The Learning Hack podcast

The 'Jobs To Be Done' approach (or framework) encourages a focus on what your end-user is trying to achieve when they access a product, service or experience. As professor Theodore Levitt puts it: 'People don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole'. John talks to Ger Driesen, Learning Innovation Leader at the learning system provider aNewSpring, about how it can be applied to learning. Could this make for a more learner-centred approach to learning design, or might it raise conflicts with the priorities of organizational development? And what is the role of AI under this framework?

• 0:00 - Intro
• 3:24 - Ger's journey in learning
• 6:36 - The jobs-to-be-done framework
• 8:57 - How it will affect learning
• 12:14 - Examples of how the framework specifics work
• 20:41 - How the framework plays in an organisation
• 22:29 - The impact on L&D professionals
• 24:03 - Does AI have a role in this?
• 26:27 - Where to follow Ger

Links

• An overview blog for JTBD for learning design: https://www.anewspring.com/the-jobs-to-be-done-approach/
• A 'why JTBD' blog: https://www.anewspring.com/improve-learning-design-jobs-to-be-done/

Follow Ger

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerdriesen/
• Twitter: @GerDriesen
• Ger's learning notes: https://www.anewspring.com/gers-learning-notes/
• Website (company): https://www.anewspring.com/

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

Adaptive learning systems were among the first to use artificial intelligence, creating a subcategory in learntech that has been on a slow burn since the 2010s. With the meteoric rise to prominence this year of AI in the headlines, thanks to ChatGPT and other publicly accessible generative AI tools, does the future now look bright for adaptive learning – or does it risk being swept away in the tsunami of over-hyped hopes and fears that this phenomenon has generated? John talks to Markus Bernhardt, Chief Evangelist of adaptive vendor Obrizum about this and other current topics concerning AI. Markus brings hope, some reassurance, but also further causes for concern about the use of AI in corporates that haven't so far registered in the public debate.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 4:51 - Origin of OBRIZUM
• 5:47 - How AI is used to adapt their learning courses
• 16:41 - Markus's background
• 20:05 - Should we rule out ChatGTP for its lack of imagery?
• 26:47 - What role do human trainers play?
• 36:28 - Future of corporate learning
• 41:52 - Risks of AI within corporate learning
• 48:21 - Where to follow Markus - and who Markus follows

Follow Markus:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-bernhardt
• Website (company): http://obrizumgroup.com/

Contact John Helmer:

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

This episode is part 2 of a podcast swap with the Video Learning Lab podcast run by Kevin Alster. Kevin is a Learning Strategist at Synthesia, the Denmark-based video learning company, and was previously employed as a designer of learning experiences at The New York Times and Sotheby's. John talks to him about Synthesia's AI-generated avatars, which are rapidly gaining use in learning programmes. This wide-ranging discussion covers many of the most topical questions about use of AI in learning. And in a first for the Learning Hack podcast, the episode is introduced by AI generated avatars, replacing the usual cast of human presenters.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 3:08 - Technology behind Synthesia's AI
• 11:15 - Ensuring inclusive avatar representation
• 20:53 - The impact on elearning
• 27:54 - Success stories in AI-assisted learning
• 35:47 - How L&D people will evolve with AI-generated Avatars
• 52:14 - Addressing risks of AI Avatars
• 55:11 - What challenges are there?
• 1:05:05 - Where to follow Kevin?

Episode links:

• 'GPTs are GPTs: An early look at the labor market impact potential of large language models': https://openai.com/research/gpts-are-gpts
• Karen X. Cheng: https://www.karenx.com/
• Nina Schick: Https://ninaschick.org/

Follow Kevin:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster
• Website (Synthesia): https://www.synthesia.io/
• Synthesia academy: https://www.synthesia.io/academy
• Website: (personal) http://kevinalster.wordpress.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @Kalstere

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

Coming from a background of digital transformation, Matt Wilkinson has created a live elearning company that combines human-delivered and digital learning in a scalable way, stealing a bit of a march on more content-focused competitors. His company, CEyX, help teams build the technology skills and confidence necessary to positively impact their performance. Clients include Deliveroo, PA Consulting and the Department for Culture Media and Sport. John asks him what is unique about his model, and why he thinks more technology training vendors haven't, to date, adopted it.

