Instructional designer Alex Mitts joins me to discuss his transition from a position in educational technology to higher ed instructional design. He talks about his expectations for a what an instructional design role might be and those differ from the role he currently has. He also talks about his strategies in preparing for his transition, including brushing up on tools Like Storyline, and expanding his network. Alex also shares his thoughts on whether he thinks it's easier or more...

Instructional designer and founder of The Next Step: Life After Teaching, Sara Stevick, joins me to talk about her passion to help educators transition out of classroom and into the world of instructional design. Sara shares a little about her own journey and her motivations for wanting to provide resources and advice to current and former teachers.  Follow Sara on LinkedIn, join the TNSLAT LinkedIn group, or visit lifefafterteaching.co. --- Send in a voice message:...

Betty Dannewitz of the "If You Ask Betty" podcast joins me to talk about what she knows best -- augmented reality. In this episode Betty talks about her journey into becoming one of the leaders in using AR tech in the field of instructional design. She gives some awesome ideas for AR projects that you can make right now using Zappar, and how to pitch the tech to your boss or your client. She also gives a special shoutout to her student Anuradha (Ann) Gopa for her creative AR Employee Rewards...

Instructional designer and CEO of Anchored Training, Vanessa Alzate, joins me to chat about ways to realistically incorporate or pitch gamification in your ID projects. Vanessa is no stranger to keeping things real. In fact, it's one of the core values of her freelance instructional design business. Vanessa's advice for keeping gamification realistic is to start small. Another big tip is to consider your audience. For instance, not everyone responds well to a leaderboard, but sales people...

Fellow instructional designer and podcaster, Heidi Kirby, joins me to share some pointers on how and why to start an instructional design or L&D podcast. Heidi is the Instructional Design Manager at Verasana, and runs The BLOC (Building Learning and Organizational Culture) Podcast. We talk about reasons why we both started our respective podcasts and discuss the many lessons we've learned along the way, such as the importance of having a plan and establishing a posting schedule that you...

Instructional designer Jennette Skaggs joins me to give a brief overview of her role as a sales enablement specialist at Progress. If you are anything like me, you may never have heard of this role before, but once you know what it is, you will see sales enablement job postings everywhere. Jennette shares a little bit about her day to day, and the ways in which sales enablement crosses over with a traditional L&D role.  You can connect with Jennette on LinkedIn.  --- Send in a voice...

The Chief of Awesomeness Alexander Salas joins me to talk about his new program, Become ID, a budget friendly program which aims to provide guidance and assistance to folks who are trying to transition into instructional design.  Alex shares a little bit about the conception of the program, what it entails, and how it differs from other courses that are offered through eLearningLaunch.com.  He also takes some time to talk about his own journey in the field of instructional design and why...

Instructional designer turned customer success consultant, Erin Peterschick, joins me to talk about the constantly changing and evolving world of learning tech. Erin discusses what's been most surprising about her new role at Totara, the company behind the award-winning learning experience platform. We also talk about the challenges of implementing increasingly newer and more complex applications in the workplace, as well as the fallout of our society's churn and burn culture. Erin shares how...

Instructional designer and program manager Dr. Luke Hobson joins me to chat about what instructional design looks like in the higher education setting. He gives a brief overview of the day-to-day of what a higher ed ID does, and lists some pros and cons about higher ed versus a corporate ID position. He also gives some advice to any people looking to transition into higher ed from a K-12 background, and emphasizes the need to have a firm grasp on both tools and processes.  You can find out...

In this special episode, I hand over the reigns to newcomer Amy Petricek, and let her interview me about my journey from the world of education to instructional design. Amy is a naturally inquisitive person, so I knew she'd make an excellent guest host! We talk about how we first met, how I first got interested in instructional design, the importance of sharing your learning journey, and the secret to success in my career search. SPOILER ALERT: it was people!  You can connect with Amy on...

