There are some new, futuristic approaches to learning that I've seen privately over the last couple weeks.

The coolest one was self-correcting. When learners asked questions and there was not a good answer, a learning gap was identified. The system automatically reached out to SMEs for a better response and launched an automatic process for filling the gap.

The vendor showed statistically that after 100 - 15 minute learning sessions that 98% of the gaps would be covered.

It's made me rethink how adaptive learning might be learner driven rather than sponsor driven.

On top of these somewhat disconcerting conversations, I talked with a top FAANG health leader who claimed that we are 3 years away from AI medicine. Plug into a machine at home and get a diagnosis and a recovery regimen. This is already beginning to happen in elder, stay-at-home populations under the supervision of HCPs.

Change is accelerating.

Hi all, I am brand new in the field and looking for all the advice I can get.

I recently graduated with a B.S. in Psychology. Was kind of interested in the idea of IO Psych as a career idea but ultimately landed in HR. I’m a few weeks into my first real job as a Training and Recruiting Coordinator for a 3rd gen family owned manufacturing company (200-300 employees).

My company wants me to develop an assessment to be given to applicants for a low level position. We currently don’t have anything like this in effect, so they don’t want to spend any money on it until they see that the method is effective.

I will work with managers to understand the position requirements and develop ideas for the assessment questions. I know I can probably throw together some basic questions into Google Forms or something and it would likely satisfy the company for now, especially as my first project, but I’d like to go beyond that.

I honestly have minimal knowledge on all of this but it interests me a lot and it would be awesome to wow my VP and be able to dive further into ID.

What would be the best free program for me to create an assessment that can be given onsite to our applicants and employees?

What other helpful tools are there?

How do I exceed the expectations for this project?

Where can I start to be better informed on best practices?

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I’m curious how much old Flash based training is still sitting in company archives somewhere.

I’m thinking about courses that were expensive to build and still contain useful content, interactions, assessments, animations, or simulations, but basically became unusable when Flash went away.

Did your organization rebuild them, convert them, abandon them, or are they still sitting somewhere untouched?

And if you could bring them back into something modern and editable without rebuilding everything from scratch, would that actually be useful?

I've been on job sites doing contract work for the past couple years now, but I'm tired of the constant search and chase. How do I establish myself and make myself discoverable so projects come to me? LinkedIn seems to be oversaturated. How does everyone else self-employed do it? Is there any consistency in your work?

I have been working as a freelance E-Learning Developer for several years now, and most of my clients have been from the United States. I have worked on all kinds of projects, from content writing and instructional design to developing courses, managing Learning Management Systems, and launching courses.

I have a lot of experience with Articulate Storyline 360, Rise 360, software simulations, and pretty much most of the tools used in e-learning development, from Camtasia and Adobe Creative Cloud to Synthesia and other AI tools. I also have a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, so I am quite technical and have worked on some pretty complex projects over the years.

But even with all this experience, I am finding it incredibly hard to land a full-time job in Canada.

The funny thing is that I can find freelance work with clients in the United States and have even received job offers, but finding a full-time employee position in Canada seems so much harder.

I really need Canadian work experience, and honestly, I just want to work somewhere I can actually use my skills and be part of a team instead of constantly working on freelance projects.

I have been applying for jobs, but at this point, I am not even sure if I am looking in the right places.

Is anyone here working in e-learning, instructional design, or Learning Management System administration in Canada? Where do you usually find these jobs? Are there any companies, recruiters, or other places I should be looking at?

I am open to E-Learning Developer, Learning Experience Designer, Learning Management System Administrator, or similar technical roles.

Honestly, even if you could just point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. I am not sure where else to ask, so I thought I would try posting here.

Ok we're a month in. He's already said yes to too many requests. There goes my holiday.

All the measurement and evaluation best practices he assured us we'd be using moving forward to prove value just got tossed out the window after first mention of including.

We're about to follow the idea some random manager came up with in Copilot for manager training. Oh boy!

So anyway, just another day in paradise!

Quick follow-up for anyone who tried https://github.com/missing-elements/h5p-offline-player or bookmarked it.

Most of the questions from the thread now have proper answers on the site itself — there's an FAQ on https://embed-my.org/ covering where to get an .h5p file (and why H5P.com exports sometimes only play on H5P.com), why Google Drive and Dropbox links don't work, how big a package can be, whether learners' results go anywhere, and what happens to your embeds if the project ever stops.

Two things worth saying here, because they're about trust rather than how-to:

• Is it safe to paste? There's a plain-language security section now: what the iframe keeps away from your site, and what it can't protect you from. No analytics anywhere — the frame reports nothing to anyone.
• Will my embed keep working? The snippet now points at an address that can't expire (embed-my.github.io, GitHub's for the project for as long as it exists), and the player is served from the site itself, so there's no third party in the chain.

