Leading Learning Podcast

We're thrilled to reach another milestone: 350 episodes of the Leading Learning Podcast. We are grateful to our listeners for making this possible.

Milestones are opportunities to reflect, both on what’s past and what’s to come. In this episode, we focus on three areas we expect to be of continuing and growing importance in the learning landscape and for learning businesses: AI, the X factor, and the work/learn connection.

Detailed show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode350.

Learning businesses can play a critical role in creating learning pathways for adults that account for the realities of their work and life. Christine Carpenter, senior vice president of engagement at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), has spent years working with diverse stakeholders to establish such pathways and supporting on- and off-ramps to education for adult learners.

CAEL is a nonprofit membership organization and leader in the field of adult learning on a mission to build a transformative, equitable culture of lifelong learning and economic empowerment for all adult learners.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Christine about CAEL’s focus on supporting the learner/worker and the related role of credit for prior learning (CPL), competency-based education (CBE), and microcredentials. They also discuss CAEL’s “Adult Learner Leaders for Institutional Effectiveness” (ALLIES) framework and why our collective success is ultimately determined by the individual adult learner’s success.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode349.

Regardless of your position, if you work in a learning business, you need to care about finding opportunities to grow revenue—AKA business development.

According to Sean Soth, chair of the Leadership Advisory Board for Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR), we are all in business development.

PAR is a professional member organization that works to support and connect association teams to the ideas and applications needed to grow revenue. PAR’s mission is to inspire revenue growth for association professionals through knowledge, resources, and community.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Sean about PAR’s origins and mission, revenue generation, revenue diversification, and the growing importance and relevance of the business development role in associations and other learning businesses.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode348.

All too often learning businesses focus solely on traditional educational offerings. But, by narrowly focusing on courses and conferences, learning businesses miss an opportunity to better understand their learners' needs and to deliver more value.

One of the best ways to understand those needs and to provide additional value is through a learning community.

In this episode, we explore the concept of community, including what one is (and isn't), the value one can offer, how to create or reinvigorate one, and approaches to pricing.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode347.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how we all live, work, and learn. It will undoubtedly impact every industry, redefining how leaders in the business of lifelong learning need to think and act. One company helping organizations, particularly marketers, do this is Marketing AI Institute.

Marketing AI Institute’s mission is to make artificial intelligence approachable and actionable. And leading that mission is founder and CEO, Paul Roetzer. Paul is co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing, and the Future of Business as well as the creator of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON) and the AI Academy for Marketers.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Paul about his definition of artificial intelligence, why he thinks we’re at a tipping point with AI, the 5Ps of marketing AI, and use cases where a learning business looking to leverage AI for marketing might focus first.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode346.

We are grateful to our sponsor for this series, WBT Systems.

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TopClass LMS provides the tools for you to become the preferred provider in your market, delivering value to learners at every stage of their working life. WBT Systems’ award-winning learning system enables delivery of impactful continuing education, professional development, and certification programs.

The TopClass LMS team supports learning businesses in using integrated learning technology to gain greater understanding of learners’ needs and behaviors, to enhance engagement, to aid recruitment and retention, and to create and grow non-dues revenue streams.

WBT Systems will work with you to truly understand your preferences, needs, and challenges to ensure that your experience with TopClass LMS is as easy and problem-free as possible. Visit leadinglearning.com/topclass to learn how to generate value and growth for your learning business and to request a demo.

Content alone is usually not enough to stand out and make your learning business as useful and as successful as it can be. You usually need something else to supplement or enhance your content.

That’s why we’ve identified five areas—what we’re calling the 5 Cs—to strategically build on the content that a learning business already has.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we share those 5 Cs to help you enhance or repackage your existing products and services: coaching, cohorts, community, chunking, and credentials. We also explain how to power up your portfolio in each of those areas to grow the reach, revenue, and impact of your content. 

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode345.

We are grateful to our sponsor for this series, WBT Systems.

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TopClass LMS provides the tools for you to become the preferred provider in your market, delivering value to learners at every stage of their working life. WBT Systems’ award-winning learning system enables delivery of impactful continuing education, professional development, and certification programs.

The TopClass LMS team supports learning businesses in using integrated learning technology to gain greater understanding of learners’ needs and behaviors, to enhance engagement, to aid recruitment and retention, and to create and grow non-dues revenue streams.

