We are so thrilled to have an in-person opportunity to connect and grow in modern learning together! Lisa and I are hosting multiple sessions and events at ATD's International Conference and Exposition in less than 5 weeks. Here's a few to-dos to make your ATD experience awesome and grow your modern learning community at the same time. 1 - Tell Us If You Will Be Joining Virtually or Live we want [...]

As our workforce has changed over the last decade (and especially in the last year), modern L&D professionals have begun abandoning the one-and-done training model and have instead moved on to blended learning, learning journeys, and what we call, learning clusters. Even with these new, modern approaches to learning, many L&D professionals hold on tightly to creating and developing learning assets they deem most trackable, typically formal, and shy away [...]

This month, we are excited to showcase Karen Bryan-Chambers as our Modern Learner Spotlight! Karen is the senior director of the nonprofit Leadership Academy at New Leaders. She has more than 26 years of professional experience, including 16 years as a teacher, five years as a principal, and five years in leadership development. Karen started off her modern learning journey by reading Designing for Modern Learning, and quickly enrolled in one [...]

The future of L&D in a digital age is about unleashing human potential rather than reinforcing quality, routine work. Rather than focusing on telling L&D “what” to create for a digital age, the philosophy behind the Learning Cluster Design model focuses on building capability around the thought process - the “how” and “why” - moving L&D beyond its traditional limitations and into a position to allow modern learners to choose [...]

Just as we were faced with a digital learning pivot in March of 2020, modern L&D professionals are starting to look at how the learning programs we created over the last 16+ months will fare as we navigate the “new normal'' of training and developing a hybrid workforce.  While this looks different for each organization, and there certainly isn’t a “one size fits all” approach, through our research we have [...]

It’s officially summer! And even though school is out, learning is always in. If you haven’t picked up a copy already, our book, Designing for Modern Learning: Beyond ADDIE and SAM is about to celebrate it’s one year publishing anniversary! A big thank you to all of our readers, we've reached thousands around the globe! We are also on our journey to 100 reviews on Amazon. If you've read the book and haven't [...]

This month, our friends over at 360Learning interviewed this month’s Modern Learner Spotlight: Jess Almlie! Jess is a strategic L&D leader, and currently the VP of Learning Experience at WEX Health. Not only has Jess immersed herself in the LCD model by reading Designing for Modern Learning, she has been a guest speaker at our Monthly Modern Dialogue and has had her team attend our two-week public workshop. In her interview with Jonah Goldstein from 360Learning, Jess [...]

One of the core principles of the OK-LCD model is to focus on learner needs. Our context as training designers and deliverers is no longer as important as the context of the learner, especially in a digital age where we have the ability to deliver learning when, where, and how the learner needs it. But how do we know what our learner needs? That is where the Learn Action of the [...]

With the pivot to virtual learning in 2020, and continuing with that trend in 2021, many learning professionals were faced with the challenge of converting in-person, live orientation and onboarding with a better, more modern solution. For this particular case study, an L&D leader was tasked with developing a new onboarding program. Traditionally within this organization, onboarding consisted of a week-long live class or blended learning to orient to the [...]

In traditional L&D, it’s common to see the majority of our efforts spent on times when our learners need to learn something for the first time. It could be a new technology rollout, a new process employees have to learn, or a new product line the company will be selling. We spend weeks, if not months, developing training around these changes, roll out said learning initiative and then boom, on [...]

Welcome to a new monthly series “Modern Learner Spotlight” where we highlight a member of the learning community who has experienced success using the Learning Cluster Design model. We couldn’t think of a better person to kick this series off with than with Loc Nguyen, Director of Customer Education for Bluescape Software. Loc and his team began their LCD journey with joining the public workshop and subsequently, the applied success of their learnings was [...]

Because the Gorilla Glue Company was expanding rapidly, more people needed onboarding, upskilling, and leadership skills. When the Learning and Development department surveyed the leadership on what they needed, the response was typical - management, after narrowing, decided on 78 training topics and they wanted them delivered within 12 months. Traditionally, when given a laundry list of topics, L&D goes straight to their go-tos - one-and-done live training events, an eLearning [...]

