Our work in the L&D field has been regularly reinvigorated and revised by borrowing concepts and practices from other disciplines. We borrowed the Agile Project methodology from our IT colleagues; we conceptualized multi-faceted, multi-channel learning and development by adopting ideas from biological ecosystems; we expanded our understanding of curation by exploring the curator role in [...]
Wanna see something interesting? I’m currently teaching a graduate course in instructional design, and this week’s learning community discussion asks the students to try their hand at writing objectives for one of several practice cases. (They’ll be writing objectives for their projects in the coming weeks, after the results of their needs analyses are in, [...]
There’s an often-used saying that applies to learning and development interventions: garbage in, garbage out. If your inputs are bad, the outputs will be, too. If you don’t want garbage, it’s not as helpful to catch the stinky stuff coming out as it is to make sure there’s no trashy stuff going in. L&D professionals [...]
"A prudent question is one-half of wisdom." ~ Francis Bacon Many years ago, I provided job hunt and career counseling to people in transition. One day, a man came into my office for help trying to land a good job as a news camera operator at a network station. He was totally frustrated because he [...]
I wonder if you can relate to any of these scenarios: The final review. You’ve worked for quite some time on an important project, and finally, it’s done! You proudly show your finished product to your client and get a disappointing response. She lists a half dozen tweaks she wants made that will take more [...]
A friend and I have season tickets for the Pennsylvania Ballet, an extravagance that we dearly enjoy. We’ve also been attending the “Prelude” program, where a member of the company gives a brief talk and Q&A just prior to the performance. This past Sunday, we were thrilled that our speaker was Matthew Neenan, the Pennsylvania [...]
Today I engaged in a conversation with Sean Michael Morris (@slamteacher) and others in the #moocmooc stream that has prompted me to ponder the difference between instructional design and learning environment design. And thinking about that has me bouncing between my constructivist heart that tells me I can never really be sure people "meet objectives" [...]
In the coming weeks, I’m participating as I can in the latest iteration of #moocmooc which is focused on instructional design. The topic is near to my heart… I engage in instructional design for a living: as a faculty developer, adjunct faculty member, and workshop facilitator – and, in a totally meta twist, the subject [...]