“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” — Thorton Wilder
Does anyone else feel like they’re living inside the news lately? Oliver Burkeman nailed it—our "psychological center of gravity" has shifted to politics and pandemics, making the world beyond our screens feel almost unreal. It’s not just doomscrolling; it’s losing our sense of control while the laundry piles up. Burkeman isn’t saying ignore the chaos, just rebalance. But there’s more to life than the next crisis. The sun is out. A friend texted me a joke that actually made me laugh. Life is still happening, even in the margins. That matters, too. So, I’m stepping back from the news spiral and focusing on life. What about you? How are you finding balance?
Discover how to improve collaboration with SMEs and stakeholders
Working with SMEs and stakeholders can be challenging. But you're not alone — many instructional designers face this too. Join iSpring’s upcoming webinar to learn practical strategies for improving collaboration. Holly Owens, an experienced eLearning expert, will share valuable insights to help you communicate more effectively and build stronger working relationships.
Why Most Course Titles Fail—And How to Make Yours Stand Out
The Rundown: Crafting compelling course titles is essential for engaging learners, yet many fall short due to vagueness or lack of appeal. Effective titles should be clear, specific, and enticing to capture attention.
The Context:
Clarity and Specificity: Titles should convey exactly what the course offers. For example, instead of "Unlocking the Future of Learning," use "How AI is Transforming Instructional Design in 2025."
Use of Numbers: Incorporating numbers can increase engagement. "7 Proven Strategies to Make Your eLearning More Engaging" is more compelling than a general statement.
Emotional Appeal: Employing 'power words' can evoke emotion and curiosity, making the title more memorable.
Direct Address: Speaking directly to the reader using "you" or "your" personalizes the experience and increases relevance.
Why it Matters:A well-crafted course title serves as the first point of engagement, significantly influencing a learner's decision to explore further. By applying marketing principles to course titles, educators can enhance learner interest and participation.
Research-Backed Strategies to Spark Curiosity in Adult Learning
The Rundown: Connie Malamed explores how curiosity enhances adult learning, emphasizing its role in motivation, engagement, and knowledge retention.
The Context:
Definition: Curiosity is a motivational state driving individuals to acquire new information and resolve uncertainties.
Benefits: It fosters continuous learning, innovation, and better memory retention.
Organizational Impact: Curiosity aids new employees in adapting by encouraging proactive information gathering and skill acquisition.
Why it Matters:By leveraging curiosity, educators can create more effective and engaging learning experiences, leading to improved outcomes in adult education.
The Rundown: Ross Stevenson spills the tea about a new AI tool that Google has unveiled called Learn LM, which is a model fine-tuned specifically for education. Part of the Gemini family, it’s designed to provide personalized, adaptive learning experiences based on principles from learning science.
The Context:
Learn LM incorporates active learning, adaptability, curiosity stimulation, and metacognition support to help users engage deeply with content.
It’s already embedded in Google products like Search, YouTube, and Classroom, offering features like interactive Q&A during educational videos.
Google has also launched Illuminate(an audio overview tool in Notebook LM) and Learn About (a Google Labs experiment focused on AI-driven learning).
Developers and educators can experiment with Learn LM in Google AI Studio, customizing learning experiences for different needs.
Why it Matters: AI-driven education is evolving fast, and Learn LM signals Google’s push to integrate smarter, science-backed learning into its ecosystem. If successful, it could reshape how personalized learning is delivered at scale.
Whether you’re building a new course, a series of modules, or modifying an existing training program, you may want to use an instructional design model to enhance the eLearning content.
But which model should you choose? What are the benefits? Do you even need an instructional design model? We’ll help you compare five popular models to determine your best fit!
Tired of stakeholders questioning your training impact? Join world-renowned analytics expert Dr. Alaina Szlachta for a 90-minute masterclass that turns complex data into compelling proof of value. You'll learn practical, step-by-step strategies that are already helping training leaders showcase undeniable results.
This hands-on session from aNewSpring cuts through the theory to deliver real solutions. Register for March 11 (9:00-10:30 AM ET) and transform how you show your program's success.
Blake Harvard on his book "Do I Have Your Attention?" and how he uses cognitive psychology in teaching. He covers memory, attention, learning pitfalls, and practical strategies like retrieval and spaced practice. He argues that strong knowledge foundations boost creativity.
If you or your event needs a speaker or workshop that is highly interactive and super practical, we should talk.
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