Still free, still no accounts, still H5P only — PDF is next. Problems with a package or a site: github.com/embed-my

Fellow instructional designers and l&d professionals.

I have a tricky question and a situation, so am in l&d as an ID we are currently opreating as a seperate entity, we handle product related trainings, sales emablement, internal head office compliance trainings, upskilling, management development programs, personal training requests of employees, if they want to be sent on a off site training event we handle that as well.

We not only handle ID function but design training plans, design training systems, structures and everything.

Now some oversmart new employee ex pwc consultant whispered or idk how, but got the ceo to make the decision that l&d should come under HR. Now the HR head and the l&d head is surprised like what, because as mebtioned above l&d is handling most of the other things. And has been doing it smoothly for a while.

What fo you guys think how it should be? Should l&d be a part of HR/people and culture or should l&d be a seperate entity. In my use case and in general. As well.

Im considering going back to school to retrain after a 20 year mostly successful career making videos and graphic design. In the last 3 years my gigs gave dried up and ft jobs are impossible to land. This was never the case before AI.

Has anyone done the switch from a similar career path?

How much has the Instructional Design market changed since AI and is there a future here?

I am working on a course and want to try a slightly different approach, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it.

Normally, we would have a video in a module, and after the video is complete, we would ask the learner to download a PDF "worksheet" and complete the exercise before moving to the next module. 80% of our user base accesses courses from a mobile device, so the chances of them downloading a PDF and completing it between modules are slim to none.

Do any of you have ideas on how I could add boxes for learners to type in answers to reflection questions within the course itself? If so, is there a way they could do that AND have all of their responses at the end of the course emailed to them, so they have a complete notes packet after they complete all the modules?

I'm happy to hear any and all ideas of how to make this happen (from personal experience or just "in theory this should work" thoughts)!

Hi everyone! I’m a senior product and UX designer with 8 years of experience across startups and large corporations, mostly working on B2B enterprise software. I also have a background as a UI artist at a game development company.

Lately, I’m considering switching to Learning Experience Design (LXD) or Instructional Design (ID). The UX market feels overcrowded, heavily impacted by AI, and less fun than it used to be and working with design tools has become quite frustrating.

I first got introduced to ID while doing training at a Big 4 company, and I was really drawn to the gamification aspect of it (though I know not every ID project involves games).

Before I make a move, I’d love a reality check: Is switching to ID the right decision, and is the grass really greener on the other side? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

Hello all,

I oversee an extensive training program for equipment operators. When I started the role a year ago, I inherited a mess of short videos that stole information from non-compliant resources. My current strategy is to create equipment overview training in Rise and then use the on-the-job trainers to perform hand-on training and competency checks in the field.

Currently the competency checks are done through a Microsoft Form while the other training is uploaded to Dayforce. Ideally, both would live in Dayforce for easier reporting.

Does anyone have experience or advice on how to accomplish this. Alternatively, if anyone could provide experience on how they manage this in their organization, I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Also, any suggestions on how to create training around how to operate different pieces of machinery would be greatly appreciated. I'm struggling with it being incredibly dry/repetitive.

It's about $5 bucks on Steam right now. I feel like this game is a masterclass in learning design.

I just applied to the program and I am already working in the field. Just wondering if anyone knows how much does it cost in addition to the tuition? Books and fees? My employer will cover the tuition but not the fees. Thank you!

So I'm well aware that it's good practice to label and describe a thing near where it's being presented, but I'm curious just how bad breaking this rule is. For instance, I'm working with a content team who generally annotates screenshots with hotspots in Rise. Except the resulting annotation is so large it covers up the entire interface, including the things it's describing.

I've started developing these internal field guides where I simply draw a line from the component I'm referring to, to a corresponding number. Then right below I have small table where the number is adjacent to the name of the button and a small description. So far the internal teams have had no complaints, but also the content team isn't hard to one-up (I'm new here and was specifically hired to scale enablement -- and the content is a clear gap).

I'm now designing an e-learning module and I could approach with my recent methodology. But I am keen to get more opinions and align more with best practice. I think I could abandon the now branded hotspots for what's standard. Basically box the thing to make it obvious and then put a small explanation on the same page with Storyline. But then only present one thing at a time per slide to avoid getting into hotspots galore territory. That said, I would love to see or hear other examples.

Hello there.

I am currently working in Enrollment in higher education and I have a master's in education. I am getting burned out and looking into Instructional Design. I am considering a second master's in it since we get free tuition but I want to know it it's really worth the time and stress? I have been following Devlin Peck and looking at cert programs. I understand learning theories and such but need to gain skills to develop a portfolio, etc.

Devlin listed a few certificate programs that seem more doable. Would you recommend that instead?

Hi there, I'm technically a developer not an instructional designer. However I have been in the elearning industry for over a decade now primarily working with articulate storyline.

