The LDA Podcast: An Exploration of Evidence-Informed Approaches to Learning and Development – Détails, épisodes et analyse

We are rejoined by Will Thalheimer to talk about one of his favorite topics, awards in the L&D industry. Should we have them? Should we give them out? How do we do it better… if at all?

We explore a pretty exhaustive list of the general issues with using and distributing awards among industry professionals by industry professional groups. Heck, we even find a few good points to support the tradition, as well.

• Are these industry awards fair?
• Are they judged effectively and fairly? 
• What are, and should, be the criteria for winning an award? What rubric is used? Who designs the rubric? Are we even rewarding the “right” stuff (whatever that means)?
• What about money? Application fees? And paying for the awards? Bias? Vendor relationships?
• Heck, are these awards even manageable… doable in order to ensure claimed standards and fairness?
• ‎Is an evolving approach, perhaps to think about certification?  
• Who judges the judges?

Will even hands out an award called the Neon Elephant Award, as he attempts to bypass many of the issues we discuss. You can learn more about it here: https://www.worklearning.com/2010/11/02/neon-elephant-award/. Does he succeed?

Yes— we know there are tons of awards out there, so we are speaking generically. But the questions of fairness and appropriate judgement still hold. 

Matt references NASAGA. The North American Simulation and Gaming Association. We also reference ISPI, the International Society for Performance Improvement.

Any conversation about awards within the context of L&D would, and should, lead to a conversation about program and practitioner evaluation. We, of couse, talk about Will’s Learning Transfer Evaluation Model (LTEM). You can learn more about that here: https://www.worklearning.com/ltem/.

Will brings up one of his passion ideas… that within L&D, we should have independent journalists investigating and report on how we do, what we do, and what we could do better. He originally talks it about it in the LDA Podcast, Episode 4.

And what about impact? Is impact the key? Or, are we missing the boat? What about the differences between learning and impact? How do we ensure that our learning engagement was actually the cause of the identified impact.

LDA had the wonderful, Alex Edmans, from the London Business School, on our MEET THE AUTHOR Series. The video is here: https://members.ldaccelerator.com/c/meet-the-author-space/meet-the-author-alex-edmans. We reference his new book, May Contain Lies. You can find the book and learn more about Alex, here: https://alexedmans.com/books/

Will’s new book is The CEO’s Guide to Training, eLearning, and Work. You can learn more and buy it here: https://www.ceosguide.net. 

You can learn more about Will here: https://www.worklearning.com/about/.

In this episode of the AI and L&D Insights Podcast, Markus sits down with Katja Schipperheijn, a pioneer in learning ecosystems and recently named a 2024 Power Woman. Katja shares her journey from traditional sales training to spearheading innovative learning environments that prioritize social collaboration and AI-driven personalization. Discover how Katja’s concept of "Learning in the Flow of Life" challenges conventional educational models and why embracing a Learning Mindset is critical for both personal and organizational growth. Tune in to explore the future of learning, where technology and human curiosity meet.

Book "The Learning Mindset": https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Mindset-Combining-Competencies-Technology/dp/1398617334/ref=sr_1_1

Book "Learning Ecosystems": https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Ecosystems-Innovative-Tech-driven-Strategies/dp/1398607401/ref=sr_1_2

Katja on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katjaschipperheijn/

Katja on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katjaschipperheijn/

The Learning Mindset: https://thelearningmindset.org/

In this episode, we asked our good friend, David Ganulin to join us to talk about marketing and how the domain of marketing can inform learning and development. Of course, that didn't stop us from deviating off topic! Of course, we still do The Best and the Worst.

We have a brief conversation about the following concepts:

•  Hard Fun, coined by Dr. Seymour Papert. You can find out more here: https://dailypapert.com/hard-fun/
• Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi: Flow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
• Vygotsky and Zone of Proximal Development: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development
• Robert Bjork- Desired Difficulty: https://3starlearningexperiences.wordpress.com/2023/02/21/demystifying-desirable-difficulties-1-what-they-are/
• Anders Ericsson Deliberate Practice: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-40718-001

Matt differentiates between Openers and Icebreakers here: https://www.thiagi.com/games/2023/4/27/linking-in-with-matt

In the meantime, Matt referenced LDA's good friend, Ashley Sinclair and her company, MAAS Marketing, which provides marketing services specifically for L&D teams in organizations. You can find out more about Ashley here: https://www.maas-marketing.co.uk/

A bit more about Dave:

David Ganulin tries to use his marketing superpowers so good triumphs over evil. He loves that he can write in the third person, as well as the fact that he literally just used the term "marketing superpowers" in the first sentence of a professional bio unironically. He graduated from the University of Rochester with an M.S in Teaching, Curriculum, and Development and upon graduation, left for Japan where he served as a college Professor for five years in a variety of institutions teaching English as a Second Language, English literature, writing, and other advanced classes.

