddest problems.
In this session you will learn how to get out of operational debt using the 7P Framework to improve your team’s impact with the same or fewer resources. Position your learning organization to thrive; taking a lead seat at the table with your stakeholders in moving the business forward.
In this session, you will learn:
- The 7Ps of the 7P Framework
- The benefits to your learning organization and business of getting or staying out of operational debt
- How to use the 7P Framework to drive operational efficiencies so that you can reinvest your people resources to improve your learning organization’s impact to the business
- How to apply the 7P Framework to improving the operational efficiencies of your learning organization through an interactive activity
Target audience:
Project managers, managers, senior leaders, directors, VP, CLO, executives
Natalie Thibault
Learning Manager
Multinational Corporation
Natalie is a leader and speaker with international experience. She has mastered the craft of aligning learning strategy to business strategy by combining her degree in finance, her experience in operations management, and her passion for learning and development. She provides customers with innovative solutions to their most pressing needs, and builds strong teams that support these customers. She has a track record of success using her 7P Framework, which she has refined over 10 years to drive breakthrough results for her customers in fast-paced, high-growth environments. Using her 7P Framework, she simultaneously catapults the teams and individuals who serve these customers to top performance levels using a data-driven and a collaborative process with stakeholders. She has effectively applied her 7P Framework to newly established departments and teams, those sustaining growth, and in turnaround settings.
210 The Neuroscience of Designing Memorable Content
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 11
People are constantly bombarded with requests for their attention, many of which unfortunately go ignored. It’s frustrating to consider that when you share educational content, most people will forget 90 percent of it after just two days. Why go through all the trouble of painstakingly developing content, if most of it won’t be retained for the long term? With the brain more likely to forget something than remember it, it’s critical to understand how the brain processes information and tends to remember it, and then to apply that knowledge when designing instructional content.
When you are creating eLearning content, you are in full control of what people are seeing on their path to memory. In this session, you will learn how to think about your content in terms of three elements: attention, memory, and decision. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, you’ll understand how audiences pay attention, remember content, and ultimately act on it. You’ll discover strategies for transforming the content you share into something worth noticing and remembering. You’ll address how memory is, among other things, a problem of discrimination, and outline strategies for drawing attention to the most important aspects of your content. You’ll also learn why employing repetition is often overlooked in eLearning, and how it’s essential for embedding memories.
In this session, you will learn:
- Which variables are completely in your control when you want to influence someone’s memory
- How you can insert stimuli into your content to attract and sustain audience attention
- About the visual elements that make content more memorable
- The difference between two types of memory—verbatim and gist
- Why your persuasive power is a function of what people remember, not what they forget
Audience:
Designers and managers
Carmen Simon
Cognitive Neuroscientist & Chief Science Officer
Corporate Visions
Dr. Carmen Simon is a cognitive neuroscientist and Chief Science officer at Corporate Visions. She is also the founder of Enhancive, an agency that helps organizations use neuroscience to create content that impacts customers’ memory and decisions. Her most popular books on customers’ attention and memory are called Impossible to Ignore and Made You Look.
SDD104 Winning the Hearts and Minds of Reluctant Learners
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Tuesday, March 26
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
What went wrong? The decision to roll out the new company policy by using eLearning instead of traditional training sessions should have been a success. Instead, the completion rate was far less than expected and management couldn’t understand why. Most people have probably experienced one too many mandatory “Information Security Policy” eLearning courses. It lands on them when they least expect it and when they have more important things to do, like work. Someone telling them to learn does not necessarily motivate them. How do you, as a learning provider, make sure people are engaged and actually learning something? What do you need to move from just-in-case training to just-in-time learning that fits into the busy schedules of today’s workforce?
In this session, you will learn how to overcome motivation barriers among reluctant learners. You’ll find out how using an indirect approach—for example, identifying early adopters and using them as ambassadors—can give you new and better ways to reach your learners, and you’ll learn how to get a better understanding of your audience and how to decrease their resistance. You will also explore motivational design and how using checklists based on John Keller’s four components of motivation described in the ARCS model (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) can help you to achieve engaged learners. You will leave this session with a toolbox for motivation, better prepared to meet your stakeholders’ expectations and ready to increase your learners’ satisfaction.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to use an indirect approach to increase motivation
- How to work with motivational design
- How to use the four components of motivation
- How checklists based on the ARCS model can help you increase motivation
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Göran Bolinder
Senior Information & Management Consultant
informiQ
Göran Bolinder is a senior information and management consultant at informiQ. He has been working with most aspects of learning, from classroom teaching to instructional design and knowledge-sharing strategies, for more than three decades. Being an active Army Reserve officer and a former teacher at four different universities, Göran has met and motivated a wide array of different learners. As a consultant, Göran focuses on helping global corporations with learning strategies and instructional design. He has been working with several of Sweden’s largest companies in different areas like telecommunications, home furniture, and packaging industries.
SDD105 How to Create Great Digital Learning That Works
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM Tuesday, March 26
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
Successful learning and development is not about dumping a lot of information on people and then testing them to prove they can recall it. We need to shake things up, do things differently, and focus on creating memorable, meaningful experiences that really work.
In this session, we’ll explore how to create great digital learning by diving into some of the latest trends and proven tactics being used in the industry right now.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to give people the power to define their own learning journey
- How to connect learners with each other in order to share insights and expertise
- How to reduce learning time and improve outcomes
- How to realize value by captivating and challenging learners
Andrew Joly
Director of Strategic Design
LEO
Andrew Joly is a director of strategic design at LEO Learning. He started out in TV production, where he learned about narrative, pacing, engagement, and deeply understanding one’s audience. As a commissioning editor at the BBC, Andrew worked in entertainment, interactive media, and game design, where the focus was on pushing and using technology in new ways. He later spent nearly 14 years as director of design at LINE Communications. At LEO, Andrew focuses on his passion: how innovative learning architectures and approaches can genuinely transform learning and performance in business and make a real difference.
Rose Benedicks
CEO
Dashe & Thomson
Rose Benedicks is a renowned learning design expert and CEO of Dashe & Thomson. She has won awards for her learning experiences and is recognized for her approach to workplace challenges. She excels in aligning learning with business needs and proving the ROI of well-designed learning experiences. She holds a masters in instructional systems technology from Indiana University, is a leading presenter in the industry, and teaches instructional technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
301 The 3 Cs of SME Management
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 14
Working with different subject matter experts (SMEs)—each with their own working style, personality, and expertise—can be a challenge. And that challenge can be amplified further when you need to work with multiple SMEs at the same time. How do you, as an instructional designer, know how to get the content you need from your SMEs to create effective and engaging learning experiences?
In this session, you’ll uncover approaches that can make working with SMEs go smoothly, and you’ll learn the three Cs of SME management: Communicate, collaborate, and create. You’ll discuss strategies for how to find the best ways to communicate with your SMEs, facilitate collaboration to make sure every SME’s voice is heard, and involve your SMEs in creating learning experiences that achieve their objectives.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to establish clear communication pathways for SMEs to share their expertise
- How to encourage collaborative environments for SMEs to exchange knowledge
- How to involve SMEs in the creative process throughout the development of learning experiences
- How to develop and maintain strong working relationships with and among SMEs
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Skype, Doodle, and Google Drive
Hiba Ismeail
Instructional Systems Designer, Integrated Learning Solutions
RTI International
Hiba Ismeail is a learning professional passionate about creating engaging learning experiences who has over 10 years of professional experience. She specializes in instructional design, eLearning, curriculum development, microlearning, and social media for learning. Hiba currently serves as an instructional systems designer on the Integrated Learning Solutions Team within the International Development Group at RTI International. She has previously worked at large consulting/services organizations supporting federal, defense, corporate, and nonprofit learning environments. Hiba holds a MEd in curriculum and instruction, with a concentration in instructional design and technology, and eLearning graduate certificate from George Mason University.
Kat Negrón
Owner
Black Kat Creative
Kat Negrón is the owner of Black Kat Creative, an instructional design and eLearning development company. After earning an MEd and eLearning graduate certificate from George Mason University with a concentration in instruction design and technology, Kat worked at nonprofit organizations and consulting groups to deliver online training to federal, state, and local entities in the United States. She develops and delivers online and blended trainings for clients around the world looking to create engaging learning experiences.
308 Enabling 70:20:10 by Designing for The 5 Moments of Need
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 9
The conversation around 70:20:10 has been growing in popularity in recent years—with good reason. People are learning and getting support in a host of different ways, and 70:20:10 helps us see our work through a lens much broader than just traditional training methods. But in order to really be impactful, 70:20:10 needs to be more than just an idea. How do organizations put the concept of 70:20:10 into action?
In this session you will discover how designing for the 5 Moments of Need can harness to potential of 70:20:10 in your organization. You will learn what 70:20:10 and the 5 Moments of Need are, and how they are connected. You will discuss where that connects to our work (and where it may not). You will examine how we can build solutions for each part of the 70:20:10 framework. You will leave this session with the tools needed to design for the 5 Moments of Need so you can unlock the potential of 70:20:10 in your organization.
What are 70:20:10 and the 5 Moments of Need?
- Why do we do what we do?
- What is the scope of our work?
- How do we enable learning in the 70?
- How do we optimize the 10?
- How do we get there?