• 0:00 - Intro 3:15 - What does CEyX do?
• 5:28 - Matt's Background
• 7:42 - Perception of how tech skills are taught
• 10:58 - How CEyX teaches this different?
• 14:00 - How scale-able and tangible are these results?
• 18:54 - How unique is this model?
• 27:10 - Biggest challenges in scale-up companies
• 30:06 - Matt's thoughts on A.I.
• 42:29 - Where can we follow Matt Wilkinson?

Follow Matt

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-wilkinson-ceyx
• Website (company): https://www.ceyx.uk/
• Website (personal) http://www.nutcrackermtb.co.uk/

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

This episode we're giving the channel over to one of our favourite podcasts, Video Learning Lab. The podcast is hosted by Kevin Alster, who runs an innovative video learning company called Synthesia, which uses lifelike AI-generated avatars as presenters. We're going to feature Kevin as a guest on the Learning Hack very soon, but in this podcast he interviews John. Kevin wanted to know what he'd picked up from running his two podcasts about how best to design learning. They also explore John's insights gleaned over the years from working in communications and also in the creative arts (he was in a top ten band, had a novel published and wrote and appeared in a series of comedy mini-musicals on Channel 4 in the UK). Due to a technical glitch the interview here is a bit truncated, but if you desperately need that last 5 minutes, you can listen to Kevin's channel on YouTube or Spotify – links below. Key Takeaways:

• Instructional design can get in its way with an extremely narrow focus on instructional design principles.
• L&D has a marketing problem. We should always try to excite the desire for people to listen/complete our entire learning program.
• Learning can channel a marketing mindset by tapping into creativity – not only in how we structure content, but also by how we deliver it. If you're putting learning into video, that is a creative act and you should think about how you're engaging learners.

Get the extended episode on Kevin's channels:

• YouTube: http://youtu.be/K_bCZEaQbRI
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/63vvFB7DpWr6eacW0qjR9X

Follow Kevin

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster
• Website (Company): https://www.synthesia.io/
• Website (personal): http://kevinalster.wordpress.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @Kalstere

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

Michelle Parry-Slater is Learning & Development Director of Kairos Modern Learning, and author of the Learning And Development Handbook. This guide for learning practitioners is realistic about the organizational context in which L&D has to operate, with its many new stresses and conflicting priorities. She encourages L&D people to think more strategically, and indicates mindsets, skillsets and toolsets for each of the major challenges L&D faces.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 2:51 - The Learning & Development Handbook
• 4:54 - L&D and String Theory
• 6:59 - The dividing line between L&D and Organisational Development
• 9:15 - Conversation between learning and the business
• 11:36 - Skillsets to think strategically
• 20:42 - Thoughts on A.I. Development
• 27:40 - Where to follow Michelle's thoughts

The Learning & Development Handbook:

https://www.koganpage.com/product/the-learning-and-development-handbook-9781789663327 Follow Michelle

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleparryslater
• Website (Company): http://www.kairosmodernlearning.co.uk/
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @MiPS1608

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

People use podcasts to gain information and knowledge, about a huge variety of things, in their downtime. Organisations and institutions have been slow to leverage this powerful source of potential to date, but things are changing fast. John talks to Adam Lacey, co-founder of Assemble You, an 'audio-first' provider of learning content. How different are learning podcasts from ordinary podcasts? And how easily – or otherwise – does audio learning sits alongside other forms of digital content within a learner journey?

