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What is it?

The mental effort or workload imposed on a person’s working memory when processing information.

Why is it important?

Understanding cognitive load is crucial for promoting effective learning, decision making, information processing, user experience, productivity, and training outcomes. In the context of learning and development, cognitive load theory provides insights you can apply to instructional design and delivery to improve the learning process.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Business professionals who understand cognitive load are likely to better understand the work of their team members, especially those who design marketing and communication materials, learning content, instructional products, product design, and more.

There are three types of cognitive load you should know:

  • Intrinsic: The inherent complexity of the learning materials or task itself. Some topics or concepts naturally require more mental effort to understand and process. For example, advanced math equations or intricate scientific theories have a higher intrinsic cognitive load.
  • Extraneous: Mental effort that is not directly relevant to learning or task. Poorly designed materials, irrelevant information, or complicated instructions can increase extraneous cognitive load.
  • Germane: The mental effort required to engage in meaningful activities, make connections, and integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge. This effort enables us to develop a deeper understanding and foster long-term learning.

An understanding of cognitive load, especially understanding how to reduce extraneous cognitive load, can help you create more efficient and effective work processes, ultimately contributing to better outcomes for your organization.

And it can help you and your team design more user-friendly products, optimize training programs, improve decision-making, and facilitate collaboration, both within your team and across the organization.

References

About Phylise Banner

Photo of Phylise Banner

Phylise Banner is a learning experience designer with more than 25 years of vision, action, and leadership experience in transformational learning and development approaches. A pioneer in online learning, she is an Adobe Education Leader, Certified Learning Environment Architect (CLEA), Project Management Professional (PMP), STC Fellow, performance storyteller, avid angler, and aviation enthusiast. She is also the proud owner of a 1967 Amphicar.

Term: Cognitive Load

Email: pbanner@gmail.com

Website: phylisebanner.com

Twitter: @phylisebanner

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/phylisebanner

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What is it?

The practice of a trusted individual providing guidance and oversight to support the development of another individual.

Why is it important?

Virtually every successful professional, in any field, has benefited from some form of coaching. It’s essential for any organization interested in the development of its people and leaders to understand the role of effective coaching.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Coaches are most commonly associated with sports, providing athletes and teams direction toward the goal of winning a game. Some professional athletes employ multiple coaches, each of whom brings a specific expertise such as skill development, diet and nutrition, strength and conditioning, or sports psychology.

The principle of coaching is tried and true and can fully apply in the workplace to help professionals better perform their responsibilities as well as grow in capacity to expand the impact they make on the business.

To be an effective coach, you need to recognize that people need objective feedback, mentorship, and accountability. It is difficult for humans to see outside themselves to have a clear assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. We all have blind spots that impair our personal development and progress.

An effective coach develops a rapport with an individual to provide a framework of development, choosing specific skills or attributes to improve on within a specific timeframe. Coaching in the workplace can be formal or informal, and the coach can be a professionally trained coach, a skilled and caring manager, or a trusted colleague.

Often, organizations will develop a centralized coaching framework to ensure consistent coaching methods throughout their workforce. Many times, this includes training on how to be an effective coach.

In short, if business professionals are genuinely vested in the success of their people, they will do well to have coaching be a vital part of their learning and development infrastructure and culture(Deloitte 2020).

References

About Vincent Han

Photo of Vincent Han

Vince Han is the founder and CEO of Mobile Coach and a frequent speaker at conferences such as Training Conference, DevLearn, FocusOn, Online Learning, ATDTK and others. He holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Vince is an industry thought-leader for learning and learning technology with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and chatbot technology. Vince has founded several successful technology companies and resides in Utah.

Term: Coaching

Email: vince@mobilecoach.com

Website: mobilecoach.com

Twitter: @vincehan

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vincehan/

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What is it?

A type of learning (also called hybrid learning) that combines appropriate technology with one or more traditional instructional, technical, organizational, or delivery components to present content that supports learners and raises their levels of engagement and achievement.

