Online Course Design

Google just quietly changed how we learn forever... "Learn Your Way" isn't another AI chatbot. It's what happens when education finally stops pretending everyone learns the same way. Pick your grade and interests → AI builds your personal curriculum. Love space? → Physics comes wrapped in rocket science. Learning to code? → Starts where you actually are, not Chapter 1 again. What caught my attention (and why this matters beyond Google): 🔹 Multiple formats that actually work - read when focused, listen while commuting, mind maps when you need the big picture 🔹 Quizzes that adapt to what sticks and what doesn't (no more generic multiple choice torture) 🔹 Examples that match YOUR interests, not some textbook writer's assumptions 🔹 Audio mode that turns dead time into learning time (my morning runs just got smarter) Here's the kicker: A kid in rural Kenya with a phone now has the same personalised tutor as someone at Stanford. *Still early days (can't upload your own materials yet, limited testers), but this glimpse shows where we're headed. Remember that 14-year-old who told me "nobody teaches how technologies connect"? This tool gets it. Physics isn't separate from coding. History connects to economics. Everything relates when AI maps YOUR learning path. I personally loved the Introduction to Human Evolution and Early Ancestors and how you can use the different formats (slides, audio, mindmap). Try it out here for free: https://lnkd.in/dFZFxzQP But the real disruption isn't the technology. It's that personalised education—once reserved for the wealthy—becomes accessible to anyone with internet. We spent centuries building one-size-fits-all education. Google just proved that was the compromise, not the solution. Because when AI can adapt to how each brain learns best, standardised education becomes as outdated as teaching everyone to be blacksmiths. Fascinating to explore. Game-changing to scale. Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld for innovations that multiply human potential, not limit it. ♻️ Share if you believe every child deserves education that adapts to them, not the other way around.

Most learning experiences fail. Not because they lack content. Not because they aren’t engaging. But because they confuse motion with action. - Learners finish an interactive course—but can’t apply a single concept. - Employees earn certifications—but their performance stays the same. - Teams attend workshops—but nothing changes in how they work. Your beautifully designed courses might be keeping learners busy without moving them forward. The difference between motion and action explains why so many well-designed learning experiences fail to create real change. Motion 🔄 vs. Action 🛠️ in Learning Design Motion is consuming information—watching videos, reading content, clicking through slides. Action is applying knowledge—practicing skills, making decisions, solving problems. Motion FEELS productive. Action IS productive. ❌ What doesn’t work: - Content-heavy modules with no real-world application - Knowledge checks that test memory, not mastery - Gamification that rewards progress, not proficiency - Beautiful interfaces that prioritize scrolling over doing ✅ What works instead: - Micro-challenges that force immediate application - Project-based assessments with real-world constraints - Deliberate practice with quick feedback loops - "Demo days" where learners publish/present their work 3 Common Motion Traps 🪤 1️⃣ The Endless Content Cycle Overloading learners with information but giving them no space to apply it. A 40-page module doesn’t drive change—practice does. 2️⃣ The Engagement Illusion Designing for clicks, badges, and completion rates instead of real skill-building. Just because learners show up doesn’t mean they’re growing. 3️⃣ The Passive Learning Trap Building "Netflix for learning" experiences that entertain but don’t transform. Learning feels good—but does it change behavior? What to Do Next? 💡 - Audit your learning experience. Calculate the ratio of consumption time vs. creation time for your learners. - If learners spend more than 50% consuming, redesign for action. The best learning designers don’t create the most content. They create the most transformation. Are you designing for motion or action?

One of the smartest things you can do for your marketing and business development is to stop treating your content as one-and-done and to start repurposing it. If you’ve invested time in creating something valuable you’re leaving opportunities on the table if you only use it once. Repurposing is how you extend its reach, reinforce your expertise and make the most of the work you’ve already done. Here are smarter ways to repurpose content: ✔️Slice long-form content into micro-content. Take a 1500-word article and pull out 5 to 7 strong ideas that each become their own social media post. ✔️Change the medium. Turn a webinar recording into a short video series or an article into a carousel or infographic. Different formats reach different learners. ✔️Build a theme series. Link several related posts into a weekly or monthly series that keeps you top of mind and positions you as the go-to on that topic. ✔️Reshare with a twist. Post the same piece again but change the lead-in. Frame it around a question, a new trend or a current event. ✔️Create evergreen libraries. Pull your best performing posts together into toolkits, guides or resource pages to which you can point clients and prospects (this is a great way to check in with contacts and provide value). ✔️Elevate key quotes. Use a statistic, case study or strong line from a piece as a standalone graphic or thought leadership snippet. ✔️Cross-pollinate channels. Adapt content from LinkedIn for your email newsletter, your blog or speaking notes for panels and client meetings. Most people in your network won’t see your content the first time for a variety of reasons. Repurposing it ensures your message travels further, reaches more of the right people and reinforces for what you want to be known while enabling you to be more efficient and effective. Let me know what you think of content repurposing in the comments below and follow me for more tips! #contentmarketing #legalmarketing #contenttips

