L&D tidbits

💲💲💲 E-learning authoring tools are notoriously expensive! Over 100 instructional designers agree. The market is flooded with tools, but many come with steep prices and restrictive subscriptions. Enter JollyDeck—affordable, powerful, and fun. Try it for free and see the difference!

👩🏻 - "How fast can you click through a course of 10 slides?" 🧑 - "My personal best is 14 seconds 🏆! Can you beat that?" As an instructional designer, does such behaviour frustrate you? Understanding and addressing the root causes—like corporate culture or poor design—can be key to creating engaging content. What’s your approach to improving user engagement?

There’s no such thing as a perfect learning course. While content is undeniably crucial, where should we direct our limited resources once that’s in place? As e-learning designers, we often make concessions. Should we define "good enough" with personal standards or industry-wide criteria?

E-learning design might not seem like the most artistic endeavour, but creativity remains a key advantage for human designers over AI. While workplace learning may not always call for artistic flair, it’s worth considering where to draw the line between creativity and functionality. Where do you place the slider?

Here's a bold take: AI won't flood the market with low-quality learning content. In reality, AI can either help produce more content or raise the quality bar. For top-tier learning experiences, human creativity remains crucial. How would you use AI to enhance your learning content?

No single learning method, including e-learning, can provide all the knowledge we need. Each type of learning contributes to our overall understanding, much like how a balanced diet supports our health. Incorporate e-learning into your mix to enhance your knowledge and growth.

99% of people don’t know how to use personas when writing AI prompts. While many think personas always improve results, it depends on what you're aiming for. Personas can shift AI responses from standard facts to unique perspectives. Give it a try and see the difference!

Can AI resolve the biggest challenges in workplace learning? While it's hard to predict the future, AI is already addressing smaller issues with promising solutions. At JollyDeck, we're focusing on low-risk AI tools like AI-Copilot and a PowerPoint converter to enhance e-learning. How do you view AI’s role—aiming for major innovations or tackling immediate problems?

Imagine you're a movie director—would you start with the script or special effects? The same applies to e-learning. While design and interactivity are crucial, strong content should always come first. Do you agree, or do you prefer a different approach?

How much time does your team spend on each ADDIE phase? In my experience, the development phase tends to take the most effort, but the quality of a learning programme depends on strong analysis and design. Does this match your experience? How would you ideally distribute the time?

AI is reshaping L&D, but not all uses are ethical or beneficial. From over-personalising learning experiences to enforcing compliance and reducing human interaction, some AI applications could compromise our values and well-being. What other uses should we avoid?

What will we do with our new AI superpowers? AI is already helping us work faster and better, and it’s up to us to decide how we use this capability—whether to produce more content quickly or to focus on creating higher-quality work.

I met a manager who believes AI will soon replace many of his employees. But the real focus should be on empowering teams to use AI to boost productivity, not on making them feel insecure. That’s the job of a good manager.

“Run L&D like a startup,” they say, but 90% of startups fail. L&D should focus on building long-term employee relationships, not risky disruptions. Instead, let's aim for gradual, steady improvements that prove their value step by step.

Becoming an outstanding instructional designer isn't about copying others—it's about mastering both design and human-specific skills like communication, problem-solving, and project management. With AI simplifying design, it's time to focus on what truly matters for creating impactful learning content.

Which e-learning navigational model works best for learners? While flexible navigation is great for quick information access, linear guidance is better for learning new topics. It’s about choosing the right model for the right situation. What’s your approach?

Some L&D professionals push learning at the point of need for their own convenience. While performance support tools are great, not everything can be learned on the spot. Effective learning requires a mix of preparation and real-time support, depending on the situation.

My business economics professor taught me: you can't maximise quality with minimal costs. The same goes for creating learning content. AI won't create the best content ever, but it helps achieve "good enough" quality efficiently or improves content when resources are tight.

AI isn't coming for your job; it's people you need to watch out for. But AI can be a powerful tool to help us work smarter and better, enhancing the human aspects of our jobs that truly matter. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

A friend's new job started with a frustrating onboarding experience—endless e-learning on day one, no team interaction, and no tasks. It could have been better with a mix of pre-assigned learning and a human touch on the first day. Know when and how to use e-learning effectively!

Great teachers use questions to engage, not just to test. So why do most e-learning courses stick to the Course/Assessment pattern? Starting with a question or poll can spark curiosity and motivate learners to dive deeper. Let's rethink how we use questions in e-learning.

Fire! What’s your next move? Hopefully, you know because you’ve practised it. But filing a travel claim? That doesn’t need the same approach. It’s time to stop promoting one-size-fits-all learning methods and start choosing what fits the situation best. Deal?

Are you focusing on learning skills that will remain valuable, or are you investing time in ones that might soon be obsolete? As someone with now-useless superpowers like analogue photography and navigating with a compass, I know the importance of choosing wisely. Keep learning and stay adaptable!

Running out of arguments against AI? You can always mention hallucinations. But are they really such a big deal? AI errors happen for several reasons, much like human errors, and as we learn to manage them, they’ll soon become less of an issue.

Still waiting for the perfect moment to start using AI? Don’t wait too long—AI is here to stay and can already enhance productivity across many fields. From generating UI messages to debugging code, my colleagues are finding creative ways to leverage AI every day.

I dislike the phrase "Keep the human in the loop" because it implies humans and AI are on equal footing. Humans still provide context, make decisions, and remain accountable, while AI is a powerful tool aiding our work—not replacing it.

Is GPT-4o (Omni) really the top OpenAI model? It offers speed, updated training data, and multimodal abilities, but there are drawbacks too. After weeks of use, I'm not entirely convinced it's the best choice for every task. Here's what I've learned so far.

Skills are the buzzword today, seen as the new currency in the workplace. But what about knowledge—the deep understanding of how and why things work? It's not about choosing one over the other; it's about finding the right balance. How do we achieve it?

There’s a persistent gap between organisational goals and learning initiatives, rooted in a lack of trust. L&D wants alignment with business goals, while other stakeholders want results first. This Catch-22 needs a solution before it leads us into a standstill. How can we bridge this gap?

We’ve all faced difficult stakeholders—those who miss deadlines, disregard processes, and give opinionated feedback. My approach is clear communication, but sometimes it isn't enough. When faced with indifference, do you grin and bear it or pick a fight?