learning solutions

In this episode, we address a common challenge faced by educators in distance learning: lackluster online discussions. Michelle Randall, a full-time Accounting instructor, presents the problem of struggling to get students to actively participate and share their thoughts in online forums.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognizing the differences between face-to-face and online discussions.
• Strategies for designing quality discussion prompts that encourage diverse perspectives.
• Setting clear expectations for student posts and responses.
• Instructor involvement tips for fostering a lively and meaningful online discussion.

Join us as we provide solutions to enhance student engagement in asynchronous online discussions. Whether you're an educator or a student, these insights will help you navigate the unique challenges of online learning.

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About Britt Andreatta

Britt Andreatta is a thought leader who creates brain science-based solutions for today's challenges. As CEO of 7th Mind, Inc., Britt draws on her unique background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and learning to unlock the best in people and organizations.

Former Chief Learning Officer for Lynda.com and Senior Learning Consultant for Global Leadership and Talent Development at LinkedIn, Britt is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience.

Key takeaways:

• The basal ganglia is a group of structures found deep within your brain. They are activated when you perform habits. This is “autopilot” mode, which helps enable you to do tasks quickly, accurately and without conscious thought.  A useful mindset as a learning designer is to think about design habits.
• The brain’s reward system is a powerful motivation for humans to complete tasks. As learning designers, it’s important to leverage this concept and implement cues within your learning design.
• Ensure you are fully analysing what needs to be done and how effective your learning material is. Don’t take clients' analysis at face value, so go back to square one and be clear on what the best solution is.
• You can apply brain-based strategies to both in-person and online environments. The main thing is giving the learners enough space and time to practise. Britt recommends simulations, role plays and virtual reality for this.

Segmented time stamps:

(01:50) The link between habits and workplace learning

(05:04) Integrating cues and rewards in learning design

(08:08) Brain-based strategies used for building habits

(11:10) The importance of analysing the full learning experience

(13:24) Strategies for digital learning

(16:25) When to consider using VR for learning

(21:16) Why learning designers don’t apply enough brain-based strategies

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Britt on LinkedIn
• Britt’s Website
• Read the book ‘Wired To Grow’ by Britt Andreatta
• Books and resources Brit recommended
  • ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg
  • ‘Make it Stick’ by Henry Roediger III, Mark McDaniel and Peter Brown
  • Nature 
  • Scientific American

If you work in any of the highly regulated and controlled industries as a trainer or instructional designer, you may have found it to be lacking in creativity and innovation. You likely spend the majority of your time developing and supporting compliance training that must first be approved by a committee of members from all departments. And we all know how that turns out. Learners receive boring slides filled with jargon approved by the legal team.

The good news is that it doesn’t need to be that way. As an instructional designer working in the finance industry for many years, James Gilchrist has taken on the task of navigating difficult environments, pushing up against corporate boundaries, and succeeding at being innovative.

It’s not often that we find a creative soul like James working in this type of environment and willing to share his tips and tricks with the IDIODC community.

James is an Associate Director at the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) in its DTCC Learning department. Hired as an Instructional Designer on contract in 2008, he made the transition to FTE in 2010 and has spent the last ten years developing client learning initiatives for many of DTCC’s core financial service offerings. He considers the work of building learning solutions and the experience of managing client relationships as equally important when it comes to creating innovative corporate training that makes an impact.

Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on twitter. Remember you can always stay in the loop by searching through the #IDIODC tag:

Brent: @BSchlenker https://twitter.com/bschlenker

Chris: @Chris_V_W https://twitter.com/Chris_V_W

IDIODC: @TeamIDIODC https://twitter.com/TeamIDIODC

Brent Schlenker is dominKnow's Community Manager. Chris Van Wingerden is dominKnow's Sr. VP Learning Solutions.

Interested in learning more about dominKnow? Sign up for our next live platform demo to learn why we do powerful eLearning-authoring best. (And get a free 14-day trial after you watch the demo!) https://www.dominknow.com/demonstration.html