Why is it important?

Blended learning provides a framework that combines instructional technologies with traditional educational techniques to provide solutions for modern learners working in a business climate that’s increasingly mobile, global, and reliant on collaborative social technologies.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Today, most learning is blended learning. Learning initiatives include some combination of live learning and self-directed learning, supported by resources like infographics, videos, and eLearning. But modern blended learning is more than sequencing different media and activities that happen to be related by topic.

It is about aligning learning objects with the most appropriate instructional strategies, techniques, and technologies while meeting the needs of the organization and modern learners. When designed and implemented effectively, blended learning is powerful. It creates individual resources that support formal, planned learning events, and supports every informal moment of learning need(Gottfredson and Mosher). An added benefit is that resources are no longer shelved or filed after the learning management system (LMS) has indicated completion; instead, they become crucial references and tools that learners can use after the instructional program has ended.

Blended learning supports enhanced outreach to learners while connecting workforces that are globally dispersed, working virtually, and always on the go. Blended learning resources are accessible to learners at the time and place of their convenience, as well as accommodating individuals with sight, hearing, and mobility impairments. Thus, blended learning makes your talent development initiatives more inclusive.

Blended learning also enables more authentic learning, by allowing individuals to learn, recall, and apply what they’ve learned when and where they need the content and perform their work. Blended learning campaigns provide the ability to create personal learning paths, allowing individuals to assess their own needs and make informed decisions about how and what to learn.

Excerpted from Blended Learning(Hofmann, 2018).

References

  • (Hofmann 2018) Blended Learning: Hoffman, Jennifer. (February 2018). Association for Talent Development. ISBN: 978-1-562860981.
  • (Farah 2019) Blended Learning Built on Teacher Expertise: Farah, Kareem. (May 2019). Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation.
  • (Gottfredson and Mosher) The 5 Moments of Need : Gottfredson, Conrad and Bob Mosher. Website with resources describing the training methodology based on five moments of need.

About Jennifer Hofmann

Photo of Jennifer Hofmann

Jennifer Hofmann is a renowned leader in virtual live learning best practices and services. Her company, InSync Training, was recognized by Inc. 500/500 as one of the highest growth professional learning and development companies five times in the last decade and is known within the training industry for its innovative training solutions. InSync perfected virtual live instruction as a methodology decades before the pandemic and continues to dominate that sector through intensive research, specialized instructional design, innovative instructional techniques, and proven content development practices.

Term: Blended Learning

Email: jennifer@insynctraining.com

Website: insynctraining.com/

Twitter: @InSyncJennifer

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennifer-hofmann-dye/

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What is it?

A theory of learning based on the idea that all sources of behavior are external (in the environment), not internal (in the mind, in the head). Also known as Behavioral Learning Theory.

Why is it important?

Behavioral learning theory shows us how to leverage important factors such as repetition, positive reinforcement, and motivation to achieve better results from the learning initiatives we employ. The biggest advantage of a behavioral approach to learning is that it focuses on observable, measurable behaviors, making it useful for modifying behaviors in the real world.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Behaviorists believe that all behaviors are learned through conditioning, (interaction with the environment) and can be described and explained without needing to reference mental events or internal psychological processes.

According to this theory, anyone, regardless of their background, can be trained to act in a particular way given the right conditioning. In short, behavior is a response to environmental stimuli.

Basic assumptions:

  • Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like emotions and thinking.
  • Behavior is the result of stimulus-response (i.e., all behavior, no matter how complex, is reduced to a stimulus-response relationship).
  • Behavior is determined by the environment (e.g., conditioning, nurture).

The birth of behaviorism traces back to the work of John B. Watson in the early 1900s(Hauser). Watson believed that objective analysis of the mind was impossible. He was a major proponent of shifting the focus of psychology from the mind to behavior. This approach of observing and influencing behavior by focusing on observable, quantifiable events became known as behaviorism.

