Ashley Kennedy

Alright…we’re starting to see submissions trickle in for this month’s eLearning Design Challenge inside the community! And I have to say, this one has been really fun to watch so far. 👀 For this month’s challenge, we’re putting Mindsmith to the test. It’s an AI-native eLearning authoring tool that changes the way course development works. Instead of spending hours building layouts, interactions, and screen structures, the tool handles a lot of the technical assembly for you. That means you get to focus on something much more interesting: the instructional design decisions. Things like…what’s the actual performance problem we’re trying to solve? What should the learner do in the course? What scenario or situation will help them practice? What feedback will actually help them improve? In other words, all the thinking that actually makes someone a good instructional designer. It’s been fascinating to see how different people approach the exact same prompt when the technical barriers are lowered. Different scenarios, different instructional strategies, and different ideas about what the learner should experience. That’s exactly what these challenges are meant to surface. So, if you’ve been thinking about participating, there’s still time to jump in. It’s a great opportunity to put your skills into practice, build a new sample of work for your portfolio, and enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card, a free year of Mindsmith, and a new iPad Air. You can also get three months of Mindsmith completely free when you sign up and use the code TIMSLADE. 👉 So if you’ve been on the fence, come join us: https://bit.ly/4skIuqQ And, of course, shoutouts to those who have already submitted their projects, including: Jeremy Shenk, Yvonne Mutheu, Mahiya Manzoor, Carolyn Fitzpatrick, Carrie Wass, Martha E. Knight, Afroze Farooq, and Philip Joseph Santos, SHRM-CP, CPTP! Great work! #eLearning #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment

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2 Alternative Approaches For Creating Screencasts For Your eLearning Project "So, if you have a problem coordinating onscreen action with live voiceover, the screenshot capture method is best for you." https://lnkd.in/gWZ4xePS

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Instructional designers, can we gently retire the “learners only pay attention for 10 minutes” myth? It’s been floating around like instructional folklore, usually followed by a frantic push to chop everything into micro-chunks. But the research tells a different story. One review concluded, “There is no evidence to support the widely held belief that students’ attention declines after 10 to 15 minutes.” In other words, the brain does not come with a built-in kitchen timer. Attention doesn’t just fall off a cliff at minute eleven. What actually drops is engagement when design goes flat. If learners are passively listening with no interaction, no cognitive breaks, and no reason to care, of course their minds wander. That’s not a shorter attention span—that’s a longer boredom span. When we build in relevance, questions, retrieval, and purposeful activity, attention stretches just fine. So maybe the issue isn’t that humans think in goldfish-sized bursts. Maybe it’s that we sometimes design in PowerPoint-sized ones.

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I'll let you in on a secret. You're designing learning experiences wrong, and it's killing your team's engagement and performance. Here's how to bridge instructional design and technology to create training that actually works. Here's the truth most L&D leaders don't want to hear: Your training is broken, and traditional approaches are failing your team. The old divide between instructional design and technology isn't just a semantics problem—it's costing you real money. While you're stuck debating methodologies, your competitors are creating immersive learning experiences that actually move the needle on performance. Did you know that 70% of employees report being 'checked out' during traditional training? That's not a learner problem. It's a design problem. The most successful organizations are now bridging instructional design and technology, using no-code platforms to create engaging, scenario-based learning that feels more like an experience than a lecture. Imagine training that: • Adapts to individual learning styles • Provides safe practice environments • Delivers measurable performance improvements • Takes hours to create, not weeks or months The future of learning isn't about choosing between instructional design or technology. It's about seamlessly integrating both to create training that employees actually want to participate in. Get the 5-step framework for immersive learning experiences → Read the full strategy

Spot on. AI is a force multiplier, but its impact is capped by our own skill. We can automate the execution, but we’ll never be able to automate the human-centric intent behind the design.

