Pre-Conference In-Depth Workshop

April 4 & 5 • 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM PT

Have you noticed that in our industry, we spend a lot of time discussing the “right” way to go about designing and developing learning experiences? It can can be difficult to make confident design recommendations when faced with a broad range of input from your stakeholders, peers, and opinions from social media groups and channels. Do you ever find yourself wondering how you can use research to support, inform, and possibly even defend your design decisions? As instructional designers, we want to know what it looks like to apply research in practice day-to-day, or whether we can apply it in a practical way at all. What if you could spend a full day exploring research with your peers and learning practical ways to apply it in your own design process?

In this workshop, you will learn practical ways to apply evidence-based research. We will begin by exploring some common myths that lead instructional designers astray, replacing each with an evidence-based alternative in a “choose this, not that” approach. Then, you will use these principles to evaluate existing learning content and develop a strategy for redesign. You’ll leave this workshop with effective, research-based design approaches in areas such as commitment and motivation, visual design, accessibility, practice activities, and assessments.

Please note:

• We will be leveraging Google Accounts for collaboration in Google Slides and other apps. It is recommended that you sign up for a Google account in advance of the workshop if you do not already have one. If you are unable to use Google apps due to organizational policy, substitute documents will be made available
• Attendees should have a general understanding of elearning instructional design processes and documents such as course outlines, storyboards, and mockups

Key takeaways:

• The research trends that have practical application in instructional design practice versus those that don’t
• How to engage and motivate your learner in ways that lead to performance
• How to make better visual design decisions based on evidence-based research
• How to improve the accessibility of a learning experience grounded in effective design principles
• Proven ways to design practice activities that support your objectives
• Research that informs meaningful assessment design decisions

Sarah Mercier, CEO, Learning Ninjas

Sarah Mercier, CEO and consultant at Learning Ninjas, specializes in innovative learning technology and strategic implementation of learning solutions. Sarah is known for translating highly technical concepts and research to real-world practice. She is an international facilitator and subject matter expert for the Association for Talent Development’s E-Learning Instructional Design, Mobile Learning, and Microlearning certificate programs.

Sarah is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and business events in the areas of instructional strategy, learning technology strategy, and learning solution design and development. 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.