Behavioral learning theory helps someone who designs learning programs to apply appropriate instructional strategies to achieve results aligned with the needs of the audience and goals of the organization.

Learning is central to the success of every organization. Every business professional can benefit from understanding and applying principles, such as behaviorism, that make the learning process as efficient and effective as possible.

References

About Jillian Powers

Photo of Jillian Powers

Jillian Powers, PhD, is an assistant professor of instructional technology at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) for the College of Education. She earned her PhD in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in instructional technology from FAU in 2014. Dr. Powers teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in instructional technology and design. Her research focuses on teachers’ adoption and integration of technology, preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology, and STEM education. In 2019, she was selected to be an FAU Woman Leader in STEM.

Term: Behaviorism

Email: jrpowers@fau.edu

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What is it?

The purposeful use of data, technology and content to modify a person’s learning and support experience to address their proven individual needs.

Why is it important?

Scale is one of the biggest challenges facing modern learning and development (L&D) teams. It doesn’t matter if you’re a team of one or one thousand. It’s almost impossible to meet the changing needs of each individual you support. Unfortunately, this lack of time and resources often results in the delivery of generic, one-size-fits-all training that fails to meet anyone’s needs. Adaptive learning helps L&D overcome this obstacle through the strategic blend of modern data and technology practices. Adaptive learning systems adjust the learning experience to focus on each person’s timely needs. This may include tactics such as sequencing the delivery of digital content based on a person’s profile, reinforcing topics with which a person is struggling and nudging a person towards an additional learning opportunity based on their stated interests or goals.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Adaptive learning uses tools like data analytics, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to present the specific content a learner needs to complete right now, based on what is occurring in the business or on the job.

A fundamental contradiction challenges modern business: agility is essential for maintaining pace with the ever-changing nature of work. Therefore, people must always be learning and developing to meet the present and future needs of the organization. At the same time, these same people are time-starved, feel overworked, and possibly lack the resources they need to do their jobs.

So, to keep the organization moving forward it is incumbent upon learning and development teams to be highly effective in presenting learning content that is economical and efficient. One way to do this is to make adaptive learning methods part of the workplace learning strategy. By applying the latest approaches to data, technology, and content, staff receives the learning and development support they need—​when and where they need it.

Adaptive learning takes a variety of forms. For example:

  • Resource recommendations
  • Suggested reading or references
  • Coaching guidance
  • Targeted reinforcement
  • Structured activities, such as challenges, scenarios, simulations.

Adaptive learning not only reduces the time an individual spends, by recognizing and leveraging their existing capabilities, it also adapts the learning experience to the individual. Adaptive learning is designed to identify and close knowledge gaps quickly, promote engagement, and scale development in ways that were previously impossible. Note: adaptive learning might also coincide with learners’ preferred method(s) for learning. See learner preference and personalized learning

References

About JD Dillon

Photo of JD Dillon

JD Dillon is a veteran talent development leader, former Disney cast member and dedicated Back to the Future aficionado. He became a learning and performance expert over two decades working in operations and talent management with dynamic organizations, including The Walt Disney Company, Kaplan and AMC. A respected international speaker and author of The Modern Learning Ecosystem, JD continues to apply his passion for helping people do their best work every day in his roles as Axonify's Chief Learning Architect and founder of LearnGeek, an insights and advisory practice.

Term: Adaptive Learning

Email: jd@learngeek.co

Website: learngeek.co

Twitter: @JD_Dillon

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jddillon/

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What is it?

A learning approach that focuses on individual learners and their needs, abilities, and interests, with the objective of accelerating their learning.

Why is it important?

Navigating today’s volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex world requires everyone to be a life-long learner. In this context, coupled with an increasing emphasis on people’s ability to learn, personalized learning prioritizes the individual learner. It differs from traditional approaches that primarily focused on a system’s efficiency rather than its effectiveness. Personalized learning should align with the organization’s strategic goals and the needs of the individual.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

While the term has been around for decades, in today’s digital age personalized learning has become a much-hyped buzzword. It is hotly debated amongst learning specialists for the oxymoronic impression the words personal and learning create in direct contrast to the social nature of learning.