In this session you will learn:
- What 70:20:10 and the 5 Moments of Need are
- How to enable learning within the 70%
- How to optimize formal learning opportunities
- How to support your organization on its 70:20:10 journey
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, managers, directors
Conrad Gottfredson
Chief Learning Strategist
APPLY Synergies
Conrad Gottfredson, the chief learning strategist at APPLY Synergies, has deep experience in organizational learning, collaborative development, knowledge management, online learning, performance support, and instructional design and development. Conrad is the original developer of the Learning at the Five Moments of Need framework now in use around the world. He has worked with many of the world's largest organizations, helping them attain higher levels of learning agility. Conrad's experience includes the design and deployment of large-scale knowledge management and performance support systems within multinational corporations. In 2014 Conrad was awarded the Guild Master Award for his accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community. He holds a PhD in instructional psychology and technology.
Bob Mosher
CEO/founder/Chief Learning Evangelist
APPLY Synergies, a 5 Moments of Need Company
Bob Mosher, the chief learning evangelist at APPLY Synergies, has been an active and influential leader in the learning and training industry for over 30 years, and is renowned worldwide for his pioneering role in eLearning and new approaches to learning. Before co-founding APPLY Synergies consultancy with Conrad Gottfredson, Bob served as the chief learning evangelist for Ontuitive, director of learning strategy and evangelism for Microsoft, and executive director of education for Element K. He is an influential voice in the IT training industry, speaking at conferences and participating in industry associations. Bob was awarded the Guild Master Award in 2014 for his accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community.
309 Managing Impostor Syndrome and Positioning Yourself as a Business Advisor
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 5
Do you experience skepticism from stakeholders about the validity of the L&D function? Do you miss out on opportunities to demonstrate your value as a business advisor because you’re left out of the conversation from the start? And does this cynicism in the field lead to self-doubt and impact your career mobility? Many people can relate to this uphill climb and even experience impostor syndrome: the self-belief that you are not as skilled as people think you are and that you’ll be called out as a fraud. Because L&D is so often ill-defined and misunderstood, it provides fertile ground for impostor syndrome. So how does an L&D professional demonstrate value despite constant roadblocks or when impostor syndrome hits?
In this session, you will discover how the undervaluing of L&D has led to a crisis in confidence. You will learn strategies for combating the skepticism around the validity of the work L&D does at your organization. You will learn about the link between this devaluation and the prevalence of impostor syndrome within L&D, and you’ll discover how self-doubt may be impacting your ability to earn a seat at the table. Whether you are experienced or new to L&D, you will benefit from this session providing science-backed evidence and techniques that will enable you to address skepticism, manage self-doubt, and become a stronger business advisor.
In this session, you will learn:
- How the undervaluing of L&D has led to a crisis in confidence
- How impostor syndrome may be impacting your ability to earn a seat at the table
- Science-backed techniques to manage impostor syndrome
- Ways to leverage skepticism to become a sound business advisor
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Social media, mobile, Microsoft Office, and video
Dawn Reynolds
Senior Instructional Designer
Management Concepts
Dawn Reynolds, a senior instructional designer at Management Concepts, has over 15 years of experience as a researcher and instructional designer developing face-to-face, online, and blended training. She also has over a decade of experience teaching diverse learners, from first-generation college students to adults learning English in an adult education program. Dawn places an emphasis on compassionate instructional design, learner-centered virtual training, and mentoring new instructional designers.
313 How Do We Really Learn? Applying the Science of Learning to Design
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 11
The most expensive instruction is that which doesn’t work. This discussion will look at the actions and behaviors that have been scientifically proven to affect learning. You will explore the ways in which instructional design requires more than content delivery and common sense. You will look at robust, evidence-based principles of learning to discover new ways to build the kind of training that is genuinely effective at creating performance change and helping organizations achieve their objectives.
In this session, you will learn what every good instructional designer should know from the best books for learning techniques, the principles of learning, and the actions that define learning in learners. You’ll build new ways to look at instructional design, as well as resources to use after the conference to help strengthen your skills as a designer. You will also explore the scientific research on eLearning and talk about how the findings apply to learning as it has been shaped thus far, as well as how they can shape learning in the future.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the science of successful learning
- Evidence-based principles of learning
- About the applications of practice for learners
- About reference resources to improve your instruction design
- How to avoid creating wasteful instruction
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
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.
SDD106 Using UX Design to Reduce Cognitive Load in Learning Experiences
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM Tuesday, March 26
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
As an eLearning professional, it’s easy to become so focused on developing that perfect course that you forget to consider the systems you use to deliver your content. Whether this takes the form of a commercial learning management system or a custom application, designers often don’t take the time to consider how their courses fit into these systems and how their designs can play a large role in how effectively students can learn. While proper instructional development is important, good UX design is just as important. Both disciplines seek to minimize the cognitive load on extraneous factors so that the curriculum itself can take center stage. This is why considering user experience (UX) design during the instructional design process is important.
In this session, you’ll learn how you can bridge the gap between instructional design and user experience design. You’ll explore the relationship between instructional design, UX design, and their impact on cognitive load. You’ll learn about the importance of these fields and the roles they play in developing an environment of effective learning. You’ll also learn about the most common ways you can implement changes to your design to help build a more holistic learning experience. You’ll see examples of good and bad UX/UI design and be able to share your own experiences, whether with your own design or other designs you’ve seen.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the importance of considering both instructional design and user experience design when developing your curriculum
- What cognitive load theory is, and what its impact is on a learner
- How to recognize common design elements that impact cognitive load, and suggestions on how you can minimize them
- How to differentiate from good and bad user experience design
- How to make design decisions on bridging the gap between instructional design and user experience design
Audience:
Designers and developers
Sing Wong
Learning Solutions Manager
Penn State University
Sing Wong is manager of learning design and communications at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness. He manages a team of learning designers, production specialists, and developers to produce researched-based educational solutions to help improve the lives of United States military members and their families. His areas of expertise include instructional design, educational technology, faculty development, adult learning, student engagement, active learning, MOOCs, and the development of STEM-related courses. Sing has presented at various education conferences, including the OLC Accelerate, Learning Solutions, and Penn State's Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium.
Matt McGee
Learning Designer
Penn State University
Matt McGee is a learning designer/developer for Penn State, where he creates learning solutions for training problems. Using design thinking models and rapid development tools like Articulate Storyline, he focuses on creating simulations and trainings that allow learners to practice real-life skills in a virtual setting. His work primarily consists of the creation of 508-compliant, high-fidelity, high-interactivity online learning environments for use in professional development by the United States Department of Defense and partners. His portfolio includes virtual, as well as face-to-face, trainings and knowledge-as-you-need reference tools.
401 How We Read: Digital Text and Its Implications for eLearning
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 3
How often do you read text on an electronic device? (You’re doing it right now!) Research shows that people read digital text differently than printed text. But does your eLearning strategy consider these differences?
Understanding the way people see, process, and recall digital text can help you develop better multimedia learning resources. Drawing on reading research and user experience best practices, this session explains how things like text positioning, size, color, and typeface can impact reader focus, comprehension, and retention. You’ll learn how to apply these principles of digital reading to design effective webpages, documents, and other text-based resources.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why you should think of text as a visual element, just like images and videos
- What the research says about how people read digital text, including eye movement, speed, accuracy, typeface attributes, comprehension, and retention
- Why color, typeface, and size of text matter, and how best to use them in documents
- How readers build a “mental map” of written text, and how to design digital documents accordingly
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Jennifer Mandula
Instructional Designer
National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace
Jennifer Mandula is an instructional designer at National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC). Jennifer works with faculty to integrate new topics and teaching methods into CIC courses. She has a background in education research, consulting, and practice. Her research interests include digital literacy, electronic text, education technology and related policy, and visual semiotics. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Davidson College and a master’s in education, learning and technology, from the University of Oxford.
403 The Science of Attention and Engagement
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 11
A number of myths persist about people’s allegedly ever-shortening attention spans—but what does the science say? Neuroscience, behavioral economics, and consumer psychology all offer insights into how we manage and allocate attention. Additionally, our ability to manage attention and focus seems to be related to our abilities to allocate willpower and influence how we make decisions.
In this session, you will learn what the current science says about how attention, willpower, and decision-making interact and how that influences the design of eLearning environments. Having a deeper understanding of this topic will help you create more effective and engaging learning solutions.
In this session, you will learn:
- How cognitive load memory functions influence attention
- How we allocate and manage attention
- How to engage learners’ attention and manage distraction
- How to use the principles of willpower, attention, and decision-making to create better eLearning
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers.
Technology discussed in this session:
None.
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.
410 Increasing Engagement and Reducing Procrastination in Compliance Training
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Tuesday, March 26
Salon 9
Most organizations have required training that becomes a chore for individuals to complete. Many learning and development functions are ultimately defined by these required trainings. In addition, managers and leaders must resort to fear or discipline to get individuals to complete the requirements on time. This session will provide a unique approach to “flip the script” and actually motivate individuals to complete their requirements while reducing the time spent. This allows learning departments to focus on more elective programs, and reduces the negative impression associated with training.
Many compliance programs are designed to hit the masses. In this session you will learn how to reorganize the programs to reward knowledge, rather than continue to push the same information. You will also explore how to redesign content to reduce time spent, while still meeting organizational and industry regulations. Most importantly, this session will discuss how to gain buy-in from leadership on the shift in approach to compliance or required training.
In this session, you will learn:
- Strategies for shifting your annual compliance training to a recertification program
- How to communicate and market your program to gain buy-in from employees and leadership
- Approaches for identifying key stakeholders to ensure organizational and industry regulations are met
- Techniques for redesigning courses to support a recertification program
- How to structure your program to avoid loopholes or gaps
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Articulate Storyline
Most organizations have required training that becomes a chore for individuals to complete. Many learning and development functions are ultimately defined by these required trainings. In addition, managers and leaders must resort to fear or discipline to get individuals to complete the requirements on time. This session will provide a unique approach to “flip the script” and actually motivate individuals to complete their requirements while reducing the time spent. This allows learning departments to focus on more elective programs, and reduces the negative impression associated with training.
