BLOGS & ARTICLES
Insights on learning best practices and trends.
Sonata Notes: Who Needs Formal Training When Google has All the Answers?
The Internet can get anyone up to speed on most any subject instantly. Does that mean we can cancel all our training programs?
Sonata Notes: Trouble Training Millennials? Wait Until You Meet “Gen Z”
“Gen Z” - those born after 1998 - will soon surpass Millennials as the largest segment of the world population. How can we prepare our learning programs for their arrival?
Sonata Notes: Can NGOs Increase Mission ROI with Private-Sector-Style Management Training?
More than ever, donors are taking a businesslike view of humanitarian work. Can nonprofits benefit from private sector style management training?
Sonata Notes: Organizations Can’t Create Mentorships, but They Can Train Mentors
There are many good reasons to start a formal mentoring program, so long as you accept that it's about the individual, not the organization.
Sonata Notes: As NGOs Promote Life-Improving Technologies, Better Training and Support can Help them Spread Faster
From HIV self-testing to solar electrification and water filtration, NGOs are driving the introduction of life-saving technologies. However, many of these technologies are only useful in the hands of an adequately trained individual. How can NGOs ensure an adequate degree of readily accessible training and user support?
Sonata Notes: Transferring Knowledge – and Power – to the Global South
How learning can address power imbalances between headquarters and the "global south".
5 Tips To Create eLearning Accessible To Learners With Limited Connectivity
Delivering digital learning content to audiences with limited internet bandwidth can be challenging. Here are some simple ways to make your eLearning accessible to learners with limited internet access.
Creating Learner-Centered Training Evaluation Surveys
Why you are probably asking learners the wrong questions... People in the learning industry love training evaluation surveys. Just as you can’t have a birthday party without cake, it seems you can’t end a training session or e-learning module without a lengthy training evaluation form...
Subject Matter Experts vs. Learning Experts
When organizations post RFPs for instructional design or e-learning consultants, they will often list "PhD or Master's Degree" among the requirements. The reasoning behind such requirements seems common sense, however it misses some basic points about the relationship between subject matter experts, instructional designers and learners...
Good News for “Boring” Trainers: You Don’t Have to be Entertaining to be Effective
Most people working for large organizations have suffered through some brutally boring classroom experiences facilitated by less-than-engaging instructors. Combined with a general aversion to public speaking, this leaves most people reluctant to assume the mantle of training facilitator, themselves, even within their area of expertise...