The Learning Cluster Design model calls for a new way of thinking about L&D’s goal and role within organizations. Our third principle “Focus on Learner Needs” states that our context as training designers and deliverers is no longer as important as the context of the learner. Whereas in the past L&D had limited tools to deliver learning, today we can deliver learning when, where, and how the learner needs it. [...]

Learning and development technology is moving at a rapid pace, especially with the pivot to virtual-based learning in 2020. Now, in 2021, for most organizations artificial intelligence accelerated from a distant dream to a more current, and needed, reality.  Driven by the data source it has been programmed to store, AI gives machines the ability to recognize, respond to, and learn from inputs.  Here’s why AI is important for learning:  [...]

Modern learning, as we share in the principles of the Learning Cluster Design model, centers on creating meaningful learning assets that surround a learner in their moment of learning need. While the model looks at what can be done to meet learners beyond one-and-done training events, live face-to-face (whether in-person or virtual), can prove to be a valuable and important asset for many people (including L&D professionals) along their learning [...]

Last month we introduced the intersectionality of DEI and L&D through the lens of the Learning Cluster Design model by looking at the Change Action, where we see an opportunity to create deeper, more anchoring notions when it comes to operationalizing DEI in the workplace. Moving beyond the Change Action, one of the most critical barriers to creating real change is that most efforts develop and often mandate participation in a one-size-fits-all effort when [...]

Imagine if the next time you get a training request or see a capability gap, you could surround learners with meaningful learning assets whenever, wherever they learn? What if you could do it in less time, and actually see measurable results? Learners today need to learn both in and out of the flow of work. Most organizations leave it up to the learners to navigate resources in the flow of [...]

When you think of “converting to modern learning,” what comes to mind for you? Is it abandoning one-and-done training events for a strictly online/eLearning experience? If that was your thought, you’re not alone. Most L&D organizations, as they started facing the pandemic last year, scrambled to turn every face to face training program into an e-learning. But that isn't modern. Nor is it sufficient to make a business-impacting difference in [...]

It's Black History month and we are all about intentionally educating ourselves during this time... and ongoing. Let's be real. Out of all the modern learning work we could do as L&D professionals, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is not a one-and-done event. While Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs have been a part of many organizations for years, in the last 12 months we have seen a big shift in [...]

Imagine if you could double or even triple the effectiveness of your learning programs. How could you do that? By understanding that your learners have agency and working with that agency to help grow "super learners". What if your learners proactively grew their own capability to engage with your L&D products? Pat McLagan, author of Unstoppable You: Adopt the New Learning 4.0 Mindset and Change Your Life shared her work with the [...]

When you imagine a “Modern Learner,” what comes to mind? Many people we’ve asked that question automatically imagine a millennial, or someone who is really into technology. As we move from an industrial age to a digital one, when it comes to modern learning it’s not so much about technology, rather, it’s about choices surrounding learning. At February's dialogue, we will be exploring Learn-Ability and diving into learning mindsets with [...]

It’s three weeks into the new year and I’m sure you’re already thinking ahead to the success you want in 2021. Our goals shape our solutions and results. When transitioning from creating “peanut butter,” one-size-fits all training to designing strategic learning clusters to meet learners in their moment of learning need, L&D professionals need to set new goals. So, what does this new goal look like? The new goal is [...]

You might be familiar with the popular 70-20-10 model, which formulates that learners obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events. This model has been around since the early 1980s, and is widely used amongst L&D professionals globally. The 70-20-10 model seeks to encourage L&D to consider their role outside of formal learning. However, in practice, organizations inadvertently make the following [...]

In the video below, Loc Nguyen, Director of Customer Education at Bluescape shares the following takeaways from the Learning Cluster Design workshop: How he moved from the mindset of  “just building a course” to giving his learners the freedom to learn when, where and how they want to learn The wins he and his team have experienced after attending the workshop and implementing the LCD model His advice to L&D [...]