Many compliance programs are designed to hit the masses. In this session you will learn how to reorganize the programs to reward knowledge, rather than continue to push the same information. You will also explore how to redesign content to reduce time spent, while still meeting organizational and industry regulations. Most importantly, this session will discuss how to gain buy-in from leadership on the shift in approach to compliance or required training.
In this session, you will learn:
· Strategies for shifting your annual compliance training to a recertification program
· How to communicate and market your program to gain buy-in from employees and leadership
· Approaches for identifying key stakeholders to ensure organizational and industry regulations are met
· Techniques for redesigning courses to support a recertification program
· How to structure your program to avoid loopholes or gaps
Michael Sinno
VP, Training
National Insurance Crime Bureau
Michael Sinno is a vice president of training with the National Insurance Crime Bureau. He has a bachelor of science degree in electronics management and a master of science in education, in instructional design with a specialization in human performance technology. Mike brings with him over a decade of experience in training management, organizational development, and performance consulting. He has led learning functions supporting large and decentralized populations in highly regulated industries including finance, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.
SDD107 Designing Engaging Learner/Mentor Modules for Effective Knowledge Transfer
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM Tuesday, March 26
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
Training that increased confidence in job and product knowledge, and that improved productivity and application time of learning by both new and current employees, was paramount. The past training had proved ineffective—it consisted of manuals of overwhelming information, along with inconsistent knowledge delivery by assigned mentors. The learners were not engaged, which inhibited learning satisfaction and retention, and their ability to apply knowledge productively on the job was a serious management concern. The business partner, in preparation for a new wave of learners, needed an effective solution to make sure the job and product knowledge was easily accessible, retained, and applied correctly just in time. Learning needed to occur independently of any classroom environment and at the learner’s own pace—within designated time allocations.
This session will discuss and explore the reasons for this particular knowledge-transfer design, and you will see how the entire learning package—using eight uniquely designed components of just-in-time information—engaged the learner, set the foundation for a strong and long-term learner/mentor partnership, and provided a consistent transfer and retention of knowledge regardless of an assigned mentor. Feedback from learners and the mentor assessments supported the resulting increase in the comfort level of learner knowledge, which in turn increased the learners’ confidence when they applied the knowledge as needed.
In this session, you will learn:
- How you can implement a knowledge-transfer design regardless of industry or eLearning software
- How to design multiple learning components that you can combine into one effective learning package
- How to strengthen a learning event with consistent transfers of knowledge by randomly assigned mentors without overwhelming the mentors and learners with information
- How to give learners the ability to absorb and retain information without needing to memorize it
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and learning consultants
Technology discussed in this session:
Learning-package components and engaging video design
Oleh Boraczok
Talent Development Instructional Designer
American Family Insurance
Oleh Boraczok is a talent development instructional designer at American Family Insurance. He holds a doctorate (EdD) in business education with a minor in management and organizational communication. Oleh has been a part-time adjunct professor for more than 18 years at various colleges and universities, teaching organizational training and development, human resources, and management information systems. He has been with American Family Insurance for about 20 years in the education/talent development division as a manager and instructional designer and in training delivery.
Colleen Ramirez
Talent Development Consultant
American Family Insurance
Colleen Ramirez is a talent development consultant at American Family Insurance. She holds a bachelor of science in marketing from Upper Iowa University, a change management certification from Prosci, and a master’s certificate in project management from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Business. Colleen also has experience as a change strategy lead. Her insurance designations are: Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); Associate, Customer Service (ACS); Associate, Insurance Agency Administration (AIAA); Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance (AIRC); Certificate in General Insurance (INS); and Associate in Personal Insurance (API).
501 Case Study: Using Microlearning to Teach Over-Programmed Learners at Capital One
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 3
It’s no secret that people today are always on, and always on the go. Professional development competes with meetings, travel, deadlines, and the constant pull of email, instant messages, texts, and more. It’s no wonder today’s employees have so little time for learning! For L&D teams, it’s a challenge to reach people, much less engage them in meaningful experiences. A team at Capital One’s Tech College discovered how to engage their audience with microlearning content that’s relevant, always on, and built by in-house experts. Their microlearning strategy meets a broad range of learning needs—from teaching foundational tech concepts to all employees, to offering hands-on practice that applies interpersonal skills in the Capital One Developer Academy (CODA).
In this case study session, you’ll learn how the Tech College L&D team at Capital One partnered with clients to design, create, and implement self-directed and instructor-led learning experiences that work for even the most over-programmed people. You’ll learn how to use a social learning platform to curate bite-size learning, leverage subject matter experts, and structure content that’s easy to consume on the go. You’ll also learn techniques for designing micro workshops that draw from authentic work experiences, and how to measure the impact of your microlearning strategies and use feedback to iterate on your learning products.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why microlearning is effective in engaging people with limited time and attention spans
- About different frameworks for applying microlearning, from building awareness to hands-on practice and application
- How to leverage in-house experts to create authentic, immersive learning experiences and build institutional knowledge
- Content design techniques to reduce cognitive load and appeal to the senses
- How to measure the impact of learning and leverage feedback to improve your product
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Social learning platforms
Heather Lutz
Senior Learning Manager
Capital One
Heather Lutz is a learning strategist for Capital One's Tech College. Her team designs and leads technical, leadership, and competency-based workplace learning programs for technologists. Her primary responsibilities include conducting needs analysis, designing and delivering blended learning programs, and cultivating a community of experts to expand Tech College's peer-to-peer learning network. Heather holds an MS in organizational performance and workplace learning from Boise State University.
Alicia Zelek
Early Engagement Manager
Capital One
Alicia Zelek is manager of Capital One’s Early Engagement initiatives, including CODA (Capital One Developer Academy) and recruiting events focused on attracting talented candidates to Capital One early on in their academic careers. For two years she served as program manager for the inaugural CODA program, a six- month software engineering training that prepares non-computer science majors for professional roles as software engineers. She built and launched the program, working with learning and design experts to integrate soft skills training into the coding curriculum. Alicia earned her BA in psychology and Spanish from Duke University, and her MA in policy and organizational studies from Stanford University.
507 The Digital Makeover: The Make-It-Work Moments
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 9
It’s that Herculean challenge, the digital makeover. Take a biweekly face-to-face simulation, costing the firm millions of dollars in travel, expenses, and staffing, and turn it into a rich digital experience. Prepare learners with tools, resources, and training to begin their career. Also, make sure they feel welcomed, understand expectations, and are grounded in the firm’s structure, priorities, and methodologies. Oh, and you have four months to do it!
In this case study session, find out how a large professional services firm transformed an in-person consulting simulation for experienced hires from face-to-face into a virtual experience by using design thinking and agile project management approaches to the development. You’ll explore creating simulations, including when and when not to use them. You’ll learn how to develop an engaging and competitive experience to promote team-building, relationship development, and collaboration in a virtual environment. You’ll also practice identifying opportunities for phased development that sometimes lead to a faster, less expensive way to engage learners.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to use design thinking with the challenges of converting face-to-face activities to digital
- How to design and structure branching scenarios to meet learning objectives in differing competencies
- How to implement a phased approach to asset creation to meet any development timeline
- How to increase engagement with competitive simulations
- How to leverage web-based tools to foster collaboration and networking
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.), strategists, and architects
Technology discussed in this session:
BranchTrack, Cisco WebEx Training Center, Articulate Storyline, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Microsoft PowerPoint
Elizabeth Hanna
Digital Lead Producer
PwC
Elizabeth Hanna is a digital lead producer at PwC. She is an instructional designer with over 10 years’ experience creating and producing engaging learning experiences. Having started her career in marketing, she incorporates storytelling and design thinking to develop user-centered content. An active prototyper, she creates content to be able to communicate her vision to her clients and improve the development experience. Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in instructional design and technology.
Tera Pham
Senior Manager of Learner Experience
PwC
Tera Pham is a senior manager of learner experience at PwC with a focus on leadership development and project management. With over 12 years of experience, Tera creates learning experiences to meet career growth and performance needs that lead to knowledge retention and business result. She has spent the last four years supporting professional consultants in a variety of training initiatives. Prior to PwC, Tera supported numerous Fortune 100 companies in various industries with the learner experience as the ultimate goal.
511 Our SMEs Don’t Agree with Each Other—and That Improves Our Simulations
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 13
Sometimes there isn’t one correct answer. Training is straightforward when teaching a set way to do a task or explaining the best way to handle a situation. It is not so easy when even subject matter experts disagree about the right course of action. When your SMEs lack consensus, what do you teach your workers? Should you include the ambiguity that naturally occurs in complex situations as part of your simulations? How do you create computer-based simulations that are realistic, but not too complicated to develop and manage?
In this session, you’ll discover how to capture the richness of conflicting input from subject matter experts and use that information in your simulation design. You’ll compare how you gather input from your SMEs with a method of working through key decision points. You’ll look at strategies that help you determine whether your learners need to be able to sort through multiple possible actions where more than one option could be correct or wrong, or even deadly. You’ll then learn how to incorporate varying opinions into simulations where your learners can think through possible actions, select what they think are the best options, and measure their performance against that of experts. Go back to work ready to create linear simulations that incorporate the complexity of the real world, where often there is no single right answer.
