David Kelly’s Curated L&D Content for the Week of 8/12/19

This week’s curated content includes links exploring the following:

• How to use sticky notes to organize elearning content
• Takeaways from recent research into personality assessments
• A collection of free or low-cost illustrations for your elearning
• Tips on improving the user documentation you create
• An article looking at the value of VR in training of surgeons
• An example of how comics can be used in a learning context

How to Organize Elearning Content with Sticky Notes by Tim Slade
There are a number of different ways to organize learning content. I’ve seen people successfully use tools like PowerPoint or Word to organize their content. This post looks at a decidedly lower-tech option – sticky notes.

Nuts and Bolts: Do Personality Instruments Measure Anything? by Jane Bozarth
Personality assessments are a multi-million dollar business. But are they really worth anything? This post looks at some interesting takeaways found while developing the eLearning Guild’s most recent research report.

7 best illustration resources to use in your web design projects by Renee Fleck
Illustrations can be a valuable tool for elearning. Unfortunately, they can also be challenging to create, especially for those with limited design skills. This post looks at a number of websites that provide free or low-cost illustrations.

9 Tips for Awesome User Documentation (with Examples) by Lauren North
User documentation is an often overlooked part of a learning professional’s job. This post explores a number of great tips on how to create highly useable documentation.

Want to learn more about how to make the most of tools like SnagIt and Camtasia? Join us for the first-ever TechSmith LearnCon, taking place this fall.

Blow Out Your Knee? Hope Your Surgeon’s Got a VR Headset by Peter Rubin
It seems logical to assume that practicing a task in virtual reality would improve actual performance. However, just because something seems like it should work doesn’t mean it actually does. Professionals in all fields often make the mistake of following what “feels right” rather than what has been verified by research. This post explores actual research that looks at how virtual reality is used to train surgeons and the benefits it has when compared to other training approaches.

I’m Latino. I’m Hispanic. And they’re different, so I drew a comic to explain. by Terry Blas
This is a great post the explains the difference between two terms often used mistakenly interchangeably, but that’s not the primary reason I share it here. It’s also a great example of how a comic can be used to engage and educate.

How to Overcome the Challenges Facing Today’s Senior Learning Leaders

One of the biggest challenges senior learning leaders face today is keeping their organization’s learning strategy ahead of the advancing technology curve. And the reality is, it’s only going to get harder.

Today’s senior learning leaders need to connect with people and resources that can help them stay ahead of changes in technology, and to help build context on what each technology means to their organization.

I recently shared a post that explores 3 specific things all senior leaders should be doing every day:

• Actively Connect with other Senior Learning Leaders
• Become Conversant in Emerging Technologies
• Engage in Discussions that Put Technology into Context

It’s these three tentpoles around which our Executive Forum has been built. You’ll meet senior leaders dealing with the same challenges you are, gain the knowledge needed to engage in emerging technologies, and participate in discussions that will help you and your organization grow.

If you are responsible for driving your organizational learning strategy, consider joining us for the Executive Forum, co-located with the DevLearn Conference and Expo.