The eLearning Coach Podcast

In an age when information changes quickly and skills are being reinvented, a formal course may not be the appropriate solution. When knowledge is more of a flow than a static entity, you may prefer to design a learning environment. This is  a collection of resources and activities that are curated for a specific learning need. In this episode, I speak with Catherine Lombardozzi, author of Learning Environments by Design. Catherine has developed a framework for designing learning environments that should be of great interest to those who design learning experiences. Catherine is founder of Learning 4 Learning Professionals, and author of the forthcoming book, Learning Environments by Design (preview available free here). In her consulting work, Catherine focuses on the professional development of designers, facilitators, learning consultants, learning leaders, and faculty and she advises people who are looking to create comprehensive learning and development strategies in many different contexts. Catherine holds a doctoral degree in Human and Organizational Learning from George Washington University. WE DISCUSS: * Difference between learning environment and learning ecosystem * Why we need a new paradigm for learning development * How Web 2.0 influences learning * Four types of learning environments: Blended Learning Hub, Knowledge Exchange, Learning Resource Portal, Collaboratory * How to assess the most effective learning environment for a need and an audience * Situations when designing a learning environment is most effective * Intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning * Research supporting learning environments * Five processes for creating learning environments * How a learning environment has to be designed and maintained over time * How to get started designing learning environments * What's in store for the future of learning professionals TIME: 32 minutes RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Learning 4 Learning Professionals (Catherine's Website) * Related Book Resources * John Seeley Brown * John Hagel Don't miss a thing! Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

If you've been thinking about designing learning games, but haven't quite figured out how to frame the experience, you will enjoy this interview with John Ferrera. John is the creative director of Megazoid games and author of the book Playful Design. He shares his knowledge and experience in this in-depth conversation. John has been thinking about games, playing games and designing games for a long time. His nutrition education game, Fitter Critters, was a top prizewinner in the Apps for Healthy Kids contest, an initiative of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign. John’s background is in user experience design, and he’s been designing games that achieve great things in the real world since 2001. You can follow John on Twitter at @playfuldesign. WE DISCUSS: * Why people get pleasure and satisfaction from playing games * Characteristics of games * Looking at games through a user experience perspective: avoiding boredom and frustration in games * Unique qualities of games that make them a good medium for learning * Research on the effectiveness of games in learning and who is doing the research * Learning through failure * Guidelines for designing persuasive games that change minds * How to create game prototypes * Tools for game development TIME: 44 minutes RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * Unity Programming Language for Games * Hopscotch for iPad * Tiny Tap * Institute of Play * Glass Lab Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

Are you hearing buzz about the Tin Can API and wondering what it is and what it can do? Do you want to spread your wings and take advantage of modern technologies? In this episode, Megan Bowe demystifies the Tin Can API (a.k.a. Experience API or xAPI) and discusses its potential for advancing the learning environment. Megan's knack for explaining the Experience API helped it become the most successful and most quickly adopted learning technology innovation in the last thirty years. She worked hand-in-hand with innovators and early adopters implementing the specification at Rustici Software, teaciing others and designing products, early content and application prototypes.  In many ways, Megan invented much of what the emerging community of practice advocates around this learning technology. She continues the charge today at Making Better. WE DISCUSS: * How SCORM started and it's limitations * What the xAPI offers to designers and learners * What an API is and what it does * The beauty of the Learning Record Store (LRS) * Systems that can create and use xAPI data * Using xAPI for tracking and sharing your own learning or for creating a portfolio * Innovating with Learning Locker * Use cases for xAPI (getting insights in so different ways) * How to combine Tin Can and Open Badges * The big picture view * Getting started with xAPI TIME: 33 minutes RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found] RESOURCES: * Making Better (Megan's website) * xAPI Overview * IEEE Working Group on xAPI * Research Report: The Experience API * Learning Locker * Curatr * Rustici Software SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Share your thoughts about xAPI in Comments below. Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