However, it is not all hype. Talent development technology increasingly has the potential to deliver targeted, just-in-time learning experiences. This is a game-changer for the success of an organization when learning goals are aligned with the strategic priorities of the business. Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to learning allows each person to more quickly acquire the precise skills and knowledge needed to do their job well.

This approach is delivered through custom sequences of learning opportunities packaged via media and designed based on factors such as role, geography, current proficiency, or learners’ interests. These media assets are then situated within a virtual learning environment, such as a learning management system or a next-generation learning platform, complementing in-person training.

References

About Ragini Lall

Photo of Ragini Lall

As a learning designer, Ragini Lall combines tools from design thinking, experience design, and curricular design to develop innovative learning solutions. She also worked as an online learning fellow supporting Harvard faculty in transitioning residential courses to online learning during the pandemic. She has earned her EdM in technology, innovation, and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Term: Personalized Learning

Email: ragini@thestudentact.com

Website: thestudentact.com

Twitter: @raginilall

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ragini-lall-the-student-act-2202b825/

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What is it?

The study and science of the development of learning.

Why is it important?

Pedagogy is used to describe the practices, mindsets, and processes related to learning, such as critical pedagogy and open pedagogy.

Pedagogy is sometimes used to describe how children learn in school. More broadly, it is used to describe prescribed learning content that is closely guided, as opposed to self-directed (andragogy) or self-defined (heutagogy).

When considering learning as a practice, pedagogy focuses on the ways in which people learn, focusing on the formative, or developing, practices of how people first learn how to learn.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

A business professional should have at least a basic understanding of what pedagogy is because it affects the learning strategy employed in their organization.

Pedagogy shows us how to help learners meet educational goals by using what we know about how people learn. By focusing on our audience first, we take a pedagogical approach that aligns the learner’s needs to the content and spaces we design for learning.

Traditionally, pedagogy, or pedagogical approaches, referred to teaching methods selected and applied to learning content. But pedagogy has evolved and expanded to use the results of research on how learners learn to develop training that presents learning content more effectively. Pedagogy has also expanded beyond its focus on K-12 school students to encompass learners of any age.

Other relevant terms that apply to the art and science of learning and learning content design, are andragogy (instructors determine and guide decisions as to what content is to be learned and learners shape how they will learn the material) and heutagogy (learners determine what and how they will learn with support from an instructor).

References

About Angela Gunder

Photo of Angela Gunder

Angela Gunder, PhD, is the Chief Academic Officer for the Online Learning Consortium, where she is responsible for advancing the thought leadership of the OLC. She is an online instructor for The University of Arizona School of Information, teaching courses on instructional design, digital media, web design, and gameful learning. Her research focuses on open remix practices, open culture, digital literacies, narrative digital learning practices, and emerging technology for language acquisition.

Term: Pedagogy

Email: angela.gunder@gmail.com

Website: angelagunder.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/angelagunder/

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What is it?

A snippet of training content that can stand alone, microlearning is streamlined to have a very tight focus on a single, bite-sized concept.

Why is it important?

Learners are busy and their minds are overtaxed. Microlearning can ease their path by offering content in small bursts that are more likely to resonate and stick.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Highly concentrated training in the form of microlearning helps decrease a learner’s cognitive load and increases the opportunity for learning transfer. While technically not defined by length, microlearning is typically accomplished in five minutes or less and focuses on one terminal learning objective or task. Think of a typical training session as a meal and microlearning as a tasty morsel.

References

About Karin Rex

Photo of Karin Rex

As a learning experience architect, Karin Rex saves adult learners from the mind-numbing effects of boring training by hand-crafting rich, engaging learning experiences. Since 1989, Karin has owned Geeky Girl, LLC, where she devotes her time to writing, course development (microlearning, eLearning, instructor-led, blended), and teaching. Karin especially loves facilitating in, and designing for, the virtual classroom because it allows her to connect with a global audience without having to pack a suitcase!