• 0:00 - Intro
• 2:58 - Differences between The Learning Hack and Learning Podcasts
• 6:23 - How Adam got into learning podcasts
• 8:30 - Podcast Access
• 14:02 - Attention and Engagement
• 26:34 - Any theorists that influence his podcasts?
• 36:59 - Three tips for starting learning podcasts

Links

• The York University / BBC study mentioned in this episode: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1074320
• Assemble You's research report: https://www.assembleyou.com/audio-report-2023

Follow Adam

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamlacey
• Website: https://www.assembleyou.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Podcast: https://www.assembleyou.com/podcast

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

At the Learning Technologies France show in Paris this February, John talked to two of the industry's leading commentators, who both released significant pieces of research at the show. The L&D Global Sentiment Survey, run by Donald H Taylor, takes the pulse of the L&D community world-wide. The one-minute online poll asks L&D professionals internationally what they think will be hot in the following year. The Fosway 9-Grid™ report for Learning Systems plots the relative position of solutions and providers, predominantly within the UK and European market. Different solutions can be compared based on their Performance, Potential, Market Presence, Total Cost of Ownership and Future Trajectories across the market. Between them, these two surveys give a picture of where Learntech systems are in the post-pandemic world, and what is firing the expectations and imaginations of the learning community.

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:15 Don Taylor: What's changed since last year?
• 05:23 Is it unusual for a 'macro' issue like skills to dominate the survey?
• 07:21 AI
• 13:22 Metaverse
• 18:45 VR
• 21:07 Leading trends in the US
• 24:15 Is this a return to the pre-pandemic world?
• 26:45 David Wilson: The new 9-Grid for learning
• 28:05 Any surprises in the changes compared to last year?
• 33:43 'Ecosystemness'
• 42:40 Learning Systems market development

Follow Donald H. Taylor

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldhtaylor
• Website: https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/insight/gss2023-results/
• Twitter: @DonaldHTaylor

Follow David Wilson

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwil23
• Fosway website: https://www.fosway.com/
• Twitter: @dwil23
• Email: [email protected]

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

A passion for learning brought Dinye Hernada, she says, from a muddy school field in Indonesia to the boardrooms of Germany's top companies. With a double masters in international management, she began her working life supporting digital transformation. Realizing, however, that investing in people often had a bigger and more sustainable impact, she switched to L&D. Dinye is now Senior Learning and Development Manager at HeyJobs. John talks to her about her career path to date, the challenges she has overcome, and what the future holds for her profession.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 3:21 - How Dinye got into the learning profession
• 5:15 - Dinye's learning career 7:11 - 30 under 30
• 10:08 - Progressing in business despite prejudices
• 13:11 - Where did the older generation of learn-tech go wrong?
• 21:24 - Dinye's take on the L&D profession
• 30:37 - AI taking over decision making
• 39:19 - Where to follow Dinye's future endeavours

Follow Dinye

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinyehernanda
• Website (personal): https://www.dinyehernanda.com/
• Email: [email protected]

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

Download the white paper from Learning Pool written by Lindsey Coode – Skills are your Organization's Superpower https://learningpool.com/skills-are-your-organizations-superpower/

Ethical Angel is a company that brings together learners in need of development opportunities with charities and good causes in need of the practical skills they are developing. John talks to the company's founder and CEO, Alexander Fahie, a young entrepreneur with a background in investment management. Alexander explains how he had the idea of bringing these two communities togther, how the collaboration works, and the results Ethical Angel is achieving for charitable causes though giving learners in organizations opportunities to try out the skills they are learning in real world situations.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 3:24 - Ethical Angel
• 5:54 - What do the causes get out of it?
• 11:40 - Cooperates and Employee's side
• 14:17 - The learning design
• 20:29 - How the solution facilitates
• 28:45 - Examples of working in practice
• 33:10 - What's an efficient business model?
• 39:03 - How can people get involved?

Follow Alexander

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-fahie
• Twitter: @ethicalangels
• Website: https://www.ethicalangel.com/
• Email: [email protected]

Contact John Helmer

• Twitter: @johnhelmer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/
• Website: https://learninghackpodcast.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LearningHack

Download the white paper from Learning Pool written by Lindsey Coode – Skills are your Organization's Superpower https://learningpool.com/skills-are-your-organizations-superpower/