In this session, you will learn:
- Approaches for incorporating subject matter disagreement into training design
- Methods to support learning when no set correct answer can be determined
- How the complexity of multiple possible correct answers can make linear simulations more realistic
- Strategies for designing simulations for decision-making practice and testing
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Simulations
Launa Mallett
Sociologist
NIOSH
Launa Mallett is a social scientist at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s Pittsburgh research facility. She holds a master’s degree in anthropology and a PhD in sociology from the University of Kentucky. Launa leads a team working to improve the safety and health of miners through better training techniques and strategies. Her team also develops products to communicate the agency’s research findings. Her past experience includes developing and conducting full-scale simulations in virtual environments. Her team’s current work includes addressing the topics of heat- related illness, mine emergency response, and transitioning workers to new jobs or tasks.
F03 Learning and Technology: A Guild Master Panel
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 11/12
Advancements in technology have fundamentally changed what it means to live, work, and learn in an increasingly digital world. Understanding the role technology plays in our work is critical as technology continues to advance and become even more embedded into our work. It’s also important to ensure that technology supports your strategy instead of driving it. Being prepared for this emerging technological world won’t be easy and will require an understanding of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed.
Join in a discussion with many of those who have been recognized as Guild Masters, exploring the role technology plays in our work. You will discuss the various technologies that have shifted the landscape of organizational learning, and the common characteristics of emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt organizational learning. We’ve invited all our Guild Masters to this discussion, making this super-sized panel a conversation you won’t want to miss.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to keep technology from driving our decisions
- How technology can disrupt organizational learning
- Lessons from the past that inform how we approach the future
- The common characteristics shared by disruptive technologies
- Tips for staying ahead of changes in the learning technology landscape
Audience:
Designers, Developers, Managers, Senior Leaders
Technology discussed in this session:
None
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.
Joe Ganci
President
eLearning Joe
Joe Ganci is the owner and president of eLearning Joe, a custom learning company. Since 1983, he has been involved in every aspect of multimedia and learning development. Joe holds a computer science degree, writes books and articles about eLearning, and is widely considered an eLearning development guru. He consults worldwide and also teaches at conferences and client sites. Joe writes tool reviews and has received several awards for his work in eLearning, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 and an eLearning Guild Master Award in 2013. His mission is to improve the quality of eLearning with practical approaches that work.
Marc Rosenberg
President
Marc Rosenberg and Associates
Dr. Marc Rosenberg is a global expert and speaker in training, organizational learning, eLearning, knowledge management, and performance improvement. He has written two best-selling books, E-Learning, and Beyond E-Learning. His 100 monthly columns, “Marc My Words,” appeared in The eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions magazine from 2010 through 2018 and are still available online. Marc is past president and honorary life member of the International Society for Performance Improvement, is an eLearning Guild “Guild Master,” has spoken at the White House, debated eLearning’s future at Oxford University, keynoted conferences around the world, authored over 200 columns, articles, white papers, and book chapters, and is frequently quoted in major trade publications. Learn more at www.marcrosenberg.com.
Conrad Gottfredson
Chief Learning Strategist
APPLY Synergies
Conrad Gottfredson, the chief learning strategist at APPLY Synergies, has deep experience in organizational learning, collaborative development, knowledge management, online learning, performance support, and instructional design and development. Conrad is the original developer of the Learning at the Five Moments of Need framework now in use around the world. He has worked with many of the world's largest organizations, helping them attain higher levels of learning agility. Conrad's experience includes the design and deployment of large-scale knowledge management and performance support systems within multinational corporations. In 2014 Conrad was awarded the Guild Master Award for his accomplishments and contributions to the eLearning community. He holds a PhD in instructional psychology and technology.
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.
Frank Nguyen
Executive Director
Genentech
Dr. Frank Nguyen is a learning executive who specializes in transforming learning organizations through strategy and technology. He has led enterprise learning for Fortune companies including AIG, Amazon, American Express, Intel, MicroAge, and Sears. Frank has published extensively on the intersection of eLearning, instructional design, and performance support. He is a recipient of the Learning Guild Master and the ISPI Distinguished Dissertation awards. His work on compliance training, learning strategy, business transformation, and technology has been recognized by Brandon Hall and Chief Learning Officer. Frank has served on a variety of learning industry committees for Adobe, ATD, BJET, Brandon Hall, eLearning Guild, and ISPI.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Robert Gadd
President
OnPoint Digital
Robert Gadd is president of OnPoint Digital and responsible for the company’s vision and strategy. OnPoint’s online and mobile-enabled offerings support more than one million workers and include innovative methods for content authoring, conversion, and delivery extended with social interactions, gamification, and enterprise-grade security for workers on their device or platform of choice. Prior to OnPoint, Robert spent 10 years as CTO of Datatec Systems and president/CTO of spin-off eDeploy.com. He is a frequent speaker on learning solutions—including mobile, informal learning, xAPI, and gamification—at national and international T&D conferences.
Bill Brandon
Editor, Learning Solutions
The Learning Guild
Bill Brandon is the editor of Learning Solutions. He has designed, managed, and delivered instruction since 1968, and has been an e- Learning practitioner since 1984. Before becoming the editor in 2002, Bill held instructor and management positions in the United States Navy, Texas Utilities, Atmos Energy, TGI Friday's, and The Sales Consultancy. The co- author of eight books and the author of dozens of articles on technical topics, he has also developed programs for major conferences and owned a consulting business. He is a past president of the Texas Chapter (now the Dallas Chapter) of ISPI, and for 10 years led the Learning Technology SIG of the Dallas Chapter of ASTD. Bill is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and now lives near Dallas, Texas.
Connie Malamed
Founder and Mentor
Mastering Instructional Design
Connie Malamed helps people learn and build instructional design skills at Mastering Instructional Design. She is a consultant, author and speaker in the fields of online learning and visual communication. Connie is the author of Visual Design Solutions and Visual Language for Designers. She also publishes The eLearning Coach website and podcast. She was honored with the Guild Master award in 2018 for contributions to the learning technologies industry.
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.
SDD202 Using Learning Journeys to Enhance Outcomes
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
Learning is not a one-time event; however, performance support professionals are often challenged to deliver successful outcomes via individual event formats. Learning pathways in an LMS help to bridge the gap and create a road map, but business team members may not invest sufficient time to complete the pathways, which don’t always suit the context of the learner.
Using tactics developed by marketers to build customer journeys that educate and nurture, learning professionals can enhance outcomes and optimize learner experience. Learning journeys offer the opportunity to utilize multiple modalities, personalize the experience, and deliver relevant enablement opportunities at the right time using the right mechanism. This session will introduce you to customer journeys and show how you can adapt these to learning journeys for internal and external learners. You’ll learn about the components of a learning journey and how to map a learning journey. You’ll review some sample journeys and, most importantly, explore a scenario for collaborative experience.
In this session, you will learn:
- What a learning journey is
- How to plan and map a journey
- About common elements of a journey
- Where to begin building learning journeys
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Microsoft Visio and draw.io
Jennifer Brick
Founder
Capdeca Solutions
Jennifer Brick is a customer success and enablement leader with more than a decade of experience developing learning programs for SaaS organizations. Jennifer has managed programs for internal, customer, and partner success. As founder of Capdeca Solutions, Jennifer develops learning solutions and provides consulting services for SaaS organizations to launch and optimize their customer success and training organizations. During her tenure at Salesforce leading custom enablement delivery and consulting partner enablement for the marketing cloud product, she learned the tactics and techniques of marketers, and how powerful they are when applied to learning and success programs.
STP202 Blend It 2019: Engaging Global Learners in Onsite-Online Environments
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, March 27
Expo Hall: Tools & Platform Stage
What do you do when you have multiple people attending your web sessions while grouped together in various physical locations—two in an office here, 10 in a conference room there, a few in the room in front of you? You may often engage people through first-rate onsite meetings and online learning opportunities but struggle to carry that high level of engagement into hybrid onsite-online environments.
This session will help you understand how blended learning environments can be supported by an ever-expanding array of free or low-cost social media and online broadcast tools (e.g., G Suite Products including Google Docs, Zoom, and other cloud-based resources), providing opportunities to seamlessly carry onsite interactions into online interactions, and extend the reach of online interactions back to onsite activities. You’ll also explore how you can foster learner participation by rethinking your ideas about blended learning environments, exploring blended learning opportunities, and seeing how the use of collaborative social media tools can connect otherwise unavailable presenters with members onsite and online.
In this session, you will learn:
- Methods for effectively extending the way you work with colleagues and learners in blended/hybrid (onsite-online) environments using low-cost or no-cost tools
- Techniques you can adapt to extend the reach of your talent development efforts into engaging, global learning spaces
- How to create “smart classrooms” with the technology available to you
- How concepts of blended learning are continuing to evolve
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Zoom, G Suite Products
Paul Signorelli
Writer-Trainer-Presenter-Consultant
Paul Signorelli & Associates
Paul Signorelli is a writer, trainer, presenter, and consultant at Paul Signorelli & Associates. He is a co-writer of Workplace Learning & Leadership (ALA Editions, 2011) and author of the forthcoming Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield, spring 2019). Paul explores, uses, and writes about eLearning, educational technology, social media tools, leadership, collaboration, and innovation. He served on New Media Consortium advisory boards/expert panels documenting trends, challenges, and educational technology innovations in a variety of settings before helping found FOEcast (Future of Education Forecast) in 2018.
Paul Venderley
Instructional Designer
Crane Morley
Paul Venderley is an instructional designer with Crane Morley. His first foray into designing blended learning environments was to convert a week-long, in- person new hire orientation into a webinar, and he hasn’t looked back since. Although he does create a small number of ILT programs, the bulk of the content he designs blends eLearning or virtual learning with supplemental online resources. In 2015, Paul received the LearnX Gold Award for Rapid Authoring, and in 2018, he was given OneOC’s Spirit of Volunteerism award for his role in coaching a team of instructional designers through their own eLearning project.
