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Every company is bad at onboarding

In General L&D by JD Dillon

OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But it seems like every company is always in the process of revamping its onboarding process. Frankly, I’m not surprised. When I ask L&D pros about their onboarding practices, I get a wide range of responses. I often hear things like … …

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Fostering the Habit of Everyday Learning

In General L&D by JD Dillon

What activities do you do every day? What are those tasks that, if you don’t get to them on a given day, can make you feel incomplete? For me, it’s exercise. I’ve battled weight problems my entire life. Early in my career, my jobs took care of my fitness requirements. …

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L&D’s New BFFs

In Collaboration by JD Dillon

L&D can’t do it alone.  I’m not just being metaphorical or generically espousing the benefits of collaboration. An L&D team literally cannot operate autonomously within a typical organization. We need help from other teams to get our jobs done to the best of our ability. This isn’t unique to L&D …

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My Top 10 Tools for Learning (2018)

In Technology by JD Dillon

How do the tools that help us learn evolve from year to year? That’s the question behind Jane Hart’s annual Top Tools for Learning survey. L&D practitioners from around the world are invited to submit their 10 top tools until Friday, September 21, 2018. Jane will then compile the data …

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4 tactics for promoting reflection at work

In General L&D by JD Dillon

“I’m back to back all day.” How often do you get this excuse from people when they are late to your meeting or haven’t replied to your email? I can’t stand this statement – mostly because it passes blame from themselves to the general workplace. Why would I expect a …

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Answers to EVERY question from the #ATD2018 microlearning panel

In microlearning by JD Dillon

The 2018 ATD International Conference & Expo played host to the BIGGEST microlearning panel discussion EVER! I played host and was joined on stage by 3 of the most experienced microlearning practitioners in the industry: Shannon Tipton (Learning Rebels), Stephen Meyer (Rapid Learning Institute) and Diane Elkins (Artisan E-Learning). Rather …

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5 Must Reads for Modern Learning Pros

In General L&D by JD Dillon

Learning professionals come from any and all backgrounds. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t go to school saying “I want to be an L&D person when I grow up.” It just kinda … happened (Thanks, Disney!). This diversity in experience is particularly valuable in this profession, as we …

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What is adaptive learning?

In Adaptive Learning by JD Dillon

I was recently asked to provide a definition for “adaptive learning.” Since the industry doesn’t have a standard definition for … well … anything, here’s what I said: The purposeful use of data, technology and content to provide the right support at the right time and help an individual employee …

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The Fallacy of the Social Workplace

In Knowledge Sharing by JD Dillon

Everyone at work has a mobile device with a camera. So what we’re going to do is start a website where they can upload videos they take on the job to help them share their tips and tricks with the entire company. We’ll let people rate and comment on the …

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Do you know Patti Shank? You should …

In Profile, Science of Learning by JD Dillon

Do you know Patti Shank? If you’re in the workplace learning field, you probably should. I take that back … you DEFINITELY should! Here, I’ll help you! Her Twitter handle is @pattishank and her website is https://www.pattishank.com. Patti is an evidence-based voice in a noisy, cluttered, often misguided profession. Her …

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5 methods of learning personalization

In Personalization by JD Dillon

Personalization is the next microlearning. Let me explain. L&D is notoriously trendy. Every few years, a new topic will emerge and dominate the “thought leader” universe. We then see untold number of articles and conference sessions on said topic. Every vendor claims their solution does “that thing too” because it’s …

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L&D in 2018

In General L&D by JD Dillon

It’s the end of the year. That means it’s time for “thought leaders” to grab a few clicks by predicting the future of their industries – well, at least the next 12-months worth of future. L&D is no different. For the past few weeks, I’ve been repeatedly told exactly how …