That webinar you ran six months ago? It’s not just a webinar—it’s marketing gold waiting to be mined. Here’s the magic of content repurposing: one great piece of content can live on across platforms, formats, and audiences. That webinar could become: ✅ A blog post highlighting the key takeaways ✅ A LinkedIn carousel breaking down your insights ✅ A short video for Instagram or TikTok ✅ A thread on X, sharing actionable ideas ✅ A case study to build credibility You’re sitting on a treasure trove of content opportunities, but it takes a strategic mindset to see the potential and make it work for you. Repurposing isn’t just about squeezing more out of your work—it’s about meeting your audience where they are with content that resonates in the format they prefer. Here’s how to get started: 1. Audit your existing content. Look for webinars, whitepapers, or even old posts with untapped potential. 2. Slice and dice the content into digestible formats tailored for each platform. 3. Add value—adapt, don’t copy-paste. Make each piece stand out by speaking directly to the platform’s audience. Need more ideas or a process for repurposing? Let’s talk — Foundation Marketing will help you see that your next great piece of content might already exist—it just needs a little transformation. #ContentMarketing

When you align learning strategy with how the brain actually learns you'll find that performance improves. In many organisations, learning still means content delivery - I battle this challenge regularly. L&D teams measure outputs like number of courses, completions, attendance rather than outcomes. But humans don’t learn by consuming information. They learn by connecting ideas, making meaning, and putting their knowledge and skills into practice over and over again until their brains physically change. If you want to genuinely change behaviour and performance in your organisation then your whole strategy needs to be designed with the brain in mind. Here are three practical principles to share with your design and delivery teams: 🧠 Space, don’t cram Learning needs time to settle. Encourage teams to design experiences that build over time rather than delivering everything in one go. The return on retention is remarkable. 💡 Engage peoples emotions People remember what feels relevant and real. Challenge your designers to stimulate learners emotions with hooks like stories, challenges and personal connections. Don't just design pretty slides. 🔄 Practice and retrieval Learning journeys, rather than one off events, give people time to apply, reflect, and test new skills where it matters - on the job. This doesn't mean repetition for its own sake; it's simply how neural pathways are strengthened. When your learning strategy aligns with how the brain naturally works key metrics like engagement, performance and business impact improve. How do you enable your teams to bring brain science into the way they design and deliver learning?

Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction was revolutionary in its time. But that time was nearly 80 years ago. It was built for military training—linear, rigid, objective-driven. It assumes the designer controls everything, the learner starts from zero, and outcomes are best achieved by following a prescribed sequence. That’s not how learning works anymore. Modern learners are rarely blank slates. They come with prior knowledge, personal context, and the ability to access what they need on demand. They’re not sitting passively, waiting for content to be “presented.” They’re navigating ambiguity, asking questions, collaborating, and applying knowledge in complex, unpredictable environments. That’s why I’ve moved away from traditional instructional design models like Gagné—and toward frameworks that reflect how people actually learn. I draw from Learning Experience Design (LXD), which blends learning science, user experience, and accessibility to create more engaging and emotionally resonant learning. I also pull from the 5E model, which prioritizes inquiry and exploration, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which builds flexibility and inclusivity into every part of the design. Models like Design Thinking and Agile Learning Design keep me grounded in iteration, learner feedback, and real-world relevance. And Bob Mosher’s Moment of Need Model reminds me that not all learning happens during training—it often happens in the workflow, under pressure, when support is needed most. I don’t follow any of these models religiously. I use what fits. Because the moment we box ourselves into one system, we stop designing for people and start designing for process. Gagné made sense in a world of chalkboards and overhead projectors. Today, we’re designing for mobile, social, immersive, and AI-powered experiences. That requires more flexibility, more empathy, and a willingness to break the mold when it no longer fits. Models are helpful. Dogma is not.

