Future-Focused with Christopher Lind

Will YouTube ever be a thing of the past?   It’s been some time since we’ve talked about content on this show.  How is everyone holding up with their current enterprise content manager  (ECM)? Today’s learners are now comfortable and accustomed to viewing virtual content. Their expectations and their ability to engage is predicated on their historical content consumption.    Is there an argument to be made that viewing a learning video on the same platform that hosts videos of silly cats and laughing babies may be less effective?   In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m joined by Michael Guastamacchio from MediaZilla to discuss enterprise video delivery and how to create a strategic  advantage with content for teams and consumers alike through a smooth,  slick, and highly professional client experience.

The blank stare of death. Anyone else been there? You’re new to a company or learning new software, and suddenly, you become paralyzed by the anxiety and mental exhaustion of what to do next. I remember teaching my brother how to use our family Gateway 2000 computer. I knew if I just told him what to do, he’d run back into my room 5 minutes later and ask for help. KNOCK PLEASE! Eventually, I found he learned much better if I stood over him and guided his hand on where to click through the processes. It’s weird to think of DAPs as a big brother guiding you to proficiency, but I can’t help but draw a correlation with their effectiveness over static learning methods. In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m bringing it with Luke Talbot from Userlane to talk about what makes a good DAP platform and what learning leaders need to know as the demand and market for these products increase, and how to use them to their best ability to deploy, engage, and accelerate their software adoption in the future of work.

while ( ! (succeed = try() ) ); It used to bother me that my coding abilities were rather lacking compared to some of my peers. Coding can be intimidating for reskillers, yet tons of creative minds have much high-level to offer in software development. My confidence was boosted when a colleague told me, “Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” In the future of work, a lot of coding will be done by dedicated professionals, with high level code available on a multitude of easy-to-use platforms. What this looks like concerning AR/VR and the Metaverse is still being navigated, and look forward to it. In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m joined by Rajesh Jha from SimInsights Inc. to talk about how users can directly publish immersive and interactive training content that gives learners a strategic advantage while delivering an immediate ROI.bothered

Just because we work in the field of skills doesn’t mean we’re immune from having to develop our next generation of skills. If anything, there’s an even greater need to stay ahead of the curve to ensure we can keep pace with the rest of the organization. A quick Google search demonstrates there’s no shortage of blogs,  research articles, and graphics highlighting what skills we and others believe need to be developed. Unfortunately, too few provide broader context around the need to change and the barriers often contributing to the lack of desire for change. There’s also a particular nuance to what those new skills may look like depending on the role within an L&D function. After all, an  L&D professional isn’t universal. There’s a diverse portfolio of roles within the ever-expanding L&D function. In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m flying solo to talk about how the significant changes to business and technology directly impact our work and how those changes translate to the need to grow and evolve our existing skills. I’ll also address directly how some of the changes can be perceived as threats but better leverage the higher-order skills we enjoy.

YOU are more capable of acquiring skills and unlocking potential than you think you are. Can’t is a simple contraction I’m not very familiar with. One echo chamber  I’ve noticed lately is the confidence of individuals whom I surround myself with regarding their adaptability and learning. I believe this to be a positive thing, but I’m also aware of the blind spot in my perception as others around me may not have the confidence in themselves to learn and adapt to new skills. How, as learning leaders, do we identify and encourage confidence in learners to believe in themselves to acquire new skills regularly? Tomorrow on Learning Tech Talks, I’m joined by Rashim Mogha from Skillsoft to talk about confidence in learning and how a next-gen learning experience that is personalized, immersive, and accessible to anyone has the potential to transform the workforce faster and prepares today’s learners for the skills of tomorrow.

Does anyone think that it’s time to slowly retire the buzzword “Gamification” from the L&D industry?   Just to clarify, I’ve used this term liberally to describe organizations providing creative digital solutions in the enterprise learning space.   There are some fantastic products, AND some not so fantastic. Organizations that have created a sustainable competitive advantage are ones that don’t focus too heavily on virtual Band-Aids, but create a continual experimental, multiplatform solution to continually move forward and  produce results.   Effective progress comes from a change in our language to describe what is in front of us and not the same thing in a  repetitive echo chamber.   In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m joined by Dan White from Filament Games to talk about the value of staying curious as an educational game developer and how to create playful experiences that improve people’s lives and delivery through whatever medium is best.

Where is AI today and where is AI headed for the future? I think I speak for many that it's a word that has been absorbed into our vocabulary even though we don't all mean the same thing.   That leaves an opportunity for a continual dialogue regarding AI in the corporate space as definitions and applications vary greatly among different products and markets. Unfortunately, a lot of noise and blind ambition can have the ability to overshadow strong organizations with an impactful product that effectively creates change in the workplace with AI.    In this Learning Tech Talks, Kian Katanforoosh from Workera joins me again to go deeper into their AI solutions and provide clarity on the benefits and applications it has in a forward learning culture. We'll also get some Workera updates and talk about some of the successes and challenges that they’ve faced since we last talked and possibly where the future of AI is headed from the company’s perspective.

Where could your team be in a month if everyone improved every single week? I ask myself this question daily, and I’m constantly looking for ways to improve myself and others in a positive and uplifting way. As learning leaders, this task is often easier said than done, particularly at scale. There is an everyday sludge between you and the things you’re trying to do that makes this challenging. What are some ways that you remind yourself and others of the goals and changes you want to see? In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m talking with Leslie Caputo from Humu to learn how to move from intention to action and how ‘nudges’ build habits that help accomplish your most important goals and to develop the behaviors and skills proven to drive mission-critical outcomes.,

"Are we there yet?" A common question hurled aimlessly from the back seat of our family hauler once the excitement of a long journey has worn off and boredom has set in. It sometimes feels like we are in that part of the journey for AR/VR. The excitement is starting to fade, and the reality that we have a long way to go is making the progress we are experiencing today feel slow. I imagine people who saw the vision for the internet in the 90’s felt that too. On this Learning Tech Talks, I’m joined by Dr Alexander Young from Virti to talk about his journey as a surgeon, who encountered countless real-world high-pressure scenarios, and his vision to make those situations and others available to learners to best prepare for their roles using cognitive decision-making research combined with immersive video.

Does anyone remember taking a keyboarding class? Mavis Beacon and I go way back. Typing is a learned skill many developed in the classroom that allowed us to function as adults. However,  editing audio/video wasn’t something my generation was ever taught in school. There are technical aspects that my children know better than I  do. Given content creation plays a vital role in the workplace and as learning leaders, how are we making editing easy and accessible to everyone equally? In this Learning Tech Talks, I’m hanging out with Jeff Rozic from Descript to talk about how they're taking the technical aspects of a/v editing  and making it as simple as editing a Word document. All this to help content creators create faster with more professional results. As a user, I'm also excited to hear about their big update being released this week and hopefully get some details on their complete redesign.