Upon returning to New York City in 2000, he found himself at the tail end of Dot Bomb 1.0, and we all know how that went! He served in a variety of marketing positions beginning in 2001 and was lucky enough to learn the field from the ground up from being hands-on as well as from some incredible Mentors in the field. Along the way--while serving in a variety of higher level positions, he caught the entrepreneur bug and in 2001 (when absolutely nobody knew what a kettlebell was) ended up finding, scaling (with no outside capital), and eventually exiting a leading B2B education company KettleBell Concepts. He's been working alongside Pete Moore--Managing Partner of Integrity Square--as the firm's Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Producer of HALO Talks podcast since October 2018.

You can find David here:

Integrity Square: https://www.integritysq.com/ Halotalks: https://www.halotalks.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidganulin/

In this thought-provoking episode, Markus interviews Mike Vaughan, a seasoned expert in AI applications, as well as neuroscience. Discover how AI is revolutionizing simulations, making them more accessible and cost-effective. Learn about the shift towards experience-centric learning and the potential of AI-powered personalized and adaptive learning within simulations. Mike also shares insights on the current state of AI adoption in organizations and emphasizes the importance of community for L&D professionals navigating the rapid changes brought by AI. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve and learn how AI is shaping the future of learning and development.

Here is how you can find Mike:

• The Thinking Effect - https://www.thethinkingeffect.com/
• Mike Vaughan on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsvaughan/
• The Regis Company - https://go.regiscompany.com/your-organizations-fast-track-to-skill-development-0

Clark and Matt are joined by the wonderful Emma Weber. For those unfamiliar with Emma, she is the founder of Lever – Transfer of Learning, and developer of the Turning Learning into Action™ methodology.

In this first episode of a two-part series, we explore coaching. What is it? How does it work? How should it work. And, of course, we go all over the place as we converse. We end the episode with the best and the worst.

Emma and Clark reference LDA friend, Julie Dirksen and her latest book, Talk to the Elephant and her first book, Design for How People Learn. We talked with Julie just a few episodes ago.

Clark references Collins and Brown's application of Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_apprenticeship

Emma references Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Anderson_(businessman).

Clark references Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership_theory.

The debate between Matt and Emma is/ was on April 3, 2024 and can be found on the LDA website.

More about Emma. In 2002 Emma left a successful corporate career in London to start her own business in Australia, following her passion for coaching and learning. Her firm belief, and the platform on which she has built her successful global business, is that the goal of learning in the workplace is to create tangible business benefits. She established Lever – Transfer of Learning to help organisations and their employees convert learning to effective action back on the job. Under her guidance Lever Learning now delivers programs throughout 16 countries and in 11 languages. She is the author of Turning Learning into Action: A Proven Methodology for Effective Transfer of Learning, published by Kogan Page in 2014.   

You can find Emma via her website: https://transferoflearning.com/ or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmaweber/.

In Part two, available in a month, we will explore coaching accreditation. Who decides what makes a good coach and how can one evaluate the quality of all those coaches out there? And, of course what kind of coaching is effective?

In this episode of the LDA Podcast, we are joined by Jordan Wilson, host of the top 10 podcast "Your Everyday AI". Together with Jordan, we review the developments of Generative AI, why he started the podcast, how it is changing the way we learn and the way we work, why not to trust AI detection systems, and much, much more.

Show notes: Your Everyday AI Website: www.youreverydayai.com Jordan Wilson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanwilson04/

Matt and Clark are so happy to have our dear friend and colleague, Elham Arabi join for the episode.

In this show, we explore the nuance, and sometimes vague aspects, of culturally responsive learning and how that intricately ties to research and practice. In other words, what are the business cultural facets that affect learning initiatives. What norms, standards, values, and political schema all have impacts?

Matt shamelessly references his own model for why stakeholders say no... (1) They don't buy the premise-- they don't accept the problem as stated. (2) They don't buy the solution. They accept the problem as stated, but not the solution you offer. (3) Or, they accept the problem AND the solution as offered, but don't like or trust you to deliver it.

Elham referenced Adam Grant's book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know.

If you want to watch the debate between Clark and Will, you will have to join LDA at the platinum level to access the video here: https://ldaccelerator.com/join

Matt references Self-Determination Theory (SDT). SDT is a widely research theory for how people are motivated. The premise is that all humans have three basis psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). When those needs are met, one is more likely to be intrinsically motivated toward a task. When they are undermined, one is like to be more extrinsically motivated, or not motivated at all. The theory was initially devised and studied by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan while they were at the University of Rochester. Here is a link to an article Matt wrote on the topic in context to learning: https://ldaccelerator.com/lda-blog-1/open-the-motivational-door-and-let-the-learners-in-and-keep-them. The checklist Matt references can be found here: https://ldaccelerator.com/motivation-checklist.

