Elearning Unlocked

Hosted by Little Man Project

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Feb 2025

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About the show

If you work in a charity or the public sector and are interested in the design of elearning (did anyone say niche?), then this is the podcast for you. Each episode will focus on a different aspect of elearning design and will include conversations, interviews and general musings from the people in the know and on the ground. The podcast sits alongside a blended learning programme of the same name.

Listen to episodes

10 recent

February 17, 202543 min

EP 10 - Applying best practice: Insights from Charity Professionals

In this episode of the Elearning Unlocked podcast, Gill and Jen from Little Man Project talk to Claire Page (Open Doors UK) and Liam Maguire (Christian Aid).They share their motivations for completing Elearning Unlocked 2024 and the impact it's had on their practice.Our discussion covers topics such as: The impact Elearning Unlocked has had on their practice. The importance of collaboration and shared understanding among global colleagues. The shift from traditional training methods to interactive and engaging learning experiences. The significance of appealing to learners' emotions and creating narratives in training content. The need for ongoing support for organisations to adopt new teaching methods. The challenges of motivating volunteers and staff. The necessity for diverse and concise learning solutions to meet the needs of learners. Books and Authors Mentioned: Cathy Moore's Action Mapping The Learning and Development Handbook by Michelle Harry Slater The Seven Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership by Kate Owusua ColemanElearning course Mentioned: THRE's free elearning course on the foundations of human rights and quality first approach.

October 21, 202448 min

EP 9 - Unlocking the Secrets of Learning Evaluation

In this episode of the Elearning Unlocked podcast, Gill talks to Ross Dickie, a learning experience consultant at Mind Tools, about how best to carry out evaluation in learning design. They discuss: The importance of evaluation in learning design. Measuring learning outcomes and learner engagement. Challenges in demonstrating the impact of training programs. Frameworks for evaluation, including Will Thalheimer's LTEM model. The balance between quantitative and qualitative evaluation measures. Action mapping as a foundation for effective evaluation. The role of feedback and learner satisfaction in learning experiences. The significance of continuous learning and engagement in the field. How LLM can be used to identify KPIs and analyse data. Ross also recommends loads of great books, so get your Christmas wish list started using the links below. Things mentioned in this episode: Frameworks LTE Model: https://www.worklearning.com/ltem/ Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping: https://blog.cathy-moore.com/action-mapping/ Kirkpatrick Model: https://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/the-kirkpatrick-model/ Books Performance Focused Learner Surveys by Will Thalheimer: https://amzn.eu/d/0wrlCe0 The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Z. Muller: https://amzn.eu/d/2diIftT Write Better Multiple-Choice Questions to Assess Learning: by Patty Schenk: https://amzn.eu/d/aDWsTo9 Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen: https://amzn.eu/d/e6UFT2j Do the Work by Steven Pressfield: https://amzn.eu/d/cn9pTJn Podcasts and newsletters Mind Tools Podcast: https://www.mindtools.com/business/podcast The L&D Dispatch: https://www.lddispatch.com Philippa Hardman: https://drphilippahardman.substack.com/p/the-post-ai-instructional-designer

September 11, 202456 min

Ep 8 - Accessibility Unlocked Tackling Learning Barriers & Tool Limitations

In this episode, we chat with Susi Miller, Elearning Accessibility Expert at eLaHub. Susi wrote the accessibility equivalent of the holy grail. Her book 'Designing Accessible Learning Content: A Practical Guide to Applying best-practice Accessibility Standards to L&D' she is also a regular keynote speaker on accessibility. They discuss the top accessibility issues organisation's creating elearning are facing, the benefits of accessibility audits and the limitations of authoring tools.

August 23, 202437 min

Ep 7 - AI in Action

In this episode, we chat with Amy Hanson, Director of Talent Management at Euromonitor International. We discuss how Amy has integrated AI into her daily activities, and she gives tips on how to get the best from AI.

July 12, 202438 min

Ep 6 - The power of branching scenarios

In this episode, we chat with Tom McDowall, the chair of the Learning Network and the Learning Ambassador for Colossyan. We discuss the use of branching scenarios (or pathways), how to create them and why. We both reference a free PDF from Tom called Branching Pathway Design. This link will take you to a LinkedIn post where he shared a copy.

June 21, 202446 min

Ep 5 - The importance of creativity

In this episode, Gill Chester and Jennifer Compton talk to Susie Walker about creativity. In the introduction, we mention a session that Gill ran at a Charity Learning Consortium members meeting in Edinburgh, where she took members through the process we use to design elearning. A video of the session is available here. During our chat with Susie you will hear about her work as a creativity practitioner and how she uses creative practice to enhance wellbeing.

April 30, 202441 min

Ep4 - Working with internal Subject Matter Experts

In this episode, Gill Chester and Jennifer Compton discuss the highs and lows of working with internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). They share their experiences and offer tips and suggestions for internal elearning developers to get the best from their relationships with SMEs. This includes: Understand an SME’s starting point. Make sure you drive the development process (not them) Agree on a goal for the module and use it as your yardstick for decisions! Get them to tell you their stories. Excite them about the possibilities but set clear expectations on the possible. Always try to speak to learners as well.

March 28, 202415 min

Ep3 - Creating an effective process

In (a short) Episode 3, Gill discusses the importance of creating a development process. She covers why it's important to have a clearly defined process, how to set one up, what should be included and what to do when you've been using it for a while. Here are some example models you might wish to research when designing your own process: ADDIE Kemp People-Process-Product Rapid Content Development (RCD) SAM Systematic design of instruction. In the episode, she talks to an elearning module from Little Man Project on their development process. You might also find this post by Laura Shaw on the process they use at Cats Protection helpful.

February 29, 2024Episode 234 min

Ep2 - The importance of asking open questions

In this episode, we talk to Gemma Towersey, a Learning Experience Consultant at MindTools For Business. Gemma has been designing elearning for over 10 years and has a wealth of experience as an instructional designer. She shares some of the techniques she uses to design effective learning for clients. This includes the importance of asking open questions and taking the time to listen.

January 31, 2024Episode 142 min

Ep1 - Getting to know your learners

Understanding who your learner is is a vital part of designing effective learning. In this episode, we talk to Mark Gillies from Cats Protection about his experience creating customer personas and how this approach can also help you create learner personas.