The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.
Audrey Hepburn
I’m excited that my session from the Learning Guild’s recent online event “Pushing the Elearning Envelope” was selected as the featured session for the conference. It introduces a collection of tools that use AI, Automation, and #NoCode to help you work more efficiently. You can browse the slides here.
Thanks for reading!
What I’m Listening to: I’m tuning into an old favorite, Oatmello this morning – it is laid back, relaxed, with a sort of cozy, chill atmosphere.
Last week’s most clicked item:
5 Behavioral Biases That Trip Up Remote Managers
Getting Started With Automation: A Complete Guide
If you haven’t hopped onto the automation bus yet, now is the time. To me this is a no-brainer! According to Zapier’s most recent automation index, 43% of knowledge workers get more done and 41% save time by automating work. No matter what your role, or which industry you’re in, you can benefit from the process of connecting apps and services to make repetitive tasks happen on ‘auto-pilot’, without code or needing developers.
https://www.makerpad.co/blog/getting-started-with-automation-a-complete-guide-with-examples
How Humans Think When They Think As Part of a Group
The fancy word for it is “entitativity,” and it’s produced when people act and feel together in close proximity. The gist of this fascinating article is that we need it more, but we’re getting it less. (Annie Murphy Paul is one of my favorite writers and I’m SO glad she’s back in action again. I can’t wait to read her latest book which this article is excerpted from “The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain”)
https://www.wired.com/story/how-humans-think-when-they-think-group/
Are Repeat Nudges Effective? For Tardy Tax Filers, It Seems So
If you want to target recurrent behaviors, can introducing a nudge once lead to consistent changes in behavior? What if you presented the same nudge several times—would seeing it over and over make its effects stronger, or just the opposite? It seems you can, in fact, nudge twice. Hop over to learn about the details.
https://behavioralscientist.org/are-repeat-nudges-effective-for-tardy-tax-filers-it-seems-so/
The Power & Pitfalls of Gamification
When tech companies first adopted the technique, there was hardly any science supporting it. Now researchers know when gamelike features help—and when they hurt. This latest science suggests it makes lots of sense for apps to continue gamifying our achievements, so long as they’re promoting goals we’re intrinsically eager to reach. But when it comes to using gamelike features to promote change we might not find so appealing, gamification doesn’t seem to be a workaround for more substantive solutions. ( This article is adapted from How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman.)
https://www.wired.com/story/power-and-pitfalls-gamification/
Learning About E-learning on the Presentation Podcast
I had the honor to talk about elearning on the Presentation Podcast with Sandy Johnson, Nolan Haims, and Troy Chollar. It was a lot of fun exploring the elearning landscape and how presentation designer skills parallel with building elearning. I’ve been a long time listener of this podcast and I ALWAYS come away with something valuable. I hope this one keeps the streak alive for others.
https://thepresentationpodcast.com/128/
Podcasts
- How to escape brainbound thinking and take advantage of your extended mind with Annie Murphy Paul on the Your Not So Smart podcast
- Better Presentations and Slide Design with Mark Heaps on the 356 Labs podcast
- The Importance of Informal Learning: A Conversation with Jon Tota on the Train Like You Listen podcast
Tools & Tips
- Recordcast is a great free all-in-one online screen recorder and video editor
- Reshot is a nice collection of Free Icons, Illustrations & Photos
- Tella lets you showcase your work with instantly shareable videos. All in your web browser.
- Creator Tools is a huge list of 250+ tools for anyone who creates stuff – isn’t that all of us?
- Eagle is a way to organize all your image files in a single, logical place
Where You Can Find Me
- Nashville ATD – Using Technology for Training – September 16
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Mike Taylor 
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