Learning experience designer Cheryl Oberlin joins me to discuss the unique challenges that face adult learners in the corporate setting. We discuss why some adult learners may be reluctant to even engage in continued learning once they are out of the academic setting, and some ways to engage unmotivated learners.  Connect with Cheryl on LinkedIn.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thatsawesomeid/message

I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on what an awesome journey this has been so far. Thank you to all my guests, listeners, subscribers, and cheerleaders. I didn't know if I'd continue past a few episodes, but you have all inspired me to keep going. As a thank you I've put together a blooper reel of silly moments from the first nine episodes. Enjoy! If you have enjoyed the show so far, please consider heading over to iTunes to leave a rating and review. It will help get the word...

Learning experience designer Chris Syracuse joins me to discuss Cognitive Load Theory. Coming from a technical communications and visual design background, Chris is particularly interested in how the theory of cognitive load might inform better learning design decisions. We talk about schemas, the power of seven plus-or-minus two, and why too much interactivity might actually be putting learners into the extraneous cognitive load zone. Chris also mentions a few things you should avoid using...

Instructional designer Mike Peacock joins me to discuss the ways his company has used augmented reality as both a marketing and training tool. We geek out about audio production, Zappar's new AR headset, the ZapBox, and the challenge of learning development applications like Unity. Mike also shares his personal philosophy to "focus on the art of possibility" and how that applies to trying out new things, including new technologies.  You can connect with Mike on LinkedIn.  --- Send in a...

The multi-talented Cheryl Cooper joins me to talk about her transition from a career in chemical engineering to learning and development. She shares the many lessons she learned over the course of her transition and offers advice to others who may be interested in a career as an instructional designer or eLearning developer. We also chat about how generous and awesome the L&D/ID community is on LinkedIn and the value of helping out those who may be coming up after you by sharing knowledge...

Instructional designer and author Tim Slade joins me to talk about the new release of his book "The eLearning Designer's Handbook". He graciously allows me to fangirl over the layout, design, and content of this book because I think it's just so neat. He also explains the inspiration for the book and gives advice on how to make eLearning that feels more like a learning event than a training. Finally, he shares his last minute idea to create companion notebooks to go along with the handbook so...

Instructional designer Elisabeth Huber discusses the concept of designerly thinking as a key trait that instructional designers should possess. I had never heard the term before, so naturally I was intrigued. She talks how she came across the term in her graduate studies and fell down the research rabbit hole to learn more. We also chat a little bit about our respective instructional design grad school experiences so far and ask the important question, "Where are all the e-Learning examples...

Senior instructional designer Samuel Apata joins me to talk about the Association for Talent Development, a.k.a ATD,  a talent development organization that offers courses, trainings, seminars and more to L&D professionals. Not only is Samuel a member, he is also the Vice President of Marketing of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter. We talk about the benefits of joining an organization like ATD, and the benefits of continuous development in general, whether that be by attending learning...

Instructional designer Veronica Celina Dominguez joins me to discuss the genius simplicity of GoDesignSomething.co, a website that contains endless project ideas for instructional designers. She walks listeners through how to use the site as a jumping off point for creating professional portfolio pieces, or as a way for people who are curious about ID to get their feet wet. We also discuss different thought leaders in instructional design, including Cara North, Alexander Salas, and Nyla...

Instructional Media Designer and former TESOL instructor Sharon Tjaden-Glass joins me to discuss the SOFLA framework for virtual flipped learning. SOFLA (Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach) is an 8-step framework that guide instructors in the creation of virtual  learning experiences that replicate some of the benefits of the flipped classroom model and was developed by Helaine W. Marshall and Ilka Kostka, PhD.  You can learn more about the SOFLA framework here. You can connect...

Ed tech coach and instructional designer Erica Zimmer joins me to talk about eLearning Launch, an online instructional design academy started by Alexander Salas. We talk about Alex's supreme hustle skills, his teaching style, and the ways in which his courses differ from other self-paced courses out there.  Check out eLearning Launch at www.elearninglaunch.com. You can also follow eLearning Launch on LinkedIn. Find Erica's podcast The Learning Journal - From Teach to LXD wherever you listen...