TLDCast Podcast

n this Member Showcase episode, we feature Tom McDowall, Chief Learning Geek at Evolve Learning Design, based in the UK. Passionate about his craft, it's easy to see why he hosts The iDeas podcast and is constantly working to improve professionally and continue to help others reach their potential. Tom is someone you'll want to get to know. If you're interested in instructional design, elearning, open-source tools, video and audio editing, and just effective training, Tom is an excellent connection to have. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-mcdowall/ https://anchor.fm/the-ideas-podcast https://www.learningscienceweekly.com/

Crafting experiences, Engaging Learners, building scenarios, enabling teamwork and strategic thinking - are we talking about instructional designers or dungeon masters here? In this episode, Christy Tucker, Matt Pierce, Jonathan Rock and host Luis Malbas, gathered to talk about the similarities between role playing games and instructional design. There's a good amount of overlap and it's no surprise there was lots to discuss about the similarities. If you're someone that's played Dungeons and Dragons or curious about role playing games - and are looking for some inspiration or adding a new perspective to your instructional design, this could be a great episode to listen to.

In many ways, the journey of the instructional designer is still very undefined. Put five IDs in a room and there's a good chance no two came about their careers in the same way. And so it is with L&D Job Titles. Rubina Halwani and Toddi Norum go through a great list of L&D Job Titles that Rubina compiled. Rubina has a particular passion for helping L&D job seekers, so this resource of titles is something she's researched first hand. Is your focus elearning, or media, or writing? Or a combination of all three? Should your job title be the same in every case? Check out this episode and learn more. And here's a link to Rubina's list of job titles: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o8Ilyt3YgYGX_uKqfZHSoB-5QDojloelwx3CGAfBSWU/edit?usp=sharing

Mentorship in L&D is a recurring topic at TLDC. But one aspect of mentorship that we rarely discuss is the question of style. Is Mentorship different in higher ed than it is in corporate settings? How about in military or government settings? Non-profits? So in this episode, we have Randy Rebman and Toddi Norum discussing mentoring and coaching. Both of them have backgrounds where they've experienced mentoring in the military or government settings - and now both have moved on to either higher ed or corporate environments, and can discuss the differences. Overall, the conversation is a great exploration of the topic. And if you're interested at all in mentoring - being a mentor or mentee, you'll get something out of this episode.

There's a lot to like in this case study featuring Joe Pulichino of T-Mobile and host Kristen Hayden Safdie. Like Joe says in this episode, his team was able to take compliance training from a "snore to a score" - and as many of you know, this is no easy feat. Give this one a listen and check out the YouTube video or the original recording if you'd like to see some of the screen sharing (linked below). It's a really fascinating look into how one of the top US mobile carriers is using its dynamic and creative culture to make compliance training - dare I say it? Entertaining... ;-) Crowdcast link: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/joe-pulichino-case-study Youtube: https://youtu.be/6CRIAeqL0hc

In this Community Discussion, we talked about the differences between Instructional Designers and Teachers. This topic has gained relevance because here in The Training, Learning, and Development Community, the audience of teachers turning IDs has grown. So more activity in the form of questions about coaching, migrating to online instruction, and other topics that overlap both professions have become more frequent. Luckily, we had some fantastic panelists join us for this one: Jean Marrapodi, Randy Rebman, Rubina Halwani, Kari Word, and Mohammad Hassan. Each of them had a tremendous amount of feedback to offer and the audience chat was incredibly busy too. If you'd like to check out the original broadcast, you can find that here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/comdisc-ids-and-teachers Enjoy the episode.

In this Member Showcase episode, meet Kristin Villanueva Torrence. With a background in psychology and a passion for cognitive studies, Kristin offers a unique set of skills as a learning experience designer. Her journey as an educator has had her crossing the country a few times, and her experience is vast. You'll enjoy this conversation with Kristin; she's a lifelong learner that exudes optimism about her future in L&D, something we can all admire. https://www.kristintorrence.com/

In this episode, Toddi Norum hosts Holly Owens, Assistant Director of Instructional Design with Online Education at Touro College and University System. They discuss the role of instructional designers in a higher ed system, the value they bring, and how the pandemic has changed things for Instructional Designers in these academic roles. This was a great discussion and the audience chat was tremendous as well; instructional designers are in high demand and this can give you an idea why. If you want to get the full experience of the broadcast, you'll want to check out the original crowdcast recording, which you can find here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/owens-norum

In this Community Discussion, we went for a topic that's a little different than our typical TLDCasts. The challenges of the pandemic have people spending more time living their digital lives in front of screens. So it was worth scrutinizing what that means for our psychology, and specifically, the concepts of The Attention Economy and The Age of Distraction. These sound like rather "hefty" terms, and admittedly they are. We go over what these ideas and approaches mean and why they may be contributing to why people are currently feeling unrooted, restless, and lacking focus. I know I am. So we're talking about what that means for learning in the time of COVID-19. A lot of chat in this one, so you may want to check out the original crowdcast recording to get the full experience of the discussion: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/attention-economy Enjoy.

In this latest Member Showcase conversation: Dorota Langner. Born and raised in Poland, then moving to France, then Ireland, and now living in Toronto - Dorota has had a fascinating journey thus far, and is about as passionate an instructional designer as you'll find out there. It's always a treat to talk to instructional designers from other parts of the world and Dorota is no exception. And best of all, if you're an employer looking for someone that's worked for public and private companies, especially NGO's and multinational corporations, you'll want to reach out to Dorota - she's currently available for employment. And more than likely, she won't be for long. Here's Dorota's website: https://dorotalearningexpert.wordpress.com/ So thanks for tuning in, and meet Dorota Langner in our latest Member Showcase.