The Mindtools L&D Podcast

This week's podcast covers the thorny topic of microlearning. We struggle to even define microlearning, so does the term have any real value? Is it 'chunking'? 'Performance support'? Can we agree on a definition that makes it useful? If so, what is it, and how can we help clients understand it?

Ross G and Owen thrash out the answers with microlearning aficionado Shannon Tipton.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @rossgarnerGP, @owenferguson, and @stipton.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

The EHRC article Owen mentions is here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/employers-dark-ages-over-recruitment-pregnant-women-and-new-mothers

And the crosstabs that break down the data are here: https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/aik7dvvqb0/YG-Archive-041217-Equality%20and%20Human%20Rights%20Commission.pdf

You can listen to the Freakonomics podcast on the Uber gender pay gap report here: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-can-uber-teach-us-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

Shannon's article about the gender pay gap in restaurants is here: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/line-cook-nycs-fanciest-restaurants/amp

And the article regarding competency and leadership models is here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2013/03/28/the-most-common-leadership-model-and-why-its-broken/#23e8a94f51d6

This week on the GoodPractice Podcast, we're continuing our discussion around 'design thinking' with a focus on complexity. How can we make the complicated simple? Should this always be our objective? And can we prepare people for chaos?

Learning design guru Julie Dirksen returns to the podcast to share her experiences with Ross G and Owen.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, and @UsableLearning.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

Julie's book, Design for How People Learn, is a must-read for anyone working in our field. It's available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-People-Learn-Voices-Matter/dp/0134211286

More from Julie can be found at her website: designbetterlearning.com

Much of this discussion was based on the Cynefin Framework. Wikipedia provides a good overview here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework

The Apgar Score for checking the health of newborn babies is also explained on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apgar_score

If you were interested in Owen's example of a simple, life-saving algorithm developed at a hospital in Cook County, the full paper reference is:

Reilly BM, Evans AT, Schaider JJ, Das K, Calvin JE, Moran LA, Roberts RR, Martinez E. Impact of a Clinical Decision Rule on Hospital Triage of Patients With Suspected Acute Cardiac Ischemia in the Emergency Department. JAMA. Available at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/195118

CB Insights research into earnings calls is at: https://www.cbinsights.com/research/artificial-intelligence-earnings-calls/

Clark Quinn's book, Millennials, Goldfish & Other Training Misconceptions, is available from ATD: https://www.td.org/books/millennials-goldfish-other-training-misconceptions

And, for something completely different, Romesh Ranganathan's interview with Doc Brown is available from the Hip Hop Saved My Life podcast at: https://www.mixcloud.com/hiphopsavedmylife/episode-46-doc-brown/

Machine learning means that computers can teach themselves without the help of a human programmer, offering tremendous opportunities for justice, medicine and - more everyday - Netflix recommendations. In Learning and Development, it's often cited as the hot new tech.

But is our industry ready to embrace such technology? Do we need it? And are we truly making the most of the existing technology we already have?

Appitierre co-founder Wes Atkinson returns to discuss with Justin and Owen.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @WriterJustin, @OwenFerguson, and @WesAtkinsonUK.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

For more from Wes and Appitierre, see appitierre.com.

Google's difficulty with image-recognition was recently revisited by Wired at: https://www.wired.com/story/when-it-comes-to-gorillas-google-photos-remains-blind/

Owen's book recommendation was Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.

The augmented writing app that Owen mentioned, used to create better job descriptions, was Textio. It's available at: https://textio.com

Last week on the podcast we gave our thoughts on the Learning Technologies conference. Today, we ask whether we should resist the urge to jump on the latest tech and focus on learners instead.

Author and consultant Patti Shank joins Ross G and Owen to discuss.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, and @PattiShank.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

For more from Patti, see pattishank.com.

The chess paper that Ross described was: Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973). Perception in chess. Cognitive psychology, 4(1), 55-81, available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010028573900042

Learn Better, by Ulrich Boser, is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-Better-Mastering-Business-Anything/dp/1623365260

Tim Harford's guide to statistics in a misleading age is online at: https://www.ft.com/content/ba4c734a-0b96-11e8-839d-41ca06376bf2

The Freakonomics podcast on Harold Pollack's financial advice is here: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/everything-always-wanted-know-money-afraid-ask/

Footage of the two Space X booster rockets landing in unison can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42969020

Scott Kelly's biography, Endurance, is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endurance-Year-Space-Lifetime-Discovery/dp/1524731595

The Apollo 11 transcript is available at: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11transcript_tec.html

And Public Service Broadcasting's album, The Race for Space, can be heard on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/65KwtzkJXw7oT819NFWmEP

Learning Technologies is Europe's leading conference for those of us working in learning and development, so this week on the GoodPractice Podcast we're sharing our thoughts on the 2018 event.