601 Developing Hype Resistance: Learning Science and Professional Practice
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 9
As an L&D professional, your responsibility is to practice based on sound empirical data. Yet too often practices are based on myths, superstitions, misconceptions, and hype. You’ve heard the claims: “scientifically based,” “addresses the modern learner,” and “this is the future of learning” are just a few of them. And this matters; you not only could be wasting time and money, but actually undermining your own objectives! How do you cut through the fog and find the real value?
This irreverent session hones a sharp knife to cut through the hyperbole. You’ll start with an overview of learning science with an eye on what it means for designing instruction, as a basis to evaluate claims. Then you’ll discover how that model cuts through a representative sample of the things you should be worrying about. Finally, you’ll gain resources to help you bolster your claims and learn how to talk to those stakeholders who don’t want to change. It’s past time to start practicing like professionals. Come get the basis to improve your designs and resist distractions.
In this session, you will learn:
- About the basics of cognition and learning science
- How to check claims
- How to query claimants
- How to deal with the believers
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Assessment instruments
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.
607 7 Crucial Factors for Making Transfer Happen
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 10
Talent development professionals want to get the best results from learning programs. Yet, most experts agree that only about 20 percent of learning is implemented in the workplace. And this percentage has held steady for decades. Would you accept, as a client, a 20 percent transfer rate for a service or product? In an era of growing accountability, it’s the mission of talent developers to increase the rate of transfer. Because in the end, it’s only on-the-job behavior that matters: The business only benefits when learning positively impacts performance. Ensuring learning transfer is therefore an important challenge facing talent developers today. But how can you make sure your learning programs have a high rate of transfer? What makes learning really work?
In this session, you will learn to make sure your learning programs have a high rate of transfer. You’ll examine seven factors that are crucial to making transfer happen. These seven factors were revealed in recent research that analyzed hundreds of training sessions of international companies. The study looked at how transfer took place six months later. During this session, you will be invited to use a web-based app called Transfer Quick Scan. The app checks the rate of transfer of a learning program of your choice. It shows you directly the effectiveness of the seven factors and advises you on how to redesign your learning program to have more impact. You can use these results Monday back at work!
In this session, you will learn:
- About the seven factors that make transfer happen, and how to apply them in every learning program in your organization
- How to use Transfer Quick Scan to evaluate the effectiveness of a learning program
- How to share and compare the outcome of the scan with other participants
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, trainers, moderators, and coaches
Technology discussed in this session:
Transfer Quick Scan
Laura van den Ouden
Owner
Expert Trainers
Laura van den Ouden is owner and trainer for Expert Trainers, a training company. With over 20 years’ experience, Laura designs and implements extensive eLearning programs for corporate universities and international organizations. She blogs frequently about talent development and transfer of learning and speaks at conferences on the subject. She has written three books:Successful Communication as a Trainer, Influencing Positively, and 100 Teaching Methods for Developers. Laura was named the Netherlands Trainer of the Year for 2019/2020.
609 Business Storytelling: Creating Persuasive Visual Narratives
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 11
The best communicators frame their ideas in a story. Unfortunately, as effective as storytelling is, it remains one of the greatest struggles in the business world. L&D professionals often “firehose” their audience with data and fail to communicate strategic insights. The result? You lose your audience to boredom, confusion, and misinterpretation. And worse, you’ve lost your chance to provide value and connect with your audience. But weaving tales alone isn’t enough to spur your customer, prospect, or manager to take action. It’s the arc of story combined with powerful data and visuals that infuse the right balance of logic and emotion to generate decision-making.
Through practical exercises, this session arms you with techniques for creating authentic, impactful business stories that elevate the conversation and motivate your audience to act. You’ll learn how to use a simple framework for crafting a narrative; how to identify and infuse your “big idea”—the key takeaway of your presentation; and how to bring your ideas to life visually using easy design strategies.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to craft a compelling business story by understanding the four classic signposts of storytelling
- How to identify and infuse a “big idea” into your story: the one thing you want your audience to know or do with the information
- How you can apply the power of storytelling to everyday communications
- How to apply tools and a framework that will allow you to put a story together quickly, before ever opening PowerPoint
- How to use eye-catching visual techniques that will help illustrate the story you are telling with your facts and data
Audience:
Developers, managers, senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.), and all others
Technology discussed in this session:
Microsoft PowerPoint
Kevin Campbell
Director of Global Training Development & Delivery
The Presentation Company
Kevin Campbell is the director of global training development and delivery for The Presentation Company, a business communications firm that specializes in innovative online and onsite presentation skills training. Kevin’s career includes over 15 years’ experience in employee training and development, marketing, business communications, and management. He has held positions as a Nike Global Trainer, facilitating workshops for employees throughout North and South America. Kevin also spent 10 years in the entertainment industry, where he crafted stories as a host for networks such as National Geographic, AMC, and A&E. Kevin has also spent time behind the camera, developing pilots for Bravo and Comedy Central.
SDD204 Bringing Stories Center Stage in Training
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Wednesday, March 27
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
Stories have long been touted as powerful, effective tools for learning, but very little has been published on how to design a story so that it impacts learners and aligns with performance objectives—leaving the instructional designer at a loss for how to tell a story effectively in training. Storytelling impacts design on the most basic level of engagement: emotion. It also impacts the delivery of training. Games, microlearning, virtual reality, and scenario design all benefit from strong storytelling skills. Yet the problem remains: How do you design a fitting story that teaches? That’s where story design provides practical guidance.
You want to engage your learners and you’ve heard that story is good for that, but you don’t know where to begin. This session will show you how to concretely connect powerful stories to learning, through examples from HCSC’s compliance training. Experience what training can be like when stories take center stage. Share your observations and expertise, and dive into a story model that is so simple, you will be able to begin writing your own stories for training when you get back to the office. Worried that it takes high-tech tools to make powerful stories a reality? That’s not necessarily true. Learn how to design and deliver a story using the tools you already own.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to mine analysis and stakeholder interviews for relatable characters and strong conflict
- How to design an effective story that connects concretely with learning objectives
- How to deliver stories using the tools you already own
- How to present a solid case for stories to resistant stakeholders
Audience:
Designers and developers
Technology discussed in this session:
Cameras, audio tools, Microsoft PowerPoint, eLearning authoring tools, and animated video
Rance Greene
Story Designer
needastory.com
Rance Greene comes to the talent development field with a backdrop of theatre, choreography, art, and music. He is a playwright, song-writer and story writer. His connection of instructional design to story design has made him a sought-after speaker and consultant. Rance formed needastory.com to help talent development professionals and leaders understand their audience and what they are asking them to do. His presentations are noted for their lively interactions, practical skill- building and, of course, stories. He involves audiences and students by asking them to think, respond, analyze, and ultimately discover that they are the best storytellers for their audience.
SDD205 Creating Amazing Learning Experiences: Let’s Get Inspired!
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM Wednesday, March 27
Expo Hall: Design & Development Stage
We often get stuck using the same patterns of delivery without thinking about if it is helping our audience, or if it’s the best fit for a challenge. Designing great user experiences for your learners is critical to the success of how they engage; utilize content, tools, and apps; and focus on the task at hand. This session will break down what's essential in designing great experiences, and provide resources to get you started and inspired. We'll discuss design strategies; what works and what doesn’t, how to plan and prototype, and demonstrate several examples for inspiration. You'll get 10+ resources for taking your experiences to the next level, and getting you and your organization to the next level.
In this session, you will learn:
- 6 ways to improve your next project
- Apps and tools that you have (Paper, PowerPoint, PDF, and Marvel App) that can accelerate your process and improve results with the right workflow
- About the versatility of DropBox Paper, which is free
- How to share, get inspired, and motivate your organization to grow
- How to evaluate what you see, hear, and feel, and how to apply what resonates with your audience
- A new series of resources and tools to implement on your next project
Target audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders
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.
704 Using Branching Scenarios When They Matter Most
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 11
Branching scenarios can engage learners and provide relevant decision-making practice. They can help learners become competent at skills faster than other training approaches. While branching scenarios can be very valuable, nothing is the right solution for every training problem. Branching scenarios can be challenging to design and time-consuming to build. That might leave you wondering: When is it worth the time and effort to create a branching scenario? When do the benefits of branching scenarios outweigh the costs to create them? Are there any easier alternatives that could work, or might even work better in some situations?
In this session, you’ll learn how to evaluate training problems to decide when to use a branching scenario or another approach. You’ll review criteria for deciding when branching scenarios provide enough benefit to justify the effort required to create them. This will help you use branching scenarios when they matter most, saving you time and effort while creating quality learning experiences. You’ll also explore alternatives to branching scenarios such as limited branching and one-question scenarios. These alternatives use some elements of branching scenarios but are simpler to design and develop. You’ll also review the eight “learning domains” identified by Ruth Clark as good candidates for scenario-based eLearning.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to decide whether a branching scenario is the best approach
- Why branching scenarios are an effective solution for certain types of training problems
- How you can use branching scenarios in different learning domains and kinds of training
- How to save time and effort by using alternatives like one-question scenarios and limited branching
- About the criteria that can help you choose branching scenarios or other strategies
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Examples in Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, and Twine
Christy Tucker
Learning Experience Design Consultant
Syniad Learning
Christy Tucker is a learning experience design consultant with over 20 years of experience helping people learn. She specializes in using scenario-based learning to engage audiences and promote skill transfer to real-world environments. She has created training for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit associations, state and local government agencies, universities, and more. Christy has been blogging about instructional design and eLearning for over 15 years and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.
