Washington in May 2019. My weather app had warned me, but somehow I didn’t have a realistic idea of 27 degrees Celsius. So Washington is not just warm, but truly hot, and after a very relaxed flight, I am quite tired. Things really kick off on Sunday. I’m still not sure if this is pre-conference or already the main conference.
In any case, I’m starting with a presentation on brain research, memory, learning, and persuasion. Carmen Simon delivers an excellent talk, captivating from the start with incredibly beautiful and intelligently designed slides and videos. By the end, it’s clear: this is also the core business of her company.
The Famous 10 Percent
Slideclub.com is part of it: here you can download slides that are truly scientifically tested. Her message: 90 percent of what we learn is forgotten by our participants. She explicitly asks us to forget our frequently used enumeration,
- that we retain 10 percent of what we hear,
- 20 or 30 percent of what we see,
- 50 percent of what we hear and see, and
- 90 percent of what we have done ourselves.
Forget it. In the end, only 10 percent remain, and it’s crucial how we plan these 10 percent. This is how we embed ourselves in the minds of our participants – perhaps even our clients. From there, we continue to engage them with clever marketing or transfer strategies. That was the essential content of her presentation. Ultimately, we want people to change their behavior. To achieve this, we must establish a central idea in their brains and ensure that plenty of dopamine is released. Because dopamine drives crucial change, as we anticipate pleasure and reward. And then we change our behavior.
Gambling as a Transfer Method?
She presented many examples of this. And the special thing is: the mere prospect of a reward triggers dopamine release and is increased by almost 100 percent if the reward doesn’t always occur and we don’t know exactly when it will or won’t. I still need to consider what this means for our training programs. Gamification experts, of course, know what to do with this, as it’s precisely the pattern by which gambling works. Gambling as a transfer method?
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Mixed Reality
While I’m still pondering that, I head to the next presentation. Or rather, workshop. Here, it’s usually called a workshop, even though it’s just a lecture.
Nick Floro appears to be an American relative of the former German TV presenter Dieter-Thomas Heck, known for his rapid-fire speaking technique. In just under an hour, he delivers a day’s worth of content on trends in Digital Learning. He has structured his trends into six chapters.
- it’s about content,
- about gamification,
- about the personal learning environment, primarily social learning here,
- personalization, essentially adaptive learning,
- about experiences, and
- about new virtual technologies, which he summarizes as beyond the screen.
And I learn that there isn’t just Augmented and Virtual Reality, but now also Mixed Reality. And Nick, who has already shared his affinity for games from his childhood with us, is simply thrilled by the new possibilities and also by gaming in the Holodeck. He introduces a lot of tools and truly shares many of his experiences and resources.
Once again, I learn that I need to regularly review the development of tools. For example, it was new to me that Pixar also cooperates with Khan Academy and that there is Pixar in a Box there, with cool videos and additional content that, for example, shows how storytelling works. Absolutely free at Khan Academy. Have fun! In that workshop, I also met Axel Rachow, who is also a regular visitor to the ATD Convention.
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Machine Learning & AI
Afterward, I attended a workshop that was actually a bit interactive. It focused on Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and how they are changing our work. The statistics I had already seen last year reappeared.
The actual message: those working in the learning field will not be immediately replaced by artificial intelligence. This story was already present last year, and honestly, there wasn’t much more this time, except that it continues, of course, and both camps are still present. Some find what is happening terrible, while others only see the opportunities. Therefore, the only message was: bring people along. And then, when it comes to introducing artificial intelligence, we arrive at the good old realization that you have to meet people where they are. Some are unfortunately still mentally stuck in the 90s or 2000s.
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Recruiting is also not neglected
A new study on recruiting states: Nearly 50 percent of our job descriptions are absolutely incorrect, superfluous, and do not reflect either the current reality or the future. Therefore, it must be determined which people are actually needed here and whether this is currently described in the job advertisement. Because many learning concepts are very often derived from competency models and job descriptions. And that is a problem. We need to prepare people for a world we don’t even know yet.
AI, Adaptive Learning & Chatbots
Afterward, I sat at a table with a lot of Dutch people. And I encountered two tools again, Drillster and A New Spring, both from the Netherlands: they use artificial intelligence and adaptive learning. At the table, it also became clear with my neighbor what a huge topic chatbots are. She noted: “Oh, I have colleagues in my company who deal with marketing platforms. There are plenty of chatbots there that we already use.” I should probably talk to them instead of looking for new solutions in this workshop or elsewhere. Sometimes the good things are so close. Artificial intelligence too.
Learning Design & Learner Journeys
Finally, we discussed one of my favorite topics: Learning Design and the development of Learning Journeys instead of isolated learning events. Two very likeable Britons with dry humor provided many examples of Learning Journeys and a sensible departure from individual events, from which almost everything is forgotten and nothing is implemented. They not only showed examples but also very pragmatic problem and solution ideas with a matrix that precisely shows when to use which solution for which challenge. Coaching is not always the right choice. And for the fear of implementation in one’s own workplace, push notifications with nice tips are probably not the right method; instead, the manager must step in, and it’s best to train people in a team. Not everything was new, but thankfully presented pragmatically and with humor.
And the journey was actually a very short one. I realized once again that sometimes I might have too many ideas, too much content, and make things a bit too complex in meetings with my clients. That was also the message from the first presentation at the beginning of the day.
Thus, I took many ideas, confirmations, and inspirations for my own work from the first day. And Jannis, who was also there this time, had a 50-50 ratio: two presentations that thrilled him from presentation and PowerPoint gurus, and two presentations, at least one of which was from exhibitors and was as inspiring as the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. That supposedly didn’t go so well.
Tomorrow we start with Oprah Winfrey. We probably won’t have to queue as long as last year for Barack Obama. Admission starts at 7:30 AM. We are excited.
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