If you're looking for strategies to make learning more engaging and effective, you'll want to listen to this interview with Dorian Peters. She is the author of Interface Design for Learning: Design Strategies for Learning Experiences and Positive Computing. Dorian is an eLearning interface design evangelist. She currently directs online strategy for the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Education. She is also a founder of the E-learning Network of Australasia. WE DISCUSS: * A broad definition of user interface * How to reduce the extraneous cognitive load in your graphics * Strategies that support effective and efficient visual perception * Advantages of social learning * Strategies to support social learning and community building through interface design * Surprising findings about emotions and learning * Why video is such a good medium for learning * Strategies to make video most effective TIME: 36 Minutes RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found] RESOURCES MENTIONED: * Interface Design for Learning by Dorian Peters * Dorian Peters' Website * The Design of Future Educational Interfaces by Sharon Oviatt: * The New Social Learning by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner * Project Noah: An example of widespread social learning and collaboration Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

Collecting, analyzing and using big data has become embedded in how governments, corporations and institutions work. It's now an expected, though often resented, part of our culture. How can this trend benefit the training and education industry? Is there a way we can use big data to make smarter decisions? In this episode, I interview Ellen Wagner Ph.D., who helps us understand big data and how it can be leveraged to improve learning and development as well as higher education. Ellen is Partner and Senior Analyst for Sage Road Solutions. She is responsible for learning industry intelligence, briefings, enablement and executive solutions and services. In this capacity, Ellen represents the interests of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education while serving as the Executive Director of their Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET). She is the former senior director of worldwide eLearning at Adobe Systems and was a tenured professor and chair of the educational technology program at the University of Northern Colorado.  WE DISCUSS: * What big data is and isn't * Why the learning industry should be paying attention to big data * Decisions we can we make with big data * Problems we can prevent * Using data to get follow and get ahead of the trends * Why we push back on measurement and evaluation of our work * The benefits of being (partially) data driven * Patterns that people are finding in learning analytics * How to cooperate and share de-identified data * Difference between inferential and predictive statistics * Experience API TIME: 30 minutes RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * eLearning Roadtrip (Ellen's blog) * Sage Road Solutions (Ellen's company) * Data Changes Everything: Delivering on the Promise of Learning Analytics in Higher Education by Ellen Wagner * The Big Data Landscape by Ellen Wagner * 10 Things You Need to Know about Big Data * The Surprising Predictive Power of Analytics Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

The field of learning design isn't improving as quickly as many practitioners would like. One way to move things forward is to explore how effective we are at designing learning experiences. With an honest look at our designs, we then know what direction to take to improve. This isn't always easy to do in the world of eLearning. But Julie Dirksen has some solutions. Julie Dirksen is the author of Design For How People Learn. She's an experienced independent consultant and instructional designer with more than 15 years of experience creating highly interactive e-learning experiences. She also has a background in user experience design, game-based learning and behavior change. WE DISCUSS: * Why eLearning design isn't improving quickly * Deliberate practice in eLearning design * Why the feedback loop doesn't get closed * Ways to close the feedback loop * How to do user testing * Why getting an outside perspective is required TIME: 22 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes RESOURCES: * Julie's website: Usable Learning * Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen * My review of Design for How People Learn * Gorilla HCI by Jakob Neilsen * Don't Make Me Think, Revisited by Steve Krug * Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug COMMENT How do you close the feedback loop? Ideas? Comment below. Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

Subscribe in iTunes. Do you feel uncomfortable interviewing users? Does your organization think it's best to avoid discussions with learners? Would you like to improve your interviewing skills? This interview with Steve Portigal will be valuable for anyone who answers yes to these questions. Steve is the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. He has years of experience helping people learn to interview and to better understand their users. In this episode, Steve shares his best practices and advice, making it relevant for user experience and instructional design. WE DISCUSS: * The impact that interviewing has on the product and the designer * The places in a design/development cycle where user input is needed * Skills needed to become good at interviewing users * What you'll need to unlearn * The best attitude to have while interviewing * How to think about and manage "reticence" * Techniques to reinforce learning about the interviewee * How to plan for an interview * Tips for asking good questions * Ways to record interviews  TIME: 42 Minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes RESOURCES * Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights * Portigal Consulting * @steveportigal Get The eLearning Coach monthly newsletter with ideas, articles, freebies and resources. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//forms.aweber.com/form/66/775275066.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "aweber-wjs-ugclr03jo"));

