Video Learning Lab

Video Learning Lab

By Video Learning LabTechnology
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Video Learning Lab episodes

  • Ep. 7 - The Secret Behind Great Explainer Videos - Rued Riis

    Rued Riis is a creator who helps educators turn knowledge into video.

    Having worked in both marketing and training, I enjoy his perspective as someone who designs a balance of both education and entertainment with his learning content.
    ____
    🖐🏽 Key Takeaways:
    Don't pour everything into one "golden" video. Focus on explaining one thing and explaining it well.
    Your video pacing should be somewhere between TikTok crazy and academia dry.
    One of the most underrated tips for using ChatGPT in scriptwriting is to use it to come up with metaphors and examples to explain complex topics.
    To become a creator, you have to have the courage to put things out into the world.
    ____
    📚 Resources:
    Check out Rued's podcast, blog and courses here:
    https://www.ruedriis.com/
    You can follow and contact Rued Riis on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruedriis/
    ____
    🤔 About the Host
    Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.
    With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.
    He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
    ____
    🧑🏽‍🏫 Check out the ⁠Synthesia Academy⁠ here: https://www.synthesia.io/academy
    🗣 Or get in touch with me on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster

    45 min
  • Ep. 6 - Fundamentals of Instructional Design w/ Devlin Peck

    Ever put personal development on the back burner? Well, in this episode Devlin Peck and I discuss the 5 key tenets of instructional design that every ID could either internalize or brush up on

    What to look forward to?
    1. The Audience Holds the Key
    2. Alignment is Everything
    3. Practice and Feedback Make Perfect
    4. People Learn Together
    5. Learning is a Campaign
    Who is Devlin Peck? 🤔
    Devlin Peck is the founder of DevlinPeck.com where he helps people build instructional design skills and become instructional designers.
    He also leads a team of skilled instructional designers, developers, and consultants to serve corporate learning needs for global clients.
    ____
    🖐🏽 Key Takeaways:
    Your audience is the key to an effective and useful learning design. If you don't know who you're designing for, your LX is for no one but yourself.
    Practice and feedback = learning. Feedback can come in many forms, but the best feedback is one that allows learners to fail. You can tell someone the correct answer, but even better is providing a robust explanation...and the best is letting someone "experience" the consequences of applying their knowledge or making a decision.
    Learning is a campaign means that you're not designing for a one-shot intervention with your learners. Instead, you should strive to keep learning alive long after your workshop or course.
    ____
    📚 Resources:
    You can follow and contact Devlin Peck on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devlinpeck/
    ____
    🤔 About the Host
    Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.
    With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.
    He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
    ____
    🧑🏽‍🏫 Check out the ⁠Synthesia Academy⁠ here: https://www.synthesia.io/academy
    🗣 Or get in touch with me on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster

    52 min
  • Ep. 5 - The Missing Link Between L&D and Product Management - Egle Vinauskaite and Myles Runham

    Egle, Myles, and I discuss how to transform the L&D role by thinking more with a product mindset as well as why L&D has a problem engaging its learners. 


    We also talked about the different skills of a product manager that could help L&D better address the needs of the business: 


    1. Stakeholder management 

    2. Data-driven problem-solving 

    3. An understanding of how tools can be used to address problems but are not themselves the solution. 


    Who are Myles and Egle? 


    Egle Vinauskaite, a renowned learning strategist, advises top companies and edtech startups by blending learning design, behavioral science, and product expertise. She specializes in using advanced technologies for digital and blended learning, covering large-scale programs, academies, alternative education, apps, and extended reality. 


    Myles Runham, a seasoned leader in digital businesses, has collaborated with global corporates, public sector organizations, charities, and vendors. With a deep understanding of managing learning services and expertise in overseeing digital products, he offers valuable insights to leadership teams. His diverse background covers commercial leadership and digital learning service management across various industries and technology providers. 


    _______


    🖐🏽 Key Takeaways: 


    L&D has an engagement problem. This is because of the lack of perceived relevancy of the role of L&D in the business. Also, L&D struggles to deal with the role of "assigned learning" and its effect on employees. 


    One of the biggest value adds for L&D folks is to be able to pitch back user insights to the business and stakeholders. 


    Think about solving business problems as both cyclical and iterative. Learning interventions will never be able a silver bullet. Rather, they can address problems that are ongoing, with a variety of solutions – not just learning. 


    _______


    📚 Resources: 


    You can follow and contact Egle and Myles via LinkedIn: 


    Egle: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinauskaite/⁠ 

    Myles: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/myles-run...⁠ 


    _______


    🤔 About the Host 


    Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services. With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video. He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.


    🧑🏽‍🏫 Check out the ⁠Synthesia Academy⁠ here: ⁠https://www.synthesia.io/academy⁠ 

    🗣 Or get in touch with me on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster⁠

    42 min
  • Ep. 4 - Using Marketing Principles to Create Engaging Learning – with John Helmer

    In this episode, John Helmer and I discuss how to can create learning that excites and engages. We talk about how he designed his fantastic podcast by combining both his marketing background, work with learning organizations, and his love of cinema.


    John Helmer, a writer, editor, and communications strategy expert who hosts 2 fantastic podcasts about learning:

    • The Learning Hack
    • Great Minds on Learning (with Donald Clark)
    • The Learning Hack website
    • Support The Learning Hack on Patreon


      • 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.


            • RESOURCES:

            You can follow and contact John Helmer via LinkedIn:

            https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhelmer/


            • The Learning Hack⁠: a podcast about the people and technologies that are shaping the future of learning.
            • ⁠Great Minds on Learning⁠ (with Donald Clark): podcast to discuss the history of thought and theorizing about learning. The inspired, the enduring, the wacked-out weird and the just plain wrong, from Aristotle to the present day.


