Chapter 1: Where Do We Start?

If learning is a journey, what’s the route like for your learners, and what’s the gap between where they are and where they need to be? Sometimes that gap is knowledge, but just as often the gap can be skills, motivation, or environment.
Learn how to identify each of these.

• The learner’s journey
• Where’s the gap?
• Identifying and Bridging Gaps
• Examples
• Why this is Important

Chapter 2: Who Are Your Learners?
Your learners see the world differently than you do, and to design effective learning experiences, you need to understand their view of the world.

• What do your learners want?
• What is Their Current Skill Level?
• How are Your Learners Different from You?
• Learning Styles
• Methods for Learning about Your Learners

Chapter 3: What’s The Goal?

The best learning experiences are designed with a clear destination in mind, but sometimes a clear destination can be harder to pin down than it seems. Learn how to determine your destination with accuracy.

• Determine goals
• Identify the problem
• Set the destination
• Communicating Learning Objectives
• Determine the Gap
• How Long Is The Trip?

Chapter 4: How Do We Remember?
Learn about how the brain works to focus on and retain information.

• Memory In & Out
• Types of Memory
• Repetition and Memory

Chapter 5: How Do You Get Their Attention?
The first prerequisite for learning is to get your learners’ attention. Learn strategies for getting past the distractions and helping your learners to focus.

• If they’re not paying attention…
• Talk to the elephant
• Ways to engage the elephant

Chapter 6: Design for Knowledge
The most common type of learning experience focuses on teaching knowledge. Learn strategies to make this as effective as possible.

• Some of the Challenges
• Will They Remember?
• Helping Your Learners Understand
• How Much Guidance?
• A Process To Follow

Chapter 7: Design for Skills
If you ask the question “Is it reasonable to think that some can be proficient without practice?” and the answer is “No,” then you aren’t teaching information, you are teaching a skill, and skills require practice. Learn strategies for
helping your learners get the practice they need to develop skills.

• Developing skills
• Practice
• Feedback
• Design for Accomplishments

Chapter 8: Design for Motivation
If you’ve ever heard a learner say the words “I know, but…” then you are probably not dealing with a knowledge gap, but rather a motivational one. Learn strategies for getting your learners not only to learn more, but also to do more.

• Motivation To Do
• Designing for behavior

Chapter 9: Design for Environment
We can get people to hold more information in their heads, or alternately, we can learn better ways to make information available to them in their environment, so they can get it when they need it.

• Environment Gaps
• Knowledge in The World
• Putting Resources in the World
• Putting Prompts/Triggers in the World
• Putting Behaviors in the World
• Clearing the Path

Chapter 10: Conclusion