Leading Learning Podcast

It’s hard to believe, but here we are at episode 300 of the Leading Learning Podcast. When we sat down to record episode 1 back in 2015, we had no idea we’d make it this far. We are truly grateful for the thousands of learning business professionals who tune in each month and make this show part of their own lifelong learning. Milestones are a natural time to pause and reflect, so we’re doing exactly that. In this commemorative episode, we highlight the value of embracing your integral role as a provider of lifelong learning and as a learning business. We explain why recognizing that you are part of the ecosystem serving lifelong learners better positions you to serve them and deliver on the goals of reach, revenue, and impact. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode300. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Having escaped with her family from the Vietnam War to start again in the U.S., Van Ton-Quinlivan is passionate about paying forward the opportunities that an education afforded her. She has built a career as a highly impactful workforce development expert and currently serves as CEO of Futuro Health, a nonprofit with the mission of improving the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele and Van discuss the three-legged stool of workforce development, creating a high-quality talent pool, the benefit of having clearly articulated goals, and the essential role an ecosystem of partners plays in delivering scale, equity, and agility. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode299. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Jim Fong is chief research officer at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), where he and his research team help university leaders understand the trends impacting higher education. They also support the development of new programs and credentials to meet the complex needs of the ever-changing learner and the new economy. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb and return guest Jim Fong talk about why higher ed needs to evolve to meet the needs of employers and the new adult learner. They discuss the opportunity for unbundling the traditional degree with alternative and stackable credentials, the role of employers in shaping education and training, recent UPCEA research, and the collaboration between associations and academia to meet the needs of lifelong learners. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode298. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

When it comes to workforce development, learning businesses play a critical role in identifying and then delivering the skills employees need and those that employers want. From attracting and educating workers new to the field to upskilling and reskilling those already working, learning businesses can have a significant impact on the profession or industry they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we break down the topic of workforce development, including how we define it, key stakeholders involved, and its history in the U.S. We also look at workforce development today and the related opportunities for learning businesses. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode297. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Clare Marsch is senior vice president of training and development at the American Bankers Association (ABA). Throughout her career, she’s been involved in developing training and learning programs for customers, members, and clients across a wide range of industries and in a variety of formats. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Clare about her role in leading learning for ABA, credentialing, and workforce development. They discuss the evolution of learning, the extended reach that virtual provides, and how to carry that benefit forward post-pandemic. They also talk about how to take calculated risks and innovate in smart, measured ways.  Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode296. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Credentials offer more potential than ever to learners and to the organizations offering them. And learning businesses in particular are uniquely positioned to leverage them to address challenges and create opportunities for the people and industries they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we share the key macrotrends making credentialing even more valuable today and what learning businesses may need to consider when offering credentials. We also break down and compare various types of credentials and their different purposes. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode295. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Tamer Ali, a seasoned learntech entrepreneur and founder of Authentic Learning Labs, believes in the power of technology to deliver transformative learning experiences. Authentic aims to address the challenges and elevate the status of learning within organizations through learning technologies and a global team to support initiatives. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Tamer about entrepreneurship, the evolution of the learntech market, and typical challenges for learning businesses. They also get into the importance of culture and strategy in making learntech work well for an organization and the key characteristics of a successful learning business. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode294.

Courtney Vital, vice president of learning at the Association for Talent Development, describes herself as a learning leader for learning leaders—and for good reason. ATD is the largest association for professionals who develop others in the workplace, and its membership reflects individuals from all over the world, in all industries and sectors. ATD is focused on advancing talent development, convening a community of people who do talent development work, and supporting them with the necessary knowledge and resources. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Courtney about how the pandemic forced us to rethink in-person learning as the default, the need for equitable experiences in hybrid learning, and the role of credentials in elevating the learning and development industry. They also discuss ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model, a future-focus for the learning profession, and the skyrocketing importance of intentionality in learning design. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode293. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, Web Courseworks. *** Web Courseworks is a learning technologies company with an ever-evolving learning management system, CourseStage. CourseStage LMS is leveraged by organizations of all sizes to build a learning business and track education outcomes for proven success. Download the Web Courseworks guide “Four Ways an LMS Can Help Build a Revenue-Generating Learning Business,” and learn how your organization can leverage a learning management system to generate revenue for your learning practice.

As CEO of Web Courseworks, Amber Winter is committed to helping their clients maximize value and deliver high-quality, impactful professional development to their learners. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Jeff talks to Amber about her transition to the CEO role, the state of the learntech industry, and which trends are having an impact on learning businesses and learntech. They also talk about opportunities and threats for associations in the current learning landscape and what learning businesses can do to stand out. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode292. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, Web Courseworks. *** Web Courseworks is a learning technologies company with an ever-evolving learning management system, CourseStage. CourseStage LMS is leveraged by organizations of all sizes to build a learning business and track education outcomes for proven success. Download the Web Courseworks guide “Four Ways an LMS Can Help Build a Revenue-Generating Learning Business,” and learn how your organization can leverage a learning management system to generate revenue for your learning practice.

Learning businesses often rely on subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop and deliver learning products. But those SMEs—although highly regarded experts in their particular field—likely don’t know how to develop and deliver products in ways that align with brain science and adult learning principles. In this episode, we focus on the importance of going beyond telling presenters what they need to do to be effective to playing an active role in showing them how. We discuss the tremendous opportunity for learning businesses in helping SMEs understand and apply learning science, key reasons this can be a challenge, and solutions, including resources, such as our new video-based online course offering, “Presenting for Impact,” to help make it happen. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode291. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, Web Courseworks. *** Web Courseworks is a learning technologies company with an ever-evolving learning management system, CourseStage. CourseStage LMS is leveraged by organizations of all sizes to build a learning business and track education outcomes for proven success. Download the Web Courseworks guide “Four Ways an LMS Can Help Build a Revenue-Generating Learning Business,” and learn how your organization can leverage a learning management system to generate revenue for your learning practice.