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There have been a lot of posts lately about portfolios. What to include. How to design them. Whether they even matter. It made me rethink mine… not the content, but how I present it. As instructional designers, we are trained to be structured. Clear objectives. Organized content. Measurable outcomes. But what happens when your strength leans more toward creative storytelling? That is where ID Woman and my Case Files come in. Instead of presenting projects as static deliverables, I frame them as problems to solve, stories to uncover, and decisions that impact performance. It is still grounded in instructional design principles… just delivered in a more visual, narrative-driven way. And honestly, I am not sure how the field feels about that yet. So, I am curious. 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀, do you think creativity strengthens instructional design or distracts from the actual learning solution? 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, if you were hiring, would a portfolio like this stand out… or feel like too much? I would really value your perspective. I’ve shared a few pages from my portfolio below.

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As an instructional designer, you're always making several decisions in your learning experiences, and you might not even think about it too much. Experience has taught you that a scenario-based problem would fit perfectly after a video or a reflection exercise makes sense to follow a case study. But, why did you make these choices? Why not another kind of activity or learning strategy? A conversation with a newer instructional designer inspired me to make a tool to help with these selections. Check it out in today's article! https://lnkd.in/e9CGEtcQ

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Accessibility tip for Instructional Designers. Instructions provided for understanding and operating content do not rely solely on sensory characteristics of components such as shape, color, size, visual location, orientation, or sound. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics. When your course or Learning Management System instructions say “click the green button” or “select the icon on the right,” it may seem clear, but not everyone experiences visual or spatial cues the same way. Learners using screen readers or with limited vision can’t rely on color, shape, or position alone. When instructions depend only on sensory cues, they create barriers. Instead of “Click the green button,” say “Click (or select) the button labeled ‘Continue.’” Instead of “Go to the icon on the right,” say “Select the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom-right of the page.” Pair sound cues with text: if there’s a chime, also display a message like “You’ve reached the end of the quiz.” When color, shape, or size is used to convey meaning, also include a text label or description. Clear, descriptive instructions ensure that everyone, regardless of how they sense or navigate the content can participate fully. Learn more in the comments.

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Higher ed and workforce teams are producing more learning media than ever. And yet, many learners still finish the asset without really understanding the concepts taught. Media volume and learning quality are not the same line item. I have seen teams celebrate output while learners still struggle with comprehension, application, retention, or simple follow-through. At that point, the issue is not production capacity. It is decision quality. More assets can help, but they can also bury the problem under prettier packaging. Clarity beats quantity every time. This piece is my case for making fewer lazy decisions before making more media: https://lnkd.in/eTbDCmkH #HigherEd #WorkforceLearning #LearningDesign Magic EdTech

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After the initial embarrassment settles (No DNA , just RSA💛) , I have to agree with Sioux McKenna - As the expression goes "A little knowledge is dangerous" - We need a deeper understanding and to critically engage with AI. This needs to be developed not only at Universities, but in our schools, in our communities, in our workplace, in our leadership...

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"AI has made two potential futures for the profession extremely clear. Future 1: Instructional Designers Are Pushed Downward Into Production Oversight or...

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It's so important to understand what the real learning need is, if we're going to create learning g that has a lasting impact and is useful to learners. Once you understand the need, making it learner cented and engaging is essential to achieve measurable desired outcomes. What do you use to measure learning outcomes?

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The Death of the Storyboard The "Word Doc Storyboard" is the floppy disk of L&D... I still see Instructional Designers spending 3 weeks writing a text-based storyboard in Word or PowerPoint. Column A: "Audio Script" Column B: "Visual Description" (e.g., Show two people shaking hands). ❌ This is a 'Lossy' Format. You write a description. The stakeholder imagines one thing. The developer builds another. You spend the next 2 weeks fixing the disconnect. ✔️ The Agentic Shift (Rapid Prototyping): In 2026, we don't "write" storyboards. We "render" them. With Agentic AI tools, I don't send a stakeholder a script. I send them a Video Prototype generated in 5 minutes. Old Way: Read this script and imagine the video. New Way: Watch this 30-second AI-generated draft. Is this what you meant? The Efficiency Gap: ❌ Text Storyboard: 20 hours to write, 10 hours to review. ✅ AI Prototype: 30 minutes to generate, 5 minutes to review. ➡️ Stop asking stakeholders to "Imagine." Start asking them to "Validate." #InstructionalDesign #AI #Storyboarding #LAndD #FutureOfWork #AgenticAI #EdTech #Productivity