Upskilling Strategies: Yesterday we looked at the Upskilling for business success and today we're going to look at customizing learning pathways for your Tech team. In today’s tech landscape, a one-size-fits-all approach to training just doesn’t work. To build a high-performing, future-ready tech team, upskilling programs need to be personalized and role-specific. 🔍 Start by assessing your team’s current skills: Use skills assessments, 360-degree feedback, and project performance reviews to understand the strengths and gaps within your tech teams. 🔑 Tailor learning pathways to meet the needs of specific roles within your organization. A few examples: ·       Cloud Engineers can benefit from certifications and training in platforms like AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. ·       DevOps Teams should focus on tools like Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, and CI/CD pipelines to streamline workflows and improve collaboration. ·       Cybersecurity Specialists need continuous learning in threat detection, encryption, and certifications like CISSP or CEH. ·       Software Developers could advance their skills in languages like Python or Java, or explore microservices and API development. 🎯 Personalization matters. When you align learning paths with individual roles and career goals, your team is more engaged and motivated, and the impact of upskilling is much greater. To create a successful upskilling strategy: ·       Set clear development goals based on current and future business needs. ·       Leverage e-learning platforms that offer customizable learning paths and assessments. ·       Encourage mentorship and peer learning to reinforce new skills within the team. ·       Investing in personalized learning paths doesn’t just future-proof your workforce—it drives innovation, improves retention, and keeps your tech teams agile and ready for the challenges ahead. Are your upskilling programs tailored to the unique needs of your tech team? #upskilling #personalizedlearning #techtrends #cloudengineering #DevOps #cybersecurity #continuouslearning #workforcedevelopment

If you’re only using webinars as a single piece of on-demand content, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of my workflow using Descript to turn a 1-hour webinar into 10-20 short-form clips: 1. Set Up Dual Recordings - Use Zoom for the main webinar, but record yourself separately in Descript. - Why? Zoom’s resolution isn’t ideal, and I like to have a clean, high-quality video of the speaker alone for repurposing. 2. AI-Powered Cleanup - Descript’s AI Underlord is a game-changer: - Remove Filler Words: Automatically delete all the “ums,” “uhs,” and awkward pauses. - Shorten Word Gaps: Set the AI to trim silences longer than 0.25 seconds for faster pacing (perfect for short-form content). 3. Generate Video Clips with AI - In Descript, create vertical video templates with captions, branding, and background music. - Tell the AI how many clips you want and what topics to focus on (keywords like "storytelling" or "examples"). - Preview, tweak, or discard clips as needed. (lots of platforms offer this, but I've yet to find one as easy as Descript even for non-video editors) 4. Bulk Export - Export your selected clips in one go, saving hours of manual editing and uploading time. - This workflow consistently produces high-engagement clips without the typical editing time--and I love that I can do it in a tool like Descript that offers a lot more than a single-function clip creating software. How do you currently repurpose your webinars? What’s working (or not) for you? Would love to swap notes. #B2B #marketing #contentmarketing #video #webinar (btw...I recorded & edited THIS video in Descript too, fwiw)

In reflecting on the state of digital education, I've been contemplating the importance of student engagement in online learning and the dimensions it encompasses. We tend to think of online education as a straightforward process: log in, absorb information, complete assignments. Yet, the reality is far more complex. True learning happens when there is active cognitive engagement, genuine enthusiasm, and thoughtful participation - even in a virtual space. The design of online courses plays a crucial role in promoting such engagement. Courses need to be interactive, challenging, and most importantly, relevant. When course material connects to students' interests and real-world situations, engagement naturally heightens. It's not just about providing content, but curating experiences. It’s equally important to leverage technology to create a sense of community among learners. A supportive, collaborative environment can greatly enhance the overall online learning experience and foster a sense of belonging, even when students are miles apart. But beyond environment and course design, we must also consider the students themselves. Skills like self-efficacy and self-regulation can significantly impact online learning outcomes. As educators, we should focus not only on imparting knowledge but also on equipping students with these key skills to navigate the world of online learning and beyond. In this increasingly digital age, as we continue to redefine education, the question remains: How can we, as educators, create online learning experiences that are not just informative, but also engaging and empowering?

You don't need more content. You need better content - repurposed smarter. Most marketers create a big splash around a single content piece—a research report, a whitepaper, or a deep-dive guide. But after the initial launch? It sits there, collecting dust. Instead that one research report broken down into multiple assets can feed your marketing program for months: 🔹 Blog Series – Turn each section into a blog post. 🔹 Social Media Posts – Extract key insights, charts, and takeaways to create a series of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit posts. You can use the same posts as ads. 🔹 Email Drip Campaign – Share each section as an email series to your newsletter 🔹 Retargeting Campaign – Run ads using snippets from the content, then drive traffic back to the full report. 🔹 Webinar or Podcast Series – Host discussions with experts around the report’s findings. 🔹 Short-Form Video Clips – Summarize key insights in quick, digestible video content for LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. You can then layer in all kinds of growth loops on top of each of these tactics. Having ea ch of them feed into the other. The best content strategy isn’t about creating more content.