707 Strategies for Identifying and Removing Performance Barriers
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 4
You’ve created great training, but you hear complaints that employees still can’t do their job after passing your class. That’s frustrating! Many customers believe that if employees knew how to do their job, they would do it. After all, that’s why they get paid! Those are the same people who think that the best way to improve performance is by offering and conducting more training. The truth is that employee performance is influenced by several factors, one of which is closing the skills and knowledge gap through more training. And even the best-designed and best-delivered training will fail if the other five performance barriers (including training) are not addressed.
In this session, you will learn how to apply two performance improvement models to identify all barriers limiting employees, and design solutions to remove all performance barriers. The Six Box model (Gilbert’s) and the Influencer model (The Power to Change Anything) each have deficits. But, when combined, they enable you to zero in on effective performance solutions. Applying these two models together decreases the likelihood you’ll hear complaints about ineffective training, and increases the likelihood of having satisfied customers. In this session, you will explore all six performance barriers that stand in the way of peak performance. You will then brainstorm solutions to address barriers to peak performance.
In this session, you will learn:
- About all six barriers to optimum performance
- How to identify all barriers to optimum performance
- How to craft solutions that address all performance barriers
- The solutions that address the most common performance barriers
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Matthew Papp
Performance Solution Specialist/Instructional Designer
Consumers Energy
Matthew Papp is a performance solution specialist and instructional designer at Consumers Energy. He has 20 years of experience as a corporate trainer and instructional designer, including seven years as a consultant. Matthew holds degrees from the University of Michigan: a BA in psychology and communication and an MA in adult instruction and performance technology (combined MEd and MBA). He has 20 years of Toastmaster experience and has conducted over 1,000 workshops for professionals and union workers. Matthew has been awarded many times for his workshop facilitation and speaking skills. Some of the tools he uses are Word, PowerPoint, Camtasia, and Captivate.
709 Wonder Woman, Wakanda, and Work: Make Your eLearning Representative
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 17
You know that most media—including eLearning—is failing at representation. You see it every day. And not only is it leaving people out of the picture, it’s less effective as a result. Maybe you’ve tried to make your work more inclusive but haven’t been able to find great media, haven’t been able to convince your stakeholders, or simply aren’t confident in navigating how to respectfully represent different genders, ethnicities, orientations, and abilities.
In this session, you’ll explore how to make authentic representation happen in your work and in your organization for more inclusive and effective learning solutions. You’ll find out about methods for crafting authentic representation in your projects and discover sources for media that can enhance that representation even further. You’ll also discuss strategies for getting your team, partners, and/or clients on board with how making authentic representation a priority helps both your audience and the organization as a whole.
In this session, you will learn:
- Simple methods to incorporate better representation in your learning solutions Sources for media that reflect your focus on authentic, diverse, and dignified representation How to increase your own confidence and proficiency in respectfully presenting characters that speak to all learners How to promote the value of authentic representation in your organization
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers.
Judy Katz
Project Manager
PeBL Pro by Eduworks
Judy Katz makes stuff that helps people learn. Since 1997, she's worked in education and training strategy, design, development, and delivery. She's thrilled to be on the Eduworks team as an instructional designer and product manager for PeBL Pro. Judy has a passion for great design and technology, usability, and social justice. She has a BA in English, an MBA, and an MEd in instructional design for workplace learning.
713 Visual Literacy: Making Meaning from Images
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 18
Take a look at these situations: (1) Your client insists on having at least one image per page. They don’t care which images you choose. (2) You realize that the course you are developing is very text-heavy, so you decide to add some images to break it up. (3) You find a really awesome image, so you add it to your next course. Sound familiar? Probably. So ask yourself two questions: “Did I really think about the images before using them?” and “Were any of the images confusing, ambiguous, or irrelevant?” Be honest with yourself. How do you choose the images that will convey meaning for your learners?
Images convey more information and meaning than text alone. But sometimes an image can unintentionally convey the wrong meaning. Or designers assume that everybody will make the same meaning from an image. You need to be intentional about your choices; you must be mindful of how photographs, illustrations, diagrams, infographics, symbols, icons, shapes, colors, etc., create meaning for your learners. You must be visually literate. This session will introduce you to the concept of visual literacy, and how it will make you think differently about how and why you choose images. After leaving this session, you’ll never look at an image the same way again.
In this session, you will learn:
- About visual literacy competency standards
- How elements of art and principles of design convey meaning
- The seven steps for assessing images for meaning and relevance
- Core strategies for developing your own visual literacy skills
Audience:
Designers and developers
Sarah Dewar
Educational Technology Specialist
Michael Garron Hospital
Sarah Dewar is a seasoned instructional designer and developer. She has over 20 years of experience in the realm of adult learning, complemented by 15 years of experience creating innovative eLearning solutions for healthcare professionals. Sarah is currently developing a virtual reality training solution to orient healthcare workers to a new state-of-the-art healthcare centre. She also creates custom animation to engage learners. Sarah shares her knowledge internationally and volunteers her expertise to not-for-profit organizations.
714 BYOD: Awesome Microlearning: Examples and Tips So You Can Do It, Too!
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 2
Extended BYOD (2 Hours)
Microlearning is really hot right now, but that means there is a sea of different definitions and approaches, and few really good examples of microlearning done well. That makes it incredibly difficult for practitioners to glean best practices so they can design and implement microlearning that is really effective.
In this session, you will explore several examples of microlearning that organizations are using right now to improve performance. Through these examples, you will learn nine tips for designing effective microlearning resources of your own, and you’ll leave with new ideas for incorporating microlearning successfully into your organization. At the end, you will also have an opportunity to apply this to your own work. Using a guided activity, you will identify where microlearning would have the greatest value in your organization and how you can capitalize on the nine tips presented in this session. You will leave this session with ideas for designing microlearning resources that are instructionally sound and ready to rock your organization!
In this session, you will learn:
- Nine best practices for designing microlearning that rocks
- Creative ideas for designing your own microlearning resources
- How to identify where microlearning would have the greatest value in your organization
- How you can capitalize on the nine tips for designing awesome microlearning in your own work
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Microlearning and gamification
Technology required:
A laptop running Microsoft Word
Sue Iannone
Vice President
Bull City Blue
Sue Iannone, CPLP, is vice president and partner of Bull City Blue, an end-to-end learning agency created to address the needs of training and talent development organizations within the life science industry. Sue has 25 years of learning-leadership experience in the commercial pharmaceutical and biotech space. Having worked for small, medium, and large companies in her career, Sue has led the design and development of numerous learning initiatives—including more than 20 product launches. She has also led multiple performance-consulting initiatives designed to increase the effectiveness of the learning organizations in which she served.
F04 Designing for All: A Panel About Inclusive, Accessible Design
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 5/6
Discussions and understanding about inclusion and accessibility can vary by organization. These discussions should be about more than just doing the bare minimum for compliance. L&D leaders should be talking about the difference they can make by ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to learn from what they produce.
In this session, you’ll hear from panelists in instructional design and eLearning who will share stories of what they’ve learned and how they’ve overcome challenges to make their design process more inclusive. You’ll learn how to start the conversation with stakeholders, create new design standards, use tools to build and review better content, and teach others about inclusive, accessible solutions.
In this session, you will learn:
- About inclusive and universal design standards
- About tools for testing accessibility
- Methods for getting buy-in from stakeholders
- About tools to capture feedback and conduct user research
- Techniques for building empathy
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, senior leaders (Directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Web standards, Articulate Storyline and Rise, Adobe Captivate, Trivantis Lectora, Adapt, and xAPI
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.
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.
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.
Brian Dusablon
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.
801 An ID’s Approach to Accessibility: Lessons Learned
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 17
While many instructional designers strive to create content that is effective for all learners, in reality, their designs often don’t accommodate students with abilities that are different from their own. One way you can ensure that your learning content facilitates learning among all learners is by designing to ADA compliance standards. Not only will doing so result in quality learning for everyone, it will also satisfy a legal requirement to which higher education institutions are beholden.
Although you may not be an ADA compliance expert, all designers have a responsibility to develop inclusive curriculum. There is value in identifying ADA compliance issues early in the curriculum development process. Doing so gives you time to consider alternatives that are ADA compliant, or provides time to correct compliance issues. Learn how one team created guides and a checklist to help focus their compliance checks. They set out to identify reliable resources they could reference when digging deeper into a compliance issue or solution. They built compliance checks into their quality assurance checks ahead of final content delivery to customers. Finally, they built additional time, cost, and training into their projects so they could do the work correctly.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to quickly assess ADA compliance in content
- What to do if you find content you want to use that is not ADA compliant
- How to avoid overlooking ADA compliance issues
- How ADA compliance checks fit into a fine-tuned development process
- How much time compliance checks add to the process
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
The session will review non-compliant assets available directly on websites. Participants with laptops can use them for compliance check activities.
Justin Tumelaire
Education Technology Supervisor
Cengage Learning
Justin Tumelaire is an educational technologist supervisor at Cengage Learning. He has worked in various roles within higher education for nearly 10 years. His experience includes training, instructional design, and project management. Justin has master’s degrees in adult education and training as well as business administration, and he has experience in both online and traditional learning modalities.
Ben Saxon
Supervisor of Instructional Design
Cengage Learning
Ben Saxon is a supervisor of instructional design at Cengage Learning. Before joining Cengage in June 2009, he worked for nine years as a multimedia developer and instructional designer at an online university. His experience includes multimedia design; content development for online, on-ground, and hybrid/blended environments; and curriculum design.
