I recently talked with a colleague about a recent workshop on accessible elearning that a few colleagues and I held at the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. He said that it was rare that people think about accessibility (that is, ensuring that content is usable by those with disabilities) when creating online training. Sadly, he’s right, and that’s just wrong. Instructional designers are often focused on things other than accessibility when creating
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Project Spotlight: Verbal De-escalation Training for the National Center for Campus Public Safety
The following summarizes Microassist’s work developing a Verbal De-escalation training program for the National Center for Campus Public Safety. The project was recognized with the 2019 Leaders in Learning award from the Austin Chapter of the Association of Talent Development. Issue Today’s institutions of higher education present both new and continuing demands of professionals responsible for maintaining safety and security on campuses. The National Center for Campus Public Safety’s Verbal
READ MORE about Project Spotlight: Verbal De-escalation Training for the National Center for Campus Public SafetyA Look Back (and Forward) at Ed-Tech Trends in L&D
This year starts a new decade (or ends one, but let’s not restart that argument). It is a great time to look ahead and see where the influence of ed-tech trends on learning and development might take us (or where we might take learning and development). Before looking forward, looking back offers some caution. Audrey Watters has an article on the 100 Worst Ed-Tech Debacles of the Decade. It is
READ MORE about A Look Back (and Forward) at Ed-Tech Trends in L&DThe Year in Learning: 2019 Edition
“What’s past is prologue.” -William Shakespeare, The Tempest Learning and development is a constantly evolving field, and every month Microassist’s Senior Learning Architect, Kevin Gumienny, highlights a few articles that provide insight into the field. If you missed (or would like to revisit) stories from his Learning Dispatch newsletters in 2019, here’s a chance to review. The stories are grouped in several categories: Accessibility Instructional Design Learning Experience Evaluation Inspiration
READ MORE about The Year in Learning: 2019 EditionTechnology Drivers & Elearning|Takeaways from DevLearn 2019
Last month I was at DevLearn in Las Vegas. As usual for a really good conference, I left with a stretched mind and new perspectives (and, as is regrettably common in a conference, there was little about documentation, or templates, or any of the other themes that I’ve recently been discussing). One thing that caught my eye was what seemed to be a recurring theme of technological determinism. That is,
READ MORE about Technology Drivers & Elearning|Takeaways from DevLearn 2019The Positives of a ‘Foolish Consistency’
“A foolish consistency,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” I have, it seems, a very little mind. I adore consistency. And documentation, especially documentation surrounding expectations, enables a consistent approach, not only in training design, but also in working with training teams. If team members know the expectations, they also know what they need to achieve. We use
READ MORE about The Positives of a ‘Foolish Consistency’Effective Elearning and the Template Dilemma
Do you use templates when building elearning? I’m a big fan of templates (as I am of other methods of standardization). I love the idea of having a set of optimized formats for content. Plug and play, everything works with a minimum of fuss and bother. But templates can be problematic. Designers and developers want to develop new and more interesting ways to present information. They want to explore better
READ MORE about Effective Elearning and the Template DilemmaShould My Training Team Use a Style Guide?
Yes. Until next time, Kevin Okay, perhaps a bit more explanation. A style guide is just one form of documentation that I talked about last month. And I’ve mentioned style guides here and there in the past. I’m a big believer in style guides. This admiration isn’t universal. Several people I’ve met think they’re too restrictive. Shouldn’t the designer have the ability to use whichever font, whichever color, whichever layout,
READ MORE about Should My Training Team Use a Style Guide?This Month in Learning – Summer Edition
Every month, Microassist’s Learning Dispatch newsletter features commentary by our own Senior Learning Architect Kevin Gumienny. Each edition also features learning and development articles and blogs curated across the web. We have gathered his This Month in Learning (TMIL) June, July and August articles to add to your “must read” list. TMIL August Is it finally the time when augmented reality will enter the world of training? According to the
READ MORE about This Month in Learning – Summer EditionThe Case for Documentation
Do you hate documentation? You have to create it, keep it up-to-date, use it, make sure that other people use it. And there’s always the risk that you spend more time maintaining it than you spend working on the actual project. And yet… I adore and (attempt to) follow the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition—we’re a bit behind the times). I know it’s 1026 pages on topics like when
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