              • ABOUT THE HOST

              Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.  With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.  He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

              CONTACT METHOD

              • Check out ⁠Synthesia Academy⁠
              • LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster/
                • 45 min
              • Ep. 3 - Can Technical Training Be Engaging? – with Amy Petricek

                In this episode, Amy Petricek shares her insights about what's big in the instructional design world, the role of engagement in instructional design, and how to think about learning in the flow of work.


                Amy is a Learning Design Manager, Career Strategist, and host of the podcast Share Watcha Learned podcast.


                Key Takeaways:

                • Instructional Design looks very different from company to company. It's important to connect with people to understand what that role is beyond what's only in the job description.


                  • Asynchronous learning requires us to be more intentional about our learning design. It's important not only to think about how the information is displayed in eLearning, but also how it's delivered.


                    • Training has an opportunity to move outside the LMS. However, it also requires extra thinking through the click pathway of the learner.


                      • RESOURCES:

                      You can follow and contact Amy Petricek via LinkedIn:

                      https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-petricek/


                      • Share Whatcha Learned Podcast - a podcast for learning professionals to share something they're learning in the field of Instructional Design.


                        • ABOUT THE HOST

                        Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.  With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.  He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

                        CONTACT METHOD

                        • Check out Synthesia Academy
                        • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster/
                          • 44 min
                        • Ep. 2 - Accessibility in Learning Design Helps All Learners – with Dawn Diperi

                          In this episode, Dr. Dawn Diperi talks about how prioritizing accessibility and universal design principles not only helps learners feel included in learning experiences, but also provides more user choice when it comes to how they learn your content.

                          Dawn is a Global Content Management Specialist for UNICEF's Learning Passport program.  She has worked for various organizations including the Harvard Graduate School of Education, UNICEF Learning Passport and is an internationally recognised expert on online pedagogy, inclusive classrooms, and accessibility.


                          Key Takeaways:

                          • eLearning increases accessibility for learners because an online experience provides more pathways and formats for individual learners to choose how they participate.


                            • Accessibility isn't expensive if you prioritize it in your design upfront versus trying to protect your company once you've delivered your design.


                              • Graphic design and accessibility are peas in a pod when it comes to reducing cognitive load in your instructional design.


                                • RESOURCES:

                                You can follow and contact Dr. Dawn Diperi via LinkedIn:

                                https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnleediperi/


                                • Graphic Design for Course Creators eBook: https://graphicdesignforcoursecreators.pressbooks.com/
                                • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/


                                  • ABOUT THE HOST

                                  Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.  With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.  He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

                                  CONTACT METHOD

                                  • Check out Synthesia Academy
                                  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster/
                                    • 32 min
                                  • Ep. 1 - Thinking Like a Gamer: Game Design Meets Learning and Development – with Mohsin Memon

                                    In this episode, Mohsin Memon talks about game design and L&D and his approach to designing engaging experiences in learning and training.  Mohsin is the Founder of Gamitar Learning and the creator of Evvive, The Leadership Game played by leaders at Uber, Deloitte, PwC, Coca Cola, Motorola, Marsh, HSBC, and many more.


                                    Key Takeaways:

                                    • Gamification fails when designers don't have their own game journey or game experience.


                                      • Autonomy is the goal of any player that steps into the experience.  The player must understand the elements and "the game" so that they can play – and learn from that experience.


                                        • Reflection is key to designing impactful learning experiences.  Without it, there is less likelihood that any new learning will transfer to performance.


                                          • You must design characters that resonate with your audience.  Your audience should be able to view the world through the character's perspective.


                                            • Feedback and interaction are what make games effective learning experiences.  Games are places for learners to experiment, fail, and apply new knowledge.  


                                              • The Magic Circle has 3 key elements that are fundamental to the design of games and can reframe how we think about designing experiences.
                                                1. The player / the learner - who is engaging with your learning?
                                                2. The toy - the platform, tools, or the elements the player interacts with
                                                3. The rules - The interaction between 1 & 2


                                                  4. Best Moments:

                                                  "The faster you're able to enable the learner to become active, the more powerful and meaningful that experience will be."


                                                  "To bring the points home, we have to be able to talk about it. Create a dialogue around what happens in a game so that we can learn from that and apply it in the real world."


                                                  "Experimentation plays a big role in game design. Players get to fail, try things out."


                                                  "Consequence is so important for players for them to make a mental shift and generate behavior change. Players need to see that 'I made that choice and it didn't work out for me.'"


                                                  GUEST RESOURCES

                                                  You can follow and contact Mohsin via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohsinmem/

                                                  • Evvive Leadership Game: https://evivve.com/
                                                  • Helpful Takeaway: The Magic Circle and How to Use It 
                                                  • Character builder tools: https://www.rangen.co.uk/chars/pergen.php
                                                  • https://charactercreator.org/
                                                  • Nash's Equilibrium


                                                    • ABOUT THE HOST

                                                    Kevin Alster leads the learning team at Synthesia focusing primarily on product education and client services.  With over a decade of experience in education and learning, he has moved from the classroom and into tech to help people create and communicate better through video.  He has been developing enterprise and branded learning solutions in organizations such as General Assembly, The School of The New York Times, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.


                                                    CONTACT METHOD

                                                    • Check out Synthesia Academy
                                                    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster/


                                                      • 29 min

                                                    About Video Learning Lab

                                                    From the publisher's feed

                                                    Welcome to Video Learning Lab, your go-to podcast for elevating your Learning & Development (L&D) and video creation skills.