Clark references Amy Edmundson and her work on Learning culture: https://hbr.org/2008/03/is-yours-a-learning-organization and Harold Jarche's talks about how well you share with others: https://jarche.com/2014/02/the-seek-sense-share-framework/.

Clark also references Geert Hofstede and his work on Cultural Dimensions. Mindtools offers a nice summary here: https://www.mindtools.com/a1ecvyx/hofstedes-cultural-dimensions

Elham references The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer.

She also references Mark Britz and James Tyer's Social by Design: How to Create and Scale a Collaborative Company.

Matt highlights Thiagi's SPARK Model for Trust: Selflessness, Predictability, Authenticity, Relatedness, and Know-How.

Matt referenced the Heterodox Academy founded by Steven Pinker, founder here: https://heterodoxacademy.org/

You can find Elham on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elhamarabi/

More on Elham... She is an award-winning learning designer and global consultant in corporate and higher-ed with more than 15 years’ experience in the US, South-East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She has championed better evaluation practices in several organizations and done practical research on evaluation to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of learning programs that lead to learning transfer and impact. She holds a PhD in Interaction and Media Sciences from the University of Nevada, where her thesis was on enhancing training design based on training evaluation to investigate the effects on training transfer. 

Join us in this insightful episode of the LDA Podcast as we delve into the fascinating world of AI with Jennifer Solberg, CEO of Quantum Improvement Consulting. Discover the cutting-edge intersection of technology and human performance, explore the real-world applications of AI in learning and government sectors, and unravel the hype vs. reality of AI in our daily lives. Jennifer brings her expertise in learning science, defense training, and AI collaboration, offering a unique perspective on the future of AI in enhancing human capabilities. Tune in for a deep dive into the collaborative dynamics of AI and its impact on learning and development.

You can find out more about Jennifer here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifersolberg/ https://www.quantumimprovements.net/

In this episode, Matt is joined by the eminent educational psychologist, Paul Kirschner. Paul is truly one of the most qualified humans on the planet to talk about our topic this episode-- skills. The word skills is bandied about all over our industry. And we all agree it is important for people to develop skills. But, what do we mean by skills? Have we perhaps oversimplified this concept? During the episode, Paul and Matt hit several specific areas related to this often used, extremely important, but still ill-defined concept (at least within our industry)- skills:

1. What is a skill? What are complex skills? What are generic skills? Domain-specific skills?
2. What is the cognitive architecture?
3. Can skills be taught? What about leadership? Creativity? Etc.? Of course... you know the answer... it's nuanced!
4. From an instructional design perspective, how should we go about teaching “skills.”
5. What are the mistakes educators and trainers make when it comes to skills?
6. What are the misconceptions we have about skills?
7. How should we test whether a learner can perform a skill and what do those tests tell us?
8. Then there is Cognitive Load Theory..., Oh my!
9. And, more!

There are many places you can find Paul. But, the best place is at his blog, 3-Star Learning Experiences.

Paul has written several books. Some of our favorites, of which many of the subjects touched upon here, are delved into deeply there. They include, but are not limited to:

Ten Steps to Complex Learning How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology Evidence Informed Learning Design Urban Myths about Learning and Education More Urban Myths about Learning and Education

We also have a bit of a conversation about John Sweller. John is an Australian educational psychologist best known for formulating the influential theory of cognitive load. A wonderful YouTube video of John talking about cognitive load is here.

And if you want to see a quick video of Paul... Here you go... one from a few years ago... https://ldaccelerator.com/giants-in-ld/paul-a-kirschner. 

In this episode of AI and L&D Insights, Markus and Myra Roldan explore the rapid evolution of AI in learning and development. They discuss the impact of large language models and AI tools on upskilling, emphasizing the importance of ethical AI use and diverse representation in the field. Myra shares insights on integrating augmented and virtual reality with AI for immersive learning experiences and highlights initiatives like Amazon's educator enablement program and youth engagement programs. This episode is a thought-provoking journey into AI's transformative role in education and workforce preparedness.

And here are the links referenced and the way to find Myra.

• Notebook LM https://notebooklm.google/
• Notion https://www.notion.so/
• Bloks https://www.bloks.app/manifesto
• Fathom https://fathom.video/
• AWS Machine Learning University https://aws.amazon.com/machine-learning/educators/Myra Roldan
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/myraroldan
• Website: https://www.learnwithmyra.online/