Term: Microlearning

Email: rex@karinrex.com

Website: karinrex.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/karinrex/

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What is it?

The process of incorporating student-centered design approaches, including human-centered, service design, and user-experience design methods, to design and develop shared learning experiences for students and instructors.

Why is it important?

Whether learning materials are online, face-to-face, or a blend, considering the learners’ experience in relation to the goals and outcomes is key to developing successful learning paths. For business professionals, Learning Experience (LX) design is important because it frequently translates to customer success, which leads to higher sales and better customer stories(Hoke, 2011).

Why does a business professional need to know this?

Learning is experienced in different ways by different people, with different goals and learning needs.

User-experience design is defined as the systematic study of goals, needs, and capabilities of users to specify design, construction, or improvement of tools to benefit how users work and live(Schumacher, 2010, p. 6).

Learning experience design (LX) uses similar methods to design the experiences by which learners work and learn. Learning experience design is the process of creating learning experiences that enable the learner to achieve the desired learning outcome in a human-centered and goal-oriented way(What is Learning Experience Design, n.d.).

LX design methods offer a means for instructors, trainers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, and others to identify learning paths that maximize usability, accessibility, and wayfinding abilities for their students. Personas, journey maps, prototypes, and applied user and usability research provide a framework for identifying learner needs. They also provide high-impact opportunities for refinement of course design, based on learner needs.

As eLearning becomes an increasingly important strategy, businesses benefit from identifying customers as learners with an eye toward teaching them how best to use products and services.

Academically, LX design provides a means to identify learner needs and design experiences that foster deep learning.

By understanding learners as users, as well as content consumers, you can make design decisions that reduce the cognitive load of learners navigating course content.

References

About Jessica Knott

Photo of Jessica Knott

Jessica Knott, PhD, has been a UX/LX leader for over a decade, spanning the public and private sectors. Her UX work has been featured in education, non-profit, government, and athletics industries.

Term: Learning Experience Design

Email: jlknott@gmail.com

Website: jessknott.com

Twitter: @JLKnott

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessknott/

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What is it?

A visual and collaborative process for designing the spaces and places where people learn.

Why is it important?

Effective communication and collaboration during learning design projects often mean the difference between success and failure. When groups design learning experiences together, ideas and decisions often are invisible and lack a common design system.

Learning Environment Modeling (LEM) equips educators and learning experience designers with a visual system for creating, collaborating, and communicating. This helps save time, clarify ideas, and engage people around a shared vision for the learning experience.

Why does a business professional need to know this?

The learning functions of organizations can sometimes seem like an expense that lacks a connection to business results. Learning environment modeling connects the learning and business functions of organizations by aligning investments in learning environments to results and evidence.

At the core of learning environment modeling is a common design language(Dodd 2015) and a set of standards that allow people from diverse backgrounds and experiences to communicate clearly, effectively, and consistently when planning and designing learning experiences.

The learning environment modeling system comprises visual canvas tools to organize ideas and visual building blocks that visualize the structure and flow of learning experiences. The system can be used in both analog and digital formats and provides a common format for decision making and strategic thinking. The system is most effectively used during collaborative planning and design projects by a skilled and experienced facilitator.

Learning environment modeling gives educators and learning experience designers an effective tool to visualize, communicate, and collaborate on projects and initiatives. This can help you save time, reduce risks, and engage diverse stakeholders in meaningful, efficient, and effective ways.

References

About Bucky Dodd

Photo of Bucky Dodd

Bucky Dodd, PhD, is the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Consultant at ClearKinetic, a boutique consultancy specializing in creating one-of-a-kind education and training solutions.

Term: Learning Environment Modeling

Email: BuckyDodd@ClearKinetic.com

Website: clearkinetic.com

Twitter: @buckydodd

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/buckydodd