WBT Systems will work with you to truly understand your preferences, needs, and challenges to ensure that your experience with TopClass LMS is as easy and problem-free as possible. Visit leadinglearning.com/topclass to learn how to generate value and growth for your learning business and to request a demo.

It’s critical that learning business professionals pay careful attention to the research they create and the research they rely on for making decisions. This means asking questions, knowing the research methods used, and understanding the limitations of the data. But, because most of us aren’t trained in research, this can be a challenge. 

That’s why Elizabeth Engel, chief strategist at Spark Consulting, and Polly Karpowicz, a seasoned association consultant, co-authored “Caveat Emptor: Becoming a Responsible Consumer of Research.” Their goal in writing the white paper was to help associations and others to be better informed about the research they use and to remain trusted, unbiased sources of information for the audiences they serve.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Elizabeth and Polly about primary versus secondary research, qualitative and quantitative research, mixed research methods, the ethics of using people in research, and bias. They also discuss data validity, reliability, and statistical significance, and they share valuable tips for the responsible consumption and production of research.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode344.

We are grateful to our sponsor for this series, WBT Systems.

***

TopClass LMS provides the tools for you to become the preferred provider in your market, delivering value to learners at every stage of their working life. WBT Systems’ award-winning learning system enables delivery of impactful continuing education, professional development, and certification programs.

The TopClass LMS team supports learning businesses in using integrated learning technology to gain greater understanding of learners’ needs and behaviors, to enhance engagement, to aid recruitment and retention, and to create and grow non-dues revenue streams.

WBT Systems will work with you to truly understand your preferences, needs, and challenges to ensure that your experience with TopClass LMS is as easy and problem-free as possible. Visit leadinglearning.com/topclass to learn how to generate value and growth for your learning business and to request a demo.

Dr. Bror Saxberg is founder of LearningForge, a learning engineering consultancy that helps organizations think creatively about applying learning development and motivation science to their products, services, and strategies. Prior to this, he served as the chief learning officer and co-founder of K12 Inc., the chief learning officer of Kaplan, and the head of learning sciences at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Bror is an MD PhD, giving him a rich and unique perspective on the world of learning. He focuses on applying what’s known about learning science and learning measurement at scale to the practical business of making effective, efficient, usable, and graceful learning environments that get learners the outcomes they need to be successful.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Celisa talks with Bror about the components of expertise, why and when to perform a cognitive task analysis, and motivation’s impact on learning. They also discuss learning engineering, effective iteration, and the importance of evidence-centered design.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode343.

We are grateful to our sponsor for this series, WBT Systems.

***

TopClass LMS provides the tools for you to become the preferred provider in your market, delivering value to learners at every stage of their working life. WBT Systems’ award-winning learning system enables delivery of impactful continuing education, professional development, and certification programs.

The TopClass LMS team supports learning businesses in using integrated learning technology to gain greater understanding of learners’ needs and behaviors, to enhance engagement, to aid recruitment and retention, and to create and grow non-dues revenue streams.

WBT Systems will work with you to truly understand your preferences, needs, and challenges to ensure that your experience with TopClass LMS is as easy and problem-free as possible. Visit leadinglearning.com/topclass to learn how to generate value and growth for your learning business and to request a demo.

1EdTech has been instrumental in the creation and ongoing management of important standards in the world of online learning. Formerly known as IMS Global, 1EdTech is a member-based community dedicated to powering learner potential. Its members include institutions and tech providers that work together to make learning technology better, safer, and more interoperable.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Mark Leuba, vice president of product management at 1EdTech. They focus on 1EdTech’s work with digital credentials. They look at the current digital credentials landscape, the growing adoption, and potential challenges. They also discuss Open Badges and the Comprehensive Learner Record, two key standards developed by 1EdTech that are aimed at addressing some of the challenges that exist in the evolving market for digital credentials.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode342.

You've probably noted the remarkable rise of ChatGPT. In a short time, it become a game-changer in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and has the potential to revolutionize the way we work and learn.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we explain what ChatGPT is, how it works, and its implications for both learners and providers of learning. We also discuss concerns about and limitations of ChatGPT and what learning businesses need to consider when using it.

Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode341.