Desirable Difficulties

Interviews: Skills and Tips

In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan look at deeper interview skills, and share some tips from having been on both sides of the table. This isn't about generic interview tips - dress smartly, turn up on time, research the organisation etc - valid as they all are - this is about conversational skills, storytelling, double-loop examples and the tedious inevitability of practice. Remember there's no such thing as a chat, and good luck!

The Painful Joy of Creative Collaboration

Who could be against creativity, or collaboration? But put them together - in the learning design world, for example - and sparks can fly. In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan explore how to 'plan for the pain'. How should we contract up front, how should we manage collaboration overload, do we need a conductor, and does the relay race ever finish? Happy collaborating..

So you think Learning Design is simple

We pull back the curtain on what it truly takes to be a learning designer. Spoiler alert: it goes way beyond building your beautiful course. In the latest How to Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan explore the idea of the super-being learning designer. The truth is, great learning design means nothing if you can't bring people along the journey with you. Most learning design job descriptions make it sound like it is one discipline, but there is not one single discipline within learning design. There are multiple skills needed. Listen now and discover just how many skills it takes to do this job.

Desirable Difficulties

"No pain, no gain." In this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan explore the decisions we're all having to make about our learning muscles: which ones are allowed to get a bit flabby? Do we embrace 'desirable difficulties' and take the tougher - but more effective - route to learning via repeated and varied practice, thinking hard, and testing ourselves? Or should we relax, offload the cognitive effort, and just enjoy the world of SatNav and Gen AI? Strong book recommendation: Desirable Difficulties in Action, by Pearce and Moore (based on the work of Bjork and Bjork).

Perfectionists Anonymous

Are you a self-confessed perfectionist.. or maybe a chronic procrastinator.. or not ready to admit it quite yet? Well, we all have the tendencies. Here are some tips to help. In their latest How to Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan look at the cost of perfectionism - 'it's not a quirky character trait, it's a barrier to learning' - and share four tips on how to share something that isn't quite there yet.