You spent three weeks on that compliance module. Got the objectives perfectly clear. Slide two, exactly where Gagne said they should be. Your instructional design was textbook. Then you watched what happened: Learners skimmed the objectives and jumped ahead. Exit interviews revealed the pattern: “I knew what I was supposed to learn, so I didn’tContinueContinue reading “Most Instructional Designers Put This at the Start. Here’s Why YOU Shouldn’t!”
Category Archives: learning
Stop Building Courses. Start Fixing Problems.
A practical crash course in performance-first thinking It’s Tuesday at 2:47 PM when the Slack message arrives. “We need a two-hour eLearning course on communication skills. By Friday.” If you’re in L&D or instructional design, you probably fire back: What content should it include? Video or scenarios? Self-paced or instructor-led? Here’s the uncomfortable truth: thoseContinueContinue reading “Stop Building Courses. Start Fixing Problems.”
Debunking Learning Styles: What The Research Really Says
You’re in a kickoff meeting. Someone suggests, “Let’s find out everyone’s learning style first. Then we can tailor the training.” Heads nod. It sounds thoughtful. It sounds learner-centered.And you feel that small, nagging voice: Is this actually a thing? If you’ve been in L&D for a while, you’ve probably been in that room. It feltContinueContinue reading “Debunking Learning Styles: What The Research Really Says”
Take Back Your Feed: A Simple Guide to Getting Started With RSS (Even If Tech Intimidates You)
Most of us are drowning in information. Emails. Social feeds. Notifications piling on notifications. You look away for one minute and miss three posts from a writer you actually wanted to read—because an algorithm decided you needed fourteen kitchen remodeling hacks instead. There’s a better way to keep up with the things you care about.ContinueContinue reading “Take Back Your Feed: A Simple Guide to Getting Started With RSS (Even If Tech Intimidates You)”
AI Can Help Us Be More Human: The Director’s Job
AI has become the loudest voice in every room right now. Especially in learning and development. The headlines promise revolution. The vendors promise automation. And many of us quietly wonder what happens to our own value when machines can generate courses, videos, and entire learning modules faster than we can write a learning objective. ButContinueContinue reading “AI Can Help Us Be More Human: The Director’s Job”
Friday Finds – Better endings, smarter work, and your new AI research sidekick
Friday Finds – How to end better, learn smarter, and research faster “There is only one success—to be able to spend your life in your own way.” — Christopher Morley I’ve always liked that saying: you either win or you learn. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of learning. The kind that comes with friction — theContinueContinue reading “Friday Finds – Better endings, smarter work, and your new AI research sidekick”
Stop Overloading Your Learners’ Brains: A Practical Guide to Minimizing Extraneous Cognitive Load
Marcus spent six weeks building the perfect compliance training for his company’s 2,000 employees. Interactive scenarios. Animated compliance mascot. Video testimonials from leadership. Gamified quizzes with leaderboards and achievement badges. Custom dashboard with real-time progress tracking. Background music to “enhance focus.” (spoiler: that usually backfires unless it serves a clear instructional or motivational goal). CompletionContinueContinue reading “Stop Overloading Your Learners’ Brains: A Practical Guide to Minimizing Extraneous Cognitive Load”
Stop Creating Content From Scratch: The L&D Strategy That Marketing Has Perfected
Your employees waste nearly 10 hours every week hunting for information they need to do their jobs. (1) That’s more than a full workday spent searching instead of performing. But here’s the counterintuitive truth: The problem isn’t too little content. It’s too much. While L&D teams scramble to create more content, smart organizations have discoveredContinueContinue reading “Stop Creating Content From Scratch: The L&D Strategy That Marketing Has Perfected”
🎧 Clickbait & Cognitive Load
A Soundtrack for L&D Pros, Marketing Nerds, and Anyone Caught in the Creative Crossfire Let’s be honest: working at the intersection of Learning & Development and Marketing is like directing a Broadway show… during a thunderstorm… with a script that keeps changing. Some days, you’re designing beautiful learning experiences, guiding behavior change, and aligning toContinueContinue reading “🎧 Clickbait & Cognitive Load”
Friday Finds — OpenAI’s ‘Deep Research’ Feature, Consistent AI Characters, Standing Out as an L&D Pro
Subscribe via email “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”– Albert Einstein I’ve been thinking about all of you reading this from outside the US, and I just wanted to say – I know things look pretty chaotic over here right now. Honestly? I’m a bit embarrassed by what’s unfolding in ourContinueContinue reading “Friday Finds — OpenAI’s ‘Deep Research’ Feature, Consistent AI Characters, Standing Out as an L&D Pro”
Mike Taylor 