Podcast: How Do Instructional Designers Get Things Done? #67

Instructional Design Podcasts #67: Challenge | Recap

In last week’s AMA, Tom Kuhlmann invited course designers to ask him anything about e-learning. Users asked questions on getting started in e-learning, building better courses, working with SMEs, production tips, and much more.  

Given Tom’s expertise and visibility in the industry, it’s no surprise the event was hugely popular. But like any successful learning event, some of the biggest insights came from you—the Articulate community. 

This week, it’s your turn to tell us more about how you work and get things done as e-learning and instructional designers.

Challenge Of The Week

This week your challenge is to record your answers to the following interview questions:

1. What’s your job title? What title do you think really captures your roles and responsibilities?
2. What software tools do you love?
3. What's your workspace setup like?
4. What is your creative or design philosophy?
5. How do you stay fresh and keep building your skills?
6. How do you avoid burnout?
7. How do you save time and boost your efficiency day-to-day?
8. How do you manage your workflow? Do you have a project management tool you love?
9. What books or blogs have been influential to you?
10. What kinds of tasks do you love to do? What gets you excited to sit down at your desk?
11. What do you like to do least? How do you keep yourself motivated to do that stuff?

Formats: Save each audio clip as its own file. Use a naming convention that makes it easy to identify each audio file to the corresponding question. You can use numbers (1-11) or any format that works best for you.

Recommendation: SoundCloud was the tool of choice in our last challenge. You can set up a free account where you can post your clips. If you’d like us to host your clips, post a .zip file of your audio files and I’ll happily upload them for you.

Extra credit: After recording your audio clips, post a summary of your answers on your own blog or in the forums.

Extra extra credit: For the overachievers in the community, try video recording your answers like folks did in the webcam video challenge.

Resources

• E-Learning Challenge: Education Podcasts in Online Training
• E-Learning Challenge: Webcam Video in Online Training

Share your e-learning work

• Comments: Use the comments section below to share a link to your published example and blog post.
• Forums: Start  your own thread and share a link to your published example..
• Personal blog:  If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We’ll link back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure.
• Twitter: If you share your demos on Twitter, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.
• Facebook: Share your work on our Facebook page by replying to this Facebook post with a link to your example.

Last Week's E-Learning Challenge:

Before you run off to tell us how you work, take a few minutes to check out how your fellow course designer invoice clients.

E-Learning Recap #66: Challenge | Recap

Wishing you a productive week, E-Learning Heroes!

New to the e-learning challenges?

The weekly challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.