Here’s a bit of working out loud and sharing an experiment. It’s an example of an AI podcast. We’re so interested in your thoughts – especially if you’re in #L&D.

Quick background – why? Conversations ‘outside of the classroom’ are what we’re often aiming for in our learning design i.e. design the learning to drive conversations – to be the catalyst. This got us thinking to bake in conversations within elearning too – i.e. listen in to others talking – when we have no means to drive active group chats in more blended or facilitated solutions.

In short, we’ve been encouraging podcasts for a while – using podcast style interviews and chats within training to explore topics in a really human way.

It takes a fair bit of organising, editing etc. AI voices as an option came up recently. But is it too cheese? Uncanny valley? Too ‘scripted’. Just a waste of time? Or engaging? We’re not sure.

So we created the one here to play with the idea. It’s short (about 4.5mins). It’s not on a topic for training as such, just a chat about a Robert Plant gig our Creative Director wrote a blog about a few years back. We thought:

• What if we pointed generative AI at the blog (topic)?
• What if we prime two characters and got them talking about it?
• What if we said, “talk about it in a podcast format and see if you think there’s a link to the AGES learning model”.
• Would it be engaging? Helpful?

Have a listen. What are your thoughts on it. Weird? Wonderful? Could short conversations like these be useful to talk on other topics i.e. as icebreakers or segues within elearning, but where the topic is about the training etc? Anything else?

James Bevelander, Group Digital Learning Manager for the Cotton On Group, joins The Learning Hook Podcast for a chat on a wide range of topics. This episode’s highly relevant for retail learning and development professionals, learning designers creating video (from scripts to shoots), L&D for large global organisations, and of course general elearning aficionados wherever you may be 😊.

Snapshot below

• James’s story: From Flash Developer to Group Digital Learning Manager for the Cotton On Group
• Hear about a different take on compliance (imagine it being driven by team leads/store managers and delivered ‘just in time’)
• Tone of voice, style and engagement for global audiences
• Getting our engagement on: the Rule of Threes for generating new ideas
• What should never be filmed from the boot of a car…
• Data collection and insights outside of the LMS – beyond traditional elearning approaches
• The jingle method (yes, this is a teaser, but an interesting anecdote worth listening out for)
• Solutions for the ‘white-noise’ of over used (abused?) animation techniques (you know that famous hand that draws so many crappy animations?)

Links from the podcast

Connect with James on LinkedIn. Or join him at the upcoming FuturistiX / LearnX Conference (Oct 15-16th where he’ll be speaking along with this podcast’s host, Brenden Carter).

In the chat:

• James Bevelander, Group Digital Learning Manager for the Cotton On Group
• Brenden Carter, Creative Director and Founder of The Learning Hook
• Justin Cruickshank, Design & Production Manager at The Learning Hook
• You
• Ray Parker Jr (not really, but we talk about him)

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

Graeme Cowan on creating more mentally healthy and caring cultures

Graeme Cowan, Leadership & Team Resilience Speaker, Bestselling Author, Board Director R U OK? and Co-Founder of FactorC, joins Brenden Carter from The Learning Hook for a chat on the role of training to support more mentally healthy workplaces (aka caring cultures).

Snapshot below

• Runtime: 37 minutes
• Graeme’s personal story and battles with depression which led to his best selling book, 'Back from the Brink' and his involvement with R U OK? since its launch
• Lessons learnt from R U OK? Day’s rise as a movement and the campaign approach
• The power of focus in learning campaigns
• What’s holding work culture back from change?
• Mental health week and R U OK? Day – it’s that time of year again… but how we can make it 24/7 x 365?
• FactorC: The Care Equation, and how through caring leadership, we all grow
• The prize – which only caring cultures can ‘win’

Links from podcast

Connect with Graeme on LinkedIn. Or join him at the upcoming R U OK event, ‘Conversational Leadership’, where leaders from Metro Rail, Woolworths, and Connor Menswear, will share how they’re creating more caring and supportive cultures (16th May - Melbourne!).

Contact us to learn more about FactorC and how we’re supporting the growth of caring cultures through eLearning, learning campaigns, apps and portals, events and more: https://learninghook.com.au/factorc/ or here https://factorc.com.au/:

In the chat:

Graeme Cowan, Leadership & Team Resilience Speaker, Bestselling Author, Board Director R U OK? and Co-Founder of FactorC

Brenden Carter, Founder of The Learning Hook and Co-Founder of FactorC

(and You!)

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

Clint Clarkson, Cartoonist and Learning Design thought leader, joins Damala Scales Ghosh and Brenden Carter from The Learning Hook.

In his own words, Clint’s been tricking adults into enjoying learning since 2001 and is the founder of eLearning Alchemy.

You might also know Clint from his hugely popular cartoon series, ‘The L&D Scene’, depicting those challenges we all too often face in Learning and Development, and especially as designers of learning and performance solutions. We highly recommend connecting with Clint or looking up the cartoon series.