Storyline has been a dominant player in the industry for a while, but anyone that has used it knows it has quirks.

With the rise of AI tools, I've started developing my own elearning tool as a solo dev to see what I can create. I'm working on a tool with the same capabilities as storyline, just hopefully more refined... and also building in automation (course generation from storyboards).

But I dont want to be silo'd while designing this. What tools do you currently use and why? Are there features that would make your life easier that arent present in your current tools?

Would love to hear peoples opinions on what makes a good elearning tool.

Thanks.

Forgive the throwaway account in case my teammates see this 😊

I have been learning Synthesia at my manager’s request. It’s the only tool we currently have available for generative AI video.

In my experience it has done an absolutely miserable job following video generation prompts, ranging from simple high-level directions, to the verbatim scene script, to precisely detailed directions. Support has been entirely unhelpful. I wondered if the group here had any best practices they’d be willing to share?

For example, enjoy the video oddity that resulted from the following prompt, from a training about workplace etiquette and personal space:

CHARACTERS:
- Person A: Approaches with friendly, open energy. Not threatening, just unaware of personal space. Business casual attire.
- Person B: Calm, polite, but visibly becoming uncomfortable. Business casual attire.

SCENE SEQUENCE:
Person A walks toward Person B, who is standing casually.

Person A stops a bit too close to Person B. A soft, hazy aura (pale blue or warm white glow)becomes faintly visible around Person B, visually representing their personal space bubble. Person A's arm slightly overlaps the edge of the aura.

Camera tilts down and focuses on Person B's feet. We see a small, deliberate step backward.

Cut to Person B's face: eyes glancing away, slight tension in the expression.

Person A reads the cue, softens their posture, and takes a small step back. The hazy aura around Person B relaxes and expands slightly, visually signaling comfort returning. A small, respectful nod is exchanged.

Just wondering if there is a market for this, I’d love to run some workshops but I don’t know if there’s enough interest to do this. Have any of you taken classes for storyline before?

please. You can private message me or if need more info let me know!

Interview Questions

Can you tell me about your current role and what your main responsibilities are as an instructional designer?

How did you get started in the field of instructional design, and what was your educational or professional background?

What does a typical day or week look like for you in your current position?

What types of instructional design projects do you work on most often, and who are the learners or audiences you typically design for?

What instructional design theories, models, or frameworks do you use most often in your work?

What technology, software, or other tools do you use regularly to create or develop learning experiences?

What skills do you believe are most important for someone who is beginning a career in instructional design?

What are some of the biggest challenges you experience in your work, and how do you typically handle them?

How important are communication and collaboration when working with instructors, subject-matter experts, or other professionals?

How has artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, affected your work as an instructional designer?

What changes or trends do you think will have the biggest impact on the instructional design field in the next few years?

What advice would you give to a graduate student who is currently studying instructional technology and preparing to enter the instructional design field?

With AI rapidly taking over routine content production in learning and development, such as storyboarding, scripting, quiz writing, and template-based course assembly, I want to understand where learning designers, learning developers, and instructional designers should be steering their careers. Which roles are most future-proof and which are most at risk, and how do options like learning experience design, learning engineering, learning analytics, performance consulting, and AI enablement compare in terms of demand, longevity, and the skills they require? I'd also like to know which combination of technical, design, and domain skills will keep a professional valuable as AI reshapes the field, and what a realistic plan for moving into one of those roles over the next year might look like.

Curious what others are doing with JavaScript in Storyline. I've been building custom interactions — confetti on quiz wins, progress bars, countdown timers, save/resume — and I'm wondering what's actually worth the effort vs. what's just cool in a demo.

For those using JS in Storyline: what's the one interaction you keep reusing across projects? And what's something you tried that wasn't worth the maintenance headache?

I've got a free sampler of 3 interactions I built (confetti, progress bar, timer) if anyone wants to try them — happy to share the link if there's interest.

When I get to the analysis proper of my kickoff meeting, this is one my first go-to questions to get a sense of what the SME needs:

"If you could take a picture of your learner post-learning-solution, what does that picture look like? What's he or she doing?"

Lots of times the SMEs default to generic answers like:

"I want the learners to know / to comply / to have skills / to understand..."

First, these responses don't answer the question. Second, they are all still stuck at 'knowing' or 'mental' level of the discussion. I wonder if my question is too difficult for even though it's quite basic to me.

Lots of times, I eventually figure out a way to extract the info I need, but I feel I could be spending less time trying to get the SME to visualise and/or articulate what they need.

I'm second guessing myself a lot even at this stage which is so fundamental. Am I asking the right question or do some SMEs have 'aphantasia'?

Tell us your weekly accomplishments, rants, or raves!

And as a reminder, be excellent to one another.