Are You Working on Your Skills?

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Introduction

With the AI frenzy, it's more important than ever for us mere humans to remain sharp, focused, and continually learning.

As a professor, I equate September with the New Year even more than with January because new students and a new school year occurs every September (for me, the past 26 years).

In that spirit, I send out my annual reminder for you to pick a subject and begin learning something new today. Maybe it's AI, building interactive learning or creating gamified learning. Learner engagement (real engagement) remains an important topic when trying to help those who participate in our courses learn and apply new skills and knowledge. In fact, most of the LinkedIn Courses I've created (and other courses) center around engaging learners in one way or another and here's the latest list of courses, a few might appeal to you and your learning goals for this "new year."

Increasing Learning Engagement: A Skills-First Approach Course

Helping your employees upskill and develop is a great way to keep them engaged and, with the labor shortage, remaining with your organization. In this course, I explain what it takes to build a strong, resilient, and flexible workforce using a skills-first learning approach. I give examples and activities that can be used in online and face-to-face courses.

Here's a link to a video in the course explaining the ever changing learning and development environment.

Increasing Learner Engagement Course

This is one of my most popular courses.

Whenever you teach others, regardless of the medium, you want to convey your knowledge and insights in a way that excites and engages learners. You may be the most well-researched and knowledgeable person on a subject but if you can't engage and motivate learners, you will have a problem.

Learn how to engage students both with traditional, non-digital methods and through some more modern approaches.

Here is the link to a preview of Learning How to Increase Learner Engagement.

Into the Metaverse Course

The metaverse is not going away. The uses for the metaverse are many and it's especially effective for immersive learning that involve dangerous or highly emotional settings. In fact a great series is starting by Heather Dodds, Ph.D. on instructional design in the metaverse. A great place to start is "Instructional Design in the Metaverse, Part 1" (PRO TIP: bookmark so you keep up with the other parts.)

As Dr. Dodds points out, at some point in the not-to-distant future, you'll most likely be asked to design a learning experience in the metaverse. This course provides some ideas, tips, and design considerations to create an effective learning experience within the metaverse.

If you want to see my take on the subject, see: Designing Learning Experiences in the Metaverse. Discover methods for creating learning experiences in this new digital world.

Creating Branching Scenarios Course

One great way to create learner engagement is to create a branching, interactive, scenario where different choices and decisions lead to different outcomes.

Just like real-life. Some outcomes might be favorable and some may not be favorable. This course provides a great overview for anyone who want to explore the creation of branching scenarios.

Click here to see preview of Designing Scenario-based Learning

Gamifying Your Instruction Course Series

Another tool for creating engagement is gamification. You need to apply it carefully and thoughtfully but it can be effective.

I've created several courses on the topic of gamification. Designed to help you think about gamifying instruction whether online or together in a group. Overall my advice is to start small and then add more and more game elements.

If you are not sure where to start, check out the courses below. They will help you think through the gamification process and to create meaningful gamified instruction. Click on each link for a preview of the course.

• Gamification of Learning
• Gamification for Interactive Learning
• Sales Gamification

The Gamification Series starts with the overview of gamification in the first course and then dives a little deeper into techniques and ideas in the second course and then the third course called "Sales Gamification" really gets into tying gamification to specific behavioral elements. The context is sales for the course but it can be used for any learning activity where you are attempting to influence behavior. Just substitute your subject for "sales" and it can be applied to a variety of subjects and tasks.

Setting up and Running a Training Department Course Series

As someone who has spent decades in the Training and Development Industry, I've gained a great deal of knowledge about how to set up a training department (I was a one person training department in my early career), how to make sure training adds value, and how to leverage training for organizational success. I've put all that knowledge and my "school of hard knocks" experience into this series of courses.

This is critically important because organizations spend a great deal of money each year on training and you want to make sure it's providing the right return to the organization.

Here are the courses in a recommended order but they can certainly be mixed and matched.

• Designing a Training Program
• Setting and Managing Realistic Expectations for Your L&D Program
• Your L&D Organization as a Competitive Advantage

Next Level

If you want to take your professional development or your team's professional development to an even higher level and you've been ignoring your own self-growth or that of your team's, it's now time to double down. No one is as interested in your self-development as you are.

One More Resource

Consider applying to become a member of the L&D Mentor Academy. It's not for everyone and it is focused only on more experiences L&D folks but it provide a powerful boost to your career. Check out the L&D Mentor Academy.

Next Steps

Make the time to invest in yourself! You'll be glad you did.

About Karl

Karl Kapp, Ed.D. has been a Professor of Instructional Technology for over 26 years at Bloomsburg University (now Commonwealth University). In that time, he's written books, created LinkedIn Learning courses, published peer reviewed articles, wrote successful grants, held numerous corporate advisory events and positions, been a TEDx speaker, and has taught countless professionals watching them go on to great, inspirational careers.