Connect with Clint on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We had a free flowing chat with Clint, covering:

• His road from darts champion to learning design
• The Trojan Horse analogy for the use of humour in learning design
• How synthesising ideas into a comic strip can start conversations and get deep – fast
• The over saturation of trends and their relationship to ‘Something About Mary’ 😊 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2di69FmhE
• Which character he is in the cartoons, and where the stories come from
• The future of The L&D Scene (look out for a book in the near future – yeeha!)
• We explore two key cartoons, which you can view below in conjunction to listening (recommended!)
• We wrapped it up by brainstorming a new cartoon with Clint – this was a live action go at it – see what you think!

We also suggested a LinkedIn challenge – map out your own cartoon (stick figures are fine) and Clint might just make it a reality!

• Share it with us, and/or hash tag it #lndscenechallenge - #lndscene and share with Clint on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In the chat we discuss the following comics from Clint’s work. We recommend viewing them as we chat.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ld-scene-41-elearning-trends-2018-clint-clarkson-ctdp-ctt/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ld-scene-37-train-them-like-goldfish-clint-clarkson-ctdp-ctt/

In the chat:

Clint Clarkson, Founder of eLearning Alchemy

Damala Scales Ghosh, Lead Learning Designer at The Learning Hook

Brenden Carter, Creative Director and Founder of The Learning Hook

(and You!)

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

Julie Gibson CEO and Co-Founder of Hitnet joins Justin Cruickshank and Damala Scales Ghosh from The Learning Hook.

Surprisingly, the digital divide (internet access and affordability) is a real issue in Australia. We spoke to Julie about how Hitnet work to bridge this gap with custom technology and content designed specifically for remote and marginalised communities.

Join us for a conversation about design, technology and the digital economy, including:

• Digitally excluded communities – who are they and what do they need?
• Co-design as fundamental to creating culturally relevant and useful technology and content
• Mobile Max – who ‘he’ is and how he's used
• What the digital hub data reveals (spoiler: stories are the stickiest content)
• How locally produced media is making a difference

Join us for 40 minutes on these topics and more.

To find out more about Hitnet, check out how a Community Hub works or to get in touch with Julie, visit https://www.hitnet.com.au/

In the chat:

Julie Gibson, CEO and Co-Founder of Hitnet

Damala Scales Ghosh, Lead Learning Designer at The Learning Hook

Justin Cruickshank, Design and Production Manager at The Learning Hook

(and You!)

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

Cathy Moore, training designer, presenter and creator of the Action Mapping model speaks with Brenden Carter and Damala Scales Ghosh from The Learning Hook.

Join our action mapping 10-year anniversary mini-celebration as Cathy shares stories and deeper insights into her workplace performance analysis and design model, and discusses the use of rich scenarios for authentic practice.

Some of the key elements of the conversation:

• None of us enjoy a ‘dud’ scenario and how to avoid writing one!
• The purpose of the Action Mapping model and how to get the most out of using it
• How the model evolved over the last 10 years to include one more critical question
• Differences between mini and branching scenarios, and when we might use each type in training design
• How well constructed scenarios support people to discover the consequences of their decisions, rather than being spoon fed information
• The processes, tools and essential steps in designing a successful scenario, and the importance of early testing

Join us for approx. 40 minutes on these topics and more.

Visit Cathy’s blog for articles and downloadable resources, and to find out more about her online scenario design courses and new book Map It. If you’re in New Zealand, you can see Cathy speak at the NZATD Conference 2018.

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

In the chat:

Cathy Moore, Training Designer, Presenter and Writer at blog.cathy-moore.com

Damala Scales Ghosh, Lead Learning Designer at The Learning Hook

Brenden Carter, Creative Director and Founder of The Learning Hook

(and You!)

Tracey Ezard chats with Brenden Carter and Rhiana Power from The Learning Hook team for our latest podcast.

Tracey is an author, educator, facilitator and leading speaker on creating 21st century tribes that thrive. During our chat we found Tracey to have an absolute 'laser focus' on helping business leaders shake the status quo to reach extraordinary outcomes. She's also the author of 'The Buzz, Creating Thriving and Collaborative Learning Cultures' and 'Glue, the stuff that binds us together'.

Some of the key elements of the conversation:

• Tracey shares a great story of an organisation's transition from the ordinary to extraordinary through learning to learn together
• The impact leaders as learners can make
• The key attributes of creating learning teams
• We explore if the old 'storming, norming and performing' cycle has changed
• Tracey shares some hot tips on processes to put in place to better equip our teams for peformance (learning underpinning all this)

Join us for 45 off minutes on these topics and more.

If any comments at all, we would love to hear from you.

www.learninghook.com.au

In the chat:

Tracey Ezard, Professional Triber (visit Tracey here - we highly recommend her blog if you enjoy the podcast: www.traceyezard.com)

Brenden Carter, Creative Director at The Learning Hook

Rhiana Power, Instructional designer / Project Manager at The Learning Hook

(and You!)