Subscribe or rate in iTunes. An effective content curator pays attention to the big picture to watch patterns and trends. He or she also focuses on the small details to satisfy the needs of the audience. Gaining competence in content curation is a Learning and Development skill for the 21st century. In this podcast, I chat with Robin Good, new media communication expert, and the publisher of MasterNewMedia.org, a web magazine for communication professionals. Based in Rome, Italy, there's no one better to enrich our understanding of what's involved in curation. Robin shares expert techniques, best practices and tools for curation, which can be used to replace or supplement courses and a way to help employees keep up-to-date in their fields. He can be found and reached on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and YouTube as “RobinGood." WE DISCUSS: * What curation means * Steps involved in expert curation * Examples of collaborated curation * Guidelines for collaborating on content curation with a team * Future of content curation * Criteria for choosing tools (there are over 600 curation tools now!) * Preservation of content * Curation tool recommendations TIME: 45 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES Robin's Curation Sites: * Content curation * Online real-time collaboration and conferencing tools * Marketing strategy * Presentation tools * Video publishing * Web publishing tools MasterNewMedia.org Examples of Curation Collaboration by Teams: * Smarter Planet * CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Unusual and Well-done Curation: * Maria Popova's Brain Pickings Content Curation Tool Lists: * Robin's Content Curation Tools Supermap * Robin's Content Curation Tools by Category on Zeef Curation Tools for Content: * Storify * Scoop.It * Flipboard Curation Tools for Images: * Pinterest *

Do you experience frustrating challenges when designing eLearning? This episode looks at some of the common issues designers and developers face. Tom Kuhlmann is Vice President of Community at Articulate, one of the most popular authoring tools and communities in the eLearning industry. In this conversation with Tom, we discuss some of the biggest challenges instructional designers face and how to overcome them. We also take a look at some of the things that could be improved in our industry. Subscribe in iTunes. WE DISCUSS * Difference between learning experiences and performance support * Whether a PDF download can substitute for a compliance course * Is a Click Next course ever appropriate? * The downside of Learning Management Systems * What motivates adult learners * The "throw 'em in the pool" approach to instructional design * How people use ADDIE in the real world * Treatment of employees versus consultants * Industry practices that need improvement * Ways to increase retention * Trends in eLearning * News about Articulate products TIME: 42 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * The Rapid E-Learning Blog * Articulate Community (You don't need to own Articulate products to discuss eLearning issues) Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox once a month, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

Information graphics are a tool for understanding so they have great potential for improving learning. But how do you start designing infographics? In this podcast, Alberto Cairo, visual journalist, educator and author walks listeners through the process. He also talks about the cognitive aspects of visualization. Alberto Cairo is a Professor of the Professional Practice at the School of Communication of the University of Miami. He teaches classes on visual storytelling and infographics. He is the author of the book The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization. Alberto has been a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and director of infographics and multimedia at El Mundo, one of the main national newspapers in Spain, and at Época, the second news magazine in Brazil. His website is thefunctionalart.com, and he can be found on Twitter as @albertocairo. WE DISCUSS: * Real purpose of infographics * Importance of anticipating what your audience will do * Listening to science when it comes to perception * Types of graphic to use for specific goals * Questions to ask yourself when planning an infographic * Infographics are to be read and used * Problem with using pie charts for making comparisons * Alberto's infographic planning process * Principles for designing interactions * Tools and resources for understanding and creating infographics TIME: 46 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES Books Alberto recommends: * Functional Art * The Design of Everyday Things * Visual Language For Designers * Information Dashboard Design * Show Me the Numbers * The Elements of Graphing Data * Creating More Effective Graphs Tools for Creating Interactive Graphics (no programing required) * iChart * Data Wrapper * Google Fusion Tables * Tableau Public Interactive Graphics (programming required) * Processing * D3 * R  Blogs:

Whether you're explaining a process, product or service, explanations are supposed to make things clear. But they often fail. Learn how to create effective explanations from Lee Lefever, co-creator of the excellent Common Craft videos. Lee, who is also the author of The Art of Explanation, shares the knowledge he's gained from years of making short explanatory videos. Learn about the process they use to create Common Craft videos and how you can get access to the assets they use. At the end, Lee makes a surprising announcement! Subscribe in iTunes WE DISCUSS: * Goal of explanations * Self-explanation effect * What makes explanations fail * How to make better explanations * Finding the right level for your audience * Using novelty in explanations * Overcoming the curse of knowledge * Getting agreement with your audience * When to use and not use stories in explanations * Storyboard and video process Common Craft uses * How long people watch videos in "lean forward" mode * How to get Common Craft assets TIME: 31 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Common Craft Videos * The Art of Explanation * Go Animate * Jam Handy Differential Gear Video (1937) Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every few weeks, with articles, tips, freebies and resources.