Wouldn’t you love to learn more about your learners and make an even bigger impact with your learning initiatives? In an ever-changing, fast-paced world, L&D professionals are often asked to do a lot, with very little time. For many learning and development models to actually transform on-the-job behavior, they require deep analysis, expert-level design and thoroughly planned implementation. While most L&D professionals would love to run through all of these [...]

As we approach Thanksgiving here in the US and the end of the year in general, I find myself reflecting on the year. This year brought along with it many workplace shifts and challenges. For L&D, the biggest shift we faced was reimagining workplace learning without live, in person training classes. Many L&D professionals were quick to convert all of their instructor-led live training into eLearning courses and curriculums, spending [...]

For as long as organizational learning has been around, so has the concept of our role being the owners and deliverers of content. Our sole purpose has been to “create training,” and with that came the need to exist as subject matter experts in the content being delivered. Rather than being strategic learning partners, the L&D field fell into a pattern of order taking, and with information changing as rapidly [...]

One of the biggest barriers to change and transformation when it comes to designing modern learning is the idea of having to “unlearn” all of the tools and models that got us where we are today. Many L&D professionals are either hesitant to apply a new model for fear of having to start from scratch, while others are over-eager to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and recreate every [...]

When we look at how L&D professionals report learning “success,” it’s typically defined by learner usage and participation. But is there a direct connection between participation in a learning asset and learning success? Can we assume that by showing up, learning has happened and will be applied in the moments where it counts? We often judge success as having high completion rates, increased attendance and a substantial number of classroom [...]

When implementing any model, old or new, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the idea of having to follow every step in the process to a T. The best models work with your ability to navigate your situation, needs, and context. We are often asked if each action of the OK-LCD model needs adoption in order to create a modern learning experience. Watch below as co-creator of the LCD Model, Lisa M.D. Owens [...]

Would you agree that the most common approach to modernizing L&D is to throw out what you have and start from scratch? This is one of the most common problems we share in our book. Each time a new model, theory or approach comes out, we in L&D often immediately write off our old programs as outdated and send them packing to the vault. Even worse, many of those old programs are kept [...]

For decades, the L&D industry has operated under the same guiding principle – when you have the learner’s attention, give them all the training content you can because you never know when you’ll see them next. It could be one, two, three months or even a year until we get 8 hours of their “undivided” attention again, so we lay all of our content cards on the table, yet feel [...]

In an ever-changing world that gives us information at our fingertips and with anything more than a two-day delivery window seeming like a lifetime, the “need it yesterday” mentality is not slowing down. As L&D professionals, we face this every day from stakeholders and senior leaders who, rather than seeking out their internal training departments with a problem, come to the table with their own idea of a training strategy [...]

Here’s a REAL EXAMPLE of a Learning Cluster and L&D professional developed in our workshop. ASK: The business asked the LCD workshop participant to develop and update their annual harassment training to remain compliant with standard HR & Legal Policies. TRADITIONAL SOLUTIONS: e-Learning module, videos with knowledge check, or live-class. LCD APPROACH: The workshop participant had a huge aha moment by refocusing the Goal on Performance and Strategic Impact - It’s not [...]

Here's a REAL EXAMPLE of a Learning Cluster and L&D professional developed in our workshop. ASK: We need new hire onboarding. TRADITIONAL APPROACH: 1 week long live class or blended learning to orient to company, orient to people, orient to technical skills, etc. LCD APPROACH: First, we get clear on the most critical differences we want to see on the job from the employee, with clear ROI for the business. The [...]

We all do it. We cram as much content into a training course as we can. Why? Because once we get an employee’s attention, we have to take advantage of that time; otherwise, we may not see these learners again for some time to come. But what if we could do it differently? What if, instead of providing learning assets that employees use only once every few months (see How the [...]