802 Prototyping: Turning Ideas into Reality
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 14
As more and more projects are built to accommodate multiple devices, the need to prototype grows. Whether you are creating a new project, developing an app, or simply launching a new responsive course, prototyping can help you better understand what’s working and what needs to be changed.
In this session, you will explore the latest strategies in prototyping. You will learn about specific tools, techniques, and workflows that will help you kick off any project the right way. You will discuss how to communicate a concept, beginning with low-fidelity prototypes, then gather user feedback and translate this into high-fidelity prototypes before you start development. You will leave this session with tools to turn your concepts into reality!
In this session, you will learn:
- How to get started with Adobe After Effects
- About tools and techniques for applying prototyping to your process
- Techniques for paper-, web-, and app-based prototyping
- How to collect feedback, review, and prioritize next steps
- About dozens of resources and tools to get started
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Microsoft PowerPoint, Marvel app, InVision app, and Proto.io
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.
803 1 Size Doesn’t Fit All: Personalizing Content to Your Learners
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 4
Often, organizations deliver the same eLearning course to all their employees. This means each learner gets the same course with the same content no matter what they already know or what they have already done. This creates a one-size-fits-all approach without considering learners’ previous experiences.
This session will cover various ways you can move away from this one-size-fits-all approach with tools you may already be using, and you’ll learn about tools you can start using to create a customized personal experience for your learners. You will learn how you can track learner behavior and then use what you learn to adjust and adapt future content so you can get the right content to the right person at the right time. This is not some futuristic vision; you can start using these techniques today, and you will leave this session knowing how you can start personalizing learning.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to personalize content within a single course
- How you can track specific learner behavior with xAPI
- How you can use that tracking to customize and adapt course content
- How to prep your media to adjust and adapt to meet the learners’ needs
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, and xAPI
Jeff Batt
Founder
Learning Dojo
Jeff Batt has 15+ years of experience in the digital learning and media industry. Currently, Jeff Batt is a Learning Experience Designer for Amazon. He is the founder and trainer at Learning Dojo, a company dedicated to training you to become a software ninja in various eLearning, web, and mobile-related software applications. He was also the program manager of DevLearn for The Learning Guild. Jeff often speaks on developmental technologies such as xAPI, HTML5, augmented reality, mobile development, eLearning development tools, and more.
811 Instructional Design Meets Process Improvement
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 15
Designers experience waste during the development of blended learning curricula. Multiple meetings, storyboards, learner personas, and prototypes create a framework for the finalized product; however, failure to eliminate process redundancies (waste) will produce no standard products. What if there were a methodology that could streamline and standardize instructional development among designers, learners, and customers?
In this session, you will learn about the Lean methodology to help standardize instructional design practices in your organization. You’ll create a process map that lays out a current instructional design process to identify waste in the process, and you’ll engage with Lean tools that help identify and eliminate waste in processes.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why using process improvement (Lean methodologies) can increase learner productivity
- How to implement process improvement (Lean) methods
- About process improvement tools
- About the benefits for learners, designers, and customers of implementing process improvement tools in instructional design
Audience:
Designers, managers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Technology discussed in this session:
Microsoft Power BI, Articulate 360, and Microsoft PowerPoint
Faustino Payan
Sr. Communications, Content, and Policy Specialist
City and County of Denver
Faustino Payan is a senior communications, content, and policy specialist with the city and county of Denver. He has over 10 years’ experience conducting process improvement, adult facilitation, eLearning development, and policy analysis. He has been recognized for his process improvement and eLearning contributions to the city and county of Denver. He is also a photographer and graphic designer. Faustino holds a bachelor of arts in organizational and corporate communications from the University of Texas–El Paso, and he is pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Colorado–Denver in information and learning technologies with emphasis in instructional design and adult learning.
Eric Elmore
Executive Director
Wayne’s Leadership College
Eric Elmore is the executive director of Wayne’s Leadership College for Early Childhood Teachers. He serves as an early childhood special education teacher with Aurora Public Schools. In addition, he has over eight years of experience working in early childhood education as a teacher, curriculum developer, public speaker, staff developer, coach, management specialist, and community leader. Eric holds a master’s degree from the University of Colorado–Denver in early childhood education and is pursuing a doctorate of education in leadership for education equity.
F05 Panel: Microlearning at Work
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Wednesday, March 27
Salon 5
Microlearning has infiltrated L&D. It’s been fascinating to listen to the tactics, strategies, and debates about what it is and what it isn’t, as well as why it’s important or whether it is even anything new. Beyond the hyperbole, L&D practitioners are employing microlearning initiatives but what results are they seeing?
In this panel experts will examine what makes microlearning work in organizations at the micro and macro level. They will also discuss the role of L&D in this space, and the skills needed to create small, effective content to meet the needs of today’s learners.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to define what microlearning is and isn’t, and whether it matters
- How to discuss microlearning with your team and stakeholders
- Strategies for determining if microlearning is the right approach
- Where microlearning fits into a broader organizational learning strategy
- How to introduce microlearning into your organization
Audience:
Designers, Developers, Managers
Technology discussed in this session:
None
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.
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.
Summer Salomonsen
Head of Cornerstone Studios
Cornerstone
As head of Cornerstone Studios, Summer Salomonsen is leading Cornerstone's transition into original content creation, overseeing the design and development of Cornerstone's learning content brands. Previously, as chief learning officer of Grovo, she architected the company's content strategy, leading her team to build the world’s only adaptive, responsive, and continuously growing microlearning library. While a principal consultant at Intrepid Learning, Summer won Gold in Brandon Hall’s 2017 Emerging Star Award category for her work crafting dozens of high-impact learning experiences for leading global brands. Summer holds an EdD in organizational change and leadership from USC and is based in Colorado.
Alicia Zelek
Early Engagement Manager
Capital One
Alicia Zelek is manager of Capital One’s Early Engagement initiatives, including CODA (Capital One Developer Academy) and recruiting events focused on attracting talented candidates to Capital One early on in their academic careers. For two years she served as program manager for the inaugural CODA program, a six- month software engineering training that prepares non-computer science majors for professional roles as software engineers. She built and launched the program, working with learning and design experts to integrate soft skills training into the coding curriculum. Alicia earned her BA in psychology and Spanish from Duke University, and her MA in policy and organizational studies from Stanford University.
902 Starting Off Strong: Planning for Successful ID Projects
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 13
It can be challenging for an instructional designer to manage scope creep and have difficult conversations throughout the course of the project, however you can minimize the likelihood of those things happening with the right tools in your toolbox, and a friendly, approachable attitude.
Discover planning tools and techniques that can help your project experience go smoothly from start to finish. You’ll learn how to lay the foundation for a positive and collaborative relationship with your SME by holding a kickoff meeting that sets realistic expectations. You’ll then look at how to use Google Docs and RealTimeBoard for your ID projects to determine timelines for milestones, and visually plan the course at a high level. You’ll leave with concrete tips and tools you can use right away to confidently approach the planning process, and set the tone for a collaborative, successful project.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to start a project off strong with a productive kickoff meeting
- How to lay the foundation for a positive and collaborative relationship with your SME
- How to use RealTimeBoard as a visual planning tool to make sure everyone understands the scope
- How to use Google Docs as a project planning tool
Audience:
Designers, developers
Technology discussed in this session:
Google Docs, RealTimeBoard
Heather Bolden
Teaching & Learning Designer
Case Western Reserve University
Heather Bolden is a teaching and learning designer at Case Western Reserve University. She enjoys brainstorming and problem-solving with faculty to come up with new ideas and solutions for engaging students in online and in-person courses, in a variety of formats. She helps faculty discover how online learning can work for them and their students by focusing on pedagogically enhancing their courses and figuring out the appropriate role technology can play.
903 Putting Learners in Control with Flexible Learning Experiences
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 11
With so many tools at their disposal, how do L&D professionals create effective learning ecosystems that meet the diverse needs of their learners? The key is focusing on relevancy, choice, and motivation. By listening closely to your learners about what, when, and how they want to learn, grow, and develop, you can deliver personalized experiences that help them fit professional development into their busy day. Learner-driven experiences offer the ideal mix of microlearning and macrolearning, from short how-to videos to in-depth learning paths. Done right, they will inspire your learners to build new skills and knowledge, put what they’ve learned into practice, and reflect on what went well and what could have gone better.
This session will share one team’s recent experience developing a new learning resource that puts learners in control of where and how they acquire knowledge and skills. You’ll discover a process for understanding learners’ needs and motivations, making design decisions, and adjusting the design based on learners’ reactions. You’ll learn how to include your learners in the design of learning experiences that focus on the capabilities that are most important to them. This session will help you design flexible solutions that consistently encourage and engage learners by integrating five key elements of a successful learner-driven approach. You’ll leave understanding how to prioritize the capabilities of an effective learning environment that resonates with all types of learners.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to design using a learner-driven approach that meets the needs of today’s learners
- Design tips using the five key elements of a successful learner-driven approach
- How to mix content types for maximum effect, from short-burst videos to in-depth learning paths
- How to provide the setting and guidance for your employees to make learning a habit
Audience:
Designers and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
Mobile devices, performance support applications, and Harvard ManageMentor
Diane Belcher
Senior Director, Product Management
Harvard Business Publishing
Diane Belcher is a senior director of product management at Harvard Business Publishing. She is responsible for strategy, business performance, category management, and market awareness across all of the Corporate Learning product lines. Prior to joining the Harvard Business Publishing team, Diane worked for Fidelity Investments, where she held various roles in human resources and led the customer experience strategy for the workplace investing business.