Smart organizations are concerned with employee engagement. Engagement results from an open and connected culture that promotes collaborative technologies and a pervasive learning model. In this episode, I chat with Dan Pontefract, author of Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization. Dan champions cultural transformations that promote an engaged workforce. Find out how you can push your organization in this direction. WE DISCUSS: * Why organizations are culturally broken * What's wrong with today's leadership thinking * Trust levels in organizations * The central thesis of Flat Army * Advantages of an open and collaborative work culture * How leaders can give up control * Symptoms of a disengaged workforce * Why leaders aren't more concerned about the lack of engagement * The Pervasive Learning Model * How a grassroots effort can make a culture more open TIME: Around 30 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization * Dan's Website Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every few weeks, with ideas, articles, freebies and resources.

Are you using outdated research when you design learning experiences? In this podcast, Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., uncovers some of the mysteries surrounding learning and the brain. Susan has a knack for explaining complex processes in simple everyday language. She helps people and organizations learn about and apply research in psychology and brain science to understand, predict, and direct human behavior. Her most recent book is, How to Get People to Do Stuff. She is also the author of these other books (see links in RESOURCES below): * 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People * 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People * Neuro Web Design We discuss: * How many chunks of information can learners hold in mind? * Do you need to understand your audience's mental models and schemas? * Is there such a thing as a learning style? * Why is it important to organize information? * What are memory traces and how do they work? * What are the best ways to help learners retain information? * Why do people remember anecdotes better than data? * How important is visual design to the learning experience? * Why are people addicted to seeking information? TIME: Around 30 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Susan Weinschenk Institute * The Brain Lady Blog * How to Get People to Do Stuff * 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People * 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People * Neuro Web Design Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox every few weeks, with articles, tips, freebies and resources.  

Are you wondering how to transform in-person training to a virtual classroom? Do you want to improve the effectiveness of your webinars? If so, you'll want advice from online event expert and speaker coach, Karen Hyder. In this podcast, Karen shares ways to keep your audience attentive and engaged. And she explains how you can minimize the endless issues that can bog down virtual events by never going it alone. We discuss: * Drivers for moving from face-to-face training to virtual classrooms and webinars * Types of internal resistance you might get * How to overcome resistance * Advice for being a first-time producer * What's best? Telephony or VOIP * How learners respond to a virtual classroom environment * Two best practices for adapting classroom content for virtual * Roles required for producing a virtual event * Is the producer the wizard behind the curtain? * Best practices for being a producer * How to read your virtual audience * How to use social media in the virtual classroom/webinar * The most common mistake to avoid What tips do you have for making virtual learning experiences a success? Answer in the Comments below. TIME: 20 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Contact Karen at: Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting * Webinar Best Practices: Interview with Karen Hyder   Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox twice a month, with articles, tips and resources.

Subscribe in iTunes Jonathan Halls, former BBC learning executive and author of Rapid Video Development For Trainers provides awesome tips for designing and shooting video. Whether you're new to video or have some experience, you're sure to benefit from Jonathan's knowledge. WE DISCUSS: * When video is effective for learning * How to make talking heads "less boring" * Two purposes of B Roll * How to use the visual language of video * Benefits of creating storyboards * Message layers in video * Common newbie mistakes * Frequency of changing shots * Uses for instructional video via social media * Considerations when shooting video for mLearning * Five functions your video camera should have * Complete video setup for $500 TIME: Around 35 minutes TRANSCRIPT: Download the [Download not found]. RESOURCES: * Rapid Video Development for Trainers by Jonathan Halls * Jonathan Halls & Associates Get The eLearning Coach delivered to your Inbox once a month, with articles, tips and resources.