The following is a Q&A with Crystal Kadakia and Lisa M.D. Owens, the authors of Designing for Modern Learning: Beyond ADDIE and SAM, the latest book from ATD Press about how L&D professionals can better design for the modern learner. 1. What does “Designing for Modern Learning” mean? Is there a definition for modern learning or for the modern learner? Crystal: When people hear the term modern learner, almost everyone thinks or describes [...]

In Designing for Modern Learning: Beyond ADDIE and SAM (ATD Press, June 2020), L&D experts Crystal Kadakia and Lisa M.D. Owens introduce the Owens-Kadakia Learning Cluster Design (OK-LCD) model to address the question of how L&D professionals can better design for modern learning. In a world where learning is needed every day, the role of L&D is more important than ever, but the toolkit used by L&D professionals is outdated [...]

What do you do when you’re faced with the unknown? The unknown used to be combatted by asking the experts with years of experience, passing on stories, and, frankly, sheer faith. You learned to transform the unknown into the known by doing — and doing took time. In that time, nothing much changed about what you were learning. It certainly didn’t change to the extent that your knowledge would be [...]

There are two reasons why people learn: 1) because they are told to and 2) because they choose to. Historically, learning and development teams have been focused on delivering the former. The highest priorities tend to be those that mitigate the biggest business risks: compliance, performance, leadership, management, and general onboarding. It’s all about telling people what they need to know to be most successful in their jobs and when [...]

In our previous post, we explored the idea of using learner personas. L&D practitioners need to learn how to identify key subgroups within the larger target audience then collect or create the right array of learning assets to meet the learning needs. What’s more, they must go beyond segmenting learner groups by the traditional criteria of age, experience, education, language, job role, and so forth. Here’s a sample description of three [...]

“Who are we designing for?” That’s traditionally one of the first questions asked by L&D when starting a training project. Typically, there’s just one answer, and it sounds something like this: all managers, or IT employees using the XYZ program, or customer-facing employees. In other words, it’s a description of the one target audience. Once we have that single target learner group definition, we design one training solution to cover the needs of this [...]

Has L&D already given up on having a presence in informal learning? Are we going to remain stuck in our world of classes and courses, the world of counting seats filled and clicks on e-learning? We’re seeing some L&D professionals willing to embrace new possibilities, but most are struggling to find a way forward. That’s no surprise; our industry is facing a staggering increase in complexity as well as organizational [...]

Millennials: the word we are – dare I say it – sick of. Yet we still don’t understand how to deal with the changes that became urgent when this generation joined the workplace. I began speaking on this topic over five years ago when I saw HR leaders repeating generational stereotypes. In my work, I have given over 100 talks that have left attendees saying, “I will never use the [...]

Today’s busy employees desire quick, convenient access to information so they can react immediately to constant change in the business world as well work on upskilling themselves when it fits into their schedule. Crystal Kadakia and Lisa M.D. Owens describe the modern learner as: “Someone who is in an environment where content changes fast and learning needs change even faster. Modern learners want answers right away and rely on a [...]

Being part of a modern learning and development (L&D) organization can be easier than you think. It does not mean you have to buy and learn to use all the latest high-tech apps, software, and e-whatever. Instead, it means looking at the role of L&D through a different lens. Most L&D organizations are caught up in the rat race of trying to deliver more and more training to help employees [...]

We design learning for an increasingly diverse environment, spanning regions, ages, generations, functions, and roles. But are you a modern learner? What does it mean to be a modern learner? Picture the last time you needed new information or to learn a new skill, personally or professionally. How did you discover the answer? Chances are, you used a search engine, read articles, or watched videos until you closed your knowledge [...]

Should we discard all learning methods of the past to meet the demands of modern learning opportunities? Probably not. We certainly need to modernize learning to keep up with how, when, and where learners need it. However, although it may come as a surprise, digital and flashy isn’t what makes learning modern. But it’s best to trend toward the modern side of learning to keep today’s learners engaged.  We often [...]