Robert Jones
Product Director
Harvard Business Publishing
Robert Jones is a product director at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. He leads the team responsible for defining, creating, and evolving the company’s self-paced leadership development solutions. Prior to joining Harvard Business Publishing, Robert held positions at Pearson, Rave Mobile Safety, AOL, and Blackboard. Robert earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
907 DemoFest Showcase
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 3
DemoFest is a huge science fair-like event; a collective showcase of eLearning examples from conference participants. As you move from table to table, exploring a wide range of learning solutions, you can discuss the tools, tech, and processes with those who built them. Although it’s an exciting evening of discovery, diving deep into each of the projects can be challenging.
Join us the day after to get an exclusive, in-depth look at some of the most popular solutions, voted on by your peers and shared at DemoFest. Over this full hour, select demonstrators will go back under the hood of their solutions and allow you to dig into the how and why of their projects.
In this session, you will learn:
- Cutting-edge examples of innovative learning solutions
- Why a design decision was made, and its impact
- About the various technologies used, and why they were chosen
Audience:
Designers, developers, managers
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.
908 Using Story Beats to Plot eLearning Scenarios
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 14
Everyone likes stories. Using storytelling techniques to spice up otherwise dull training modules is a great idea. Situating learners in a realistic context encourages them to apply skills and retain knowledge longer. But it’s not easy to write engaging narratives. Scenarios written by educators tend to be prescriptive, predictable, and preachy. Even worse, they feel contrived and artificial. Learners know when they are being manipulated to think or feel. Outwardly, they may click the right answer, but inwardly they resent it. Recent studies have shown that this sort of training may actually produce a reverse effect, compelling learners to feel more opposed to the training lesson than before they participated. So, how do you write a real-world learning scenario that isn’t contrived?
This session will explore how to apply techniques used by writers of films and screenplays. First, you will briefly discuss a movie plot by its three-act structure: beginning, middle, and end. That’s a really good way to start conceptualizing an eLearning scenario but, by itself, doesn’t go deep enough to be very helpful. It’s easy to get started plotting out your story only to lose your way without a clue of where to go next. You will look at Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet used by screenplay writers. In film writing terms, a “beat” refers to a single story event that transforms the character and story at a critical juncture.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to apply structure technique to plot your scenarios more quickly and effectively
- What is essential to include in your story’s beginning, middle, and end
- What a story beat is, and how it moves a story forward
- About the 15 story beats from Snyder
- How to apply the 15 beats to your storyboard
- When each story beat should occur in your scenario
Audience:
Designers and developers
Technology discussed in this session:
Articulate 360 and Adobe Captivate
Mike Roy
Learning Experience Designer
Mike V Roy Consulting
Mike Roy is president and senior instructional designer at Mike V Roy Consulting. He has designed learning experiences for government and global Fortune 100 companies. He specializes in scenario and game-based learning. In a previous life, he designed media-rich online courses in higher education and taught graphic design (Ohio University). He has a master's degree in instructional design from the University of Virginia and a master's in media production from Longwood University. He is a writer, storyteller, teacher, artist, and musician who loves to learn.
1001 Establishing Clear Expectations for Successful eLearning Projects
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 5
You’re tasked to begin multiple new eLearning projects simultaneously and are responsible for successful and timely completion. You initiate the work and quickly find that other stakeholders with differing expectations are now involved. The pressure is on to keep the project on track and on budget with limited resources. What do you do? There are many factors that can derail projects. Breaking ground on new development and keeping track of multiple assets can be daunting for new or seasoned designers and managers. Reproducing quality work that meets your expectations can be tricky on a tight budget or schedule. Additionally, frustrations run high when work is submitted that misses the mark and must be redone, or is grudgingly accepted.
Glean lessons learned and best practices to avoid costly production missteps in this session. Learn how to maximize resource effectiveness when the scope changes, or a project remains undefined. This session walks you through project assessment, stakeholder planning, and troubleshooting tips for effective communication and production. Find solutions to your project woes and irritations. Get valuable and complete feedback the first time. Learn from experienced, rapid development project professionals and save yourself the headaches. Discover beneficial techniques to maximize success and tip the ROI scales in your project’s favor.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to avoid costly rework
- How to maximize resource effectiveness and production hours
- How to establish clear standards for quality control
- How to develop a stakeholder plan for maximum input and expedient decision-making
- How to break the review loop and get effective feedback and solutions the first time
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
This session will sample actual project deliverables and their progress from beginning to completion. Projects include online courses that have been created for use within any LMS environment viewable on both desktop and mobile devices.
Kacy Deering
Digital Learning & LMS Administration Supervisor
Pryor Learning Solutions
Kacy Deering, digital learning & LMS administration supervisor at Pryor Learning Solutions, is an integral founding member of Pryor’s online platform, where she has managed hundreds of on-demand and ILT development projects. Kacy’s role includes driving multiple virtual and live training projects simultaneously; researching new topics, technologies, and opportunities in professional education; consulting with clients on blended learning solution strategies; and assisting operations, marketing, IT, and sales with cross-organizational projects.
Sheryl McAtee
Content Development Supervisor and Managing Editor
Pryor Learning Solutions
Sheryl McAtee is the content development supervisor and managing editor at Pryor Learning Solutions. She has more than 30 years of experience in the business training and online learning industry. Sheryl has experience in all phases of ILT and eLearning development including project planning, instructional design, multimedia development, training delivery, vendor management, and content curation. She currently oversees development activities at Pryor Learning Solutions, and leads various project teams to create engaging, effective learning and performance solutions for learners in small, mid-size, and Fortune 500 businesses.
1002 You Have 1 Month and No Money to Create an Online Training Program. Go!
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 3
A neurology medical affairs team at a large pharmaceutical company was facing the perfect storm. A low-priority product with an anticipated launch in over two years had become one of the global company’s most important assets overnight, with a new launch timeline of months. Training was in the process of being converted from self-led to automated. A single trainer was tasked with developing a comprehensive curriculum in a new area (typically 15 to 20 hours) to deploy via LMS. The existing team required training and completion of a new certification process. The team also underwent expansion during this time, which required that the new hires completed onboarding and therapeutic training simultaneously. Management wanted the team to begin the training on the product in three weeks!
In this case study session, you’ll find out how to make the most of limited resources by repurposing existing content, employing blended learning formats, and collaborating with learners and stakeholders to create buy-in and engagement. You will learn about the creative and unorthodox strategies used to create a large amount of content in a short period of time. The instructional design techniques presented in this session are intended to be helpful in a time crunch but can also improve the overall quality of the training. You will explore how a team of veterans and new hires completed a comprehensive training program and successfully obtained certification for field deployment.
In this session, you will learn:
- Video and audio editing techniques in Camtasia to make videos more interactive and engaging
- Tips to increase learner engagement during virtual learning experiences
- Project management strategies to handle accelerated timelines
- How to collaborate with learners and stakeholders to build consensus
- Time management and multitasking strategies to accelerate content development time
Audience:
Designers, developers, and managers
Technology discussed in this session:
TechSmith Camtasia, Snagit, Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, and Articulate Quiz Maker
Jessica McLin
Managing Partner
Versant Learning Solutions
Jessica McLin, managing partner at Versant Learning Solutions, has been an educator in one form or another for the last two decades. Her teaching experience spans a wide variety of audiences: community college students, undergraduates, graduate/post-docs, and professionals. The learning formats have been equally diverse: classrooms, laboratories, conferences, webcasts, and eLearning platforms. Jessica enjoys training and coaching healthcare professionals, including scientific and clinical training as well as professional skills training. Jessica earned a doctorate in neurobiology and behavior from the University of California–Irvine and has received numerous awards and recognition in scientific research, medical affairs, leadership, and education.
1007 Practical Ways to Bring UX into Learning Solutions
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Thursday, March 28
Salon 10
Over the past 10 years, access to mobile devices and the incredible user experiences designed by companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google have dramatically altered the expectations of learners, resulting in disappointment when they come into contact with many learning solutions. Strictly using typical learning design tools and methods isn’t leading you to the leap in learner experience you need to position yourself for the future as a value-add platform for employee acquisition and retention. In a recent LinkedIn Learning research report, nearly two-thirds of learning professionals wouldn’t even recommend their own learning solutions to their learners. It’s a travesty that so many are working so hard to create products they don’t love and don’t recommend.
In this session, you will explore the tools UX professionals commonly use to create incredible experiences. You’ll learn the basics of how to develop personas and use those personas to choose your learning approach. You’ll learn the basics of design thinking and how to leverage it in the learning design process to create out-of-the-box, user-back solutions. You’ll learn how to leverage user research tools like empathy interviews and usability studies to hone your solutions throughout the development cycles. All combined, you’ll have a brand new set of tools and approaches to continue creating solutions that address business needs, but in a way that learners actually want to use.
In this session, you will learn:
- A method to identify learner personas to better focus your learner experience
- How to conduct interviews to develop learner personas, including 20 questions to help you get started
- About the basics of conducting user research—specifically, empathy interviews
- How to incorporate UX tools and methodologies into your instructional design processes
Audience:
Designers, developers, and senior leaders (directors, VP, CLO, executive, etc.)
Matthew Daniel
Founder + Principal
The Learner Collective
Matthew Daniel is founder and principal at the Learner Collective. He is a learning technologist and learner experience advocate with nearly 15 years’ experience across L&D in verticals ranging from technology and finance to pharma and healthcare—including eight Fortune 100s, among them Nike, Microsoft, Capital One, and Cigna. He helps organizations design experiences learners love through solid ID, also leveraging the tools of a tech startup like UX, design thinking, agile development methodologies, and the product mindset. Matthew has been recognized by local ATD chapters for his contributions to the profession, and by Training magazine as a “Young Trainer to Watch.”