Ross G, Owen and James discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI), chat bots, Virtual Reality (VR), evaluation and microlearning. We also share our main takeaways in 'What I Learned at Learning Technologies This Week'.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, and @JamesMcLuckie.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

Will Thalheimer's article on the Kirkpatrick Model can be read here: https://www.worklearning.com/2018/01/30/donald-kirkpatrick-was-not-the-originator-of-the-four-level-model-of-learning-evaluation/

JD Dillon's piece on the hype cycle is at: http://www.learngeek.co/2018/01/jds-workplace-learning-hype-cycle/

Our 'Working Out Loud' episode, number 69, is available at: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/69-working-out-loud-to-build-new-skills-and-relationships

As online learning designers we're often tempted to experiment with new functionality, but sometimes our enthusiasm for innovative approaches can create a barrier for users.

On this week's episode of the GoodPractice Podcast, eLearning Developer Michael Osborne and Learning and Development Advisor Mike Shaw join Ross G and Gemma to discuss their tips for creating accessible learning.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @GemmaTowersey, @MikeOzzy and @MikeShawLD.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

Michael's accessibility blogs can be found on LinkedIn, here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accessibility-disabilities-what-michael-osborne/

Don Norman's discussion on the design of Hawaii's missile warning system is at: https://www.fastcodesign.com/90157153/don-norman-what-went-wrong-in-hawaii-human-error-nope-bad-design

And the article that Mike referenced, on AI in Black Mirror, can be read here: http://mashable.com/2018/01/12/black-mirror-ai-ethics-opinion/#XhkS9bYF2PqB

In the early stages of our careers we learn how to do our jobs, manage office politics and earn promotion. But those habits and behaviours that initially help us advance can become a burden. We end up in meetings because it used to be important to show face, and not because they're an effective use of our time.

In this week's GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen speak to Dom Price, Futurist at software developer Atlassian, about his approach to 'unlearning' habits and behaviours.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @DomPrice.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

The Atlassian Team Playbook is available at: https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook

For a fun insight into how Atlassian team members speak to one another, see: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/inside-atlassian/teamwork-data-visualization

Owen's 'What I Unlearned This Week' covered Johann Hari's Guardian piece on depression. The original article is here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/07/is-everything-you-think-you-know-about-depression-wrong-johann-hari-lost-connections

And, for balance, the counter argument is here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

When we're asked to create a learning solution, how often do we think about the context within which that solution will sit? Design thinking prompts us to take a wider view, collaborating with learners and stakeholders to co-create a course or resource.

On this week's podcast, Connie Malamed from The eLearning Coach podcast joins Ross G and Owen to share her insight into design thinking.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet us @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @eLearningCoach.

You can also find us @GoodPractice or @GoodpracticeAus.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

Harvard Business Review covered design thinking in some detail here: https://hbr.org/2015/09/design-for-action

Connie's NICU and HDX examples from Frog Design can be found at https://www.frogdesign.com/press-release/aspect-imaging-frog-collaborate-mri-technologies and https://www.frogdesign.com/work/un-ocha-humanitarian-data-exchange

We covered agile methodology way back in episode 13. You can listen here: http://podcast.goodpractice.com/agile-ld-lessons-from-coding

Owen's 'Little UI Details' Twitter moment recommendation can be found at: https://twitter.com/i/moments/880688233641848832?lang=en

Ross' '1 Second Everyday' video for 2017 is on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg9skphCdsE

You can find out more about Connie by visiting theelearningcoach.com or by listening to The eLearning Coach podcast.

What is self-care, and why is it important? Can organisations play a role in self-care for their employees? And should they?

On this week's show, Justin and Owen are joined by Sukh Pabial to discuss how we can all look after ourselves a bit better.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you'll find us all on Twitter: @writerjustin @owenferguson and @sukhpabial.

For more from GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodpracticeAus.

The articles Owen and Sukh refer to in What I Learned This Week are available here:

Stop Asking Me 'What About Men?'

The Dangers of Dark Nudging

Over the past year, we've had regular feedback on our feature 'What I Learned This Week'. For us, as learning professionals, it's a challenge to keep on learning; to practice what we preach. So for this special Christmas episode, we've expanded this feature to 'What I Learned This Year'.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodpracticeAus.

We'd love to hear what you have learned this year, so get in touch!

For more from GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com.

Until next year, Merry Christmas from the GoodPractice team!