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Here’s something most teams never test: What does your Storyline course sound like when read by a screen reader? Inaccessible content often hides in plain sight, in unlabeled buttons, skipped focus orders, or interactions that screen readers can’t interpret. That’s exactly what we’ll uncover in the Storyline Accessibility + WCAG 2.2 AA training on March 24 at 12 PM ET. This isn’t about checklists or templates. It’s about showing what real accessibility looks like, and how to build courses that are truly usable for every learner. If you’re ready to move beyond “audit-passing” design and create genuinely inclusive learning, you’ll want to be there. Save your seat today: https://lnkd.in/dQjsUVHU

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Did you know you can Vibe Code for Articulate Storyline as well? Create custom games and interactions with AI that work perfectly inside of your eLearning course? I have talked a lot about getting something you #VibeCoded into the #Rise code block but had someone ask about how to use the code inside of #Storyline so wanted to create a video walking you through how to take something from Claude #AI and use it as a fully functional page inside of Storyline. There are a couple of extra steps to do but I do hope that Storyline implements something like the Rise code block in the future where you can just copy and paste in the code or just import a zip. This however opens up a lot of possibilities still within Storyline, being able to create customizable interactions without complex triggers or logic. I took the game I vibe coded last week and got it fully functioning inside of Storyline. Full video here: https://lnkd.in/gQJt-hEX

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Learning Designers: Are you leveraging the teaching + learning technique that is as old as humanity itself? … Or are your learning designs looking more like an info-dump? Long before power-points (or written language), we taught and learned using one powerful method: Story. But here’s the challenge for many IDs & aspiring IDs today: ⏳ Between the demands of life, SME meetings, content creation, etc, etc., Many simply don’t have time to craft a good learning story. In today’s world, AI often gets a bad rap — seen as a threat to the very things that make us human. So… how can you use AI to streamline your storytelling process, without losing the human touch? Well, today I'm announcing that the lovely and super talented Amanda Nguyễn 🍩 has invited me to be a Learning Geek Expert in her upcoming Jam Class! Our topic?: 4 AI Tools for Story-Driven Instructional Design 🤖 ✨ 📖 In this Free Jam Class we'll talk about: 4 of the essential elements of great learning stories: 1️⃣ Characters learners care about 2️⃣ Settings that draw them in 3️⃣ Conflict that keeps them engaged 4️⃣ Consequences that make lessons stick And you'll walk away with: ✅ Quick, practical demos of four fun & easy AI tools ✅ A crash course in story structure for learning ✅ Actionable steps to create compelling, human-centered learning experiences — faster than ever before 📅 When: Monday, September 1st @ 6:00 PM EDT 📍 Where: Online — join from anywhere Save your spot now → https://lu.ma/rea7zx8n 💬 Comment below “See you there” if you can make it!

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Articulate Storyline 360’s Accessibility Checker — A Game Changer for Inclusive eLearning. Learn how the built-in tool helps you catch and resolve accessibility issues before publishing. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gY_3TibH #eLearning #Accessibility #Inclusion #Storyline360 #EdTech

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We've all been there. New eLearning project lands on your desk. Within minutes, you're thinking about authoring tools, templates, and animations. You're already knee-deep in Development before you've done any Analysis or Design. And that's exactly where eLearning goes to DIE. Development is seductive; it's fun, it's tangible, you can show stakeholders something concrete. But if you've skipped Analysis and Design, you're building on sand. You'll end up in endless revision cycles, trying to retrofit strategic decisions into a course that's already half-built. Read why jumping to Development kills your eLearning: https://lnkd.in/eUtTQ3VK

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I'm still amazed how often “interactive and engaging” just means “build it in Articulate Storyline.” It’s a slide tool with triggers. Accessibility takes workarounds, updates are clunky, and suddenly we’ve spent weeks producing something that’s hard to revise and easy to outgrow.

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