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It is hard to believe another season of IDIODC has passed us by and we’re already well into the August break. The 2020-21 season of Instructional Designers in Offices Drinking Coffee (IDIODC) had 44 fantastic episodes filled with community learning, sharing, laughter, and of course coffee and dancing.
With so many great guests it's not easy selecting the top six episodes, but the numbers do not lie.
However, ALL the episodes were important, useful, and fun. They continue to remind me how important it is to have these conversations and hear the wonderful “origin stories” of our colleagues and peers. And, how everyone in the chat plays such a significant role in making a collaborative conversation possible.
#1: First Principles of Instruction for Creating Better eLearning with Dr. David Merrill
This one was an easy decision.
Dr. Merrill is a legend in our industry. After 50 years researching and working in the field of instruction you might think his ideas would be a little dated. You would be wrong.
He understands instructional media today better than most because he is grounded in solid research and real-world experience. His book First Principles of Instruction should be mandatory on every ID’s bookshelf. If you only watch one episode of IDIODC, make it this one!
Check out the episode blog post here.
#2: Visual Design Principles in eLearning When You’re Not a Graphic Designer with Rachel Dillon
Rachel talked with us about design and how we can all become better designers by critiquing designs. She taught us how important this practice is in building a design vocabulary we can use to build confidence in our own design ideas as well as sharing our ideas with others.
This IDIODC episode was different from our other graphic design episodes, but it struck a chord with our industry in a big way. I obviously do not critique my own episodes often enough because I struggle to put it into words. But I can assure you that your time is well spent watching this episode.
Here’s the episode blog post for this great session.
#3: How to Create Engaging eLearning Through Visual Design with Tim Slade
What can we say about Tim Slade other than he is a one-man instructional power house!
He has crafted his passion into a successful consulting career with a best-selling book for new instructional designers, a fantastic email newsletter, and amazingly popular workshops. I’m always grateful when he fits being a guest into his busy schedule.
Tim and Rachel both had two of the highest IDIODC episode attendee rates overall. And with visual design in both titles, it's easy to see how important these topics are for the eLearning development community.
Check out the blog post for this episode and do not forget to buy his book.
#4: Back to Basics: Working Backwards from Business Needs with Myra Roldan
Myra is so much fun to have as a guest on IDIODC!
She has joined us for several episodes in previous seasons and in this season’s guest appearance she focused on helping new instructional designers, reminding us to starting with the end in mind and focus on business outcomes. It's a message that cannot be shouted often enough.
Myra is a favorite on IDIODC and even if you are a seasoned training professional you will gain many insights from this episode.
Here’s the blog post for this episode.
#5: Customer Experience: Another Option for Instructional Designers with Melissa Milloway
You may know Mel from her time spent at Amazon.
However, in this episode she talks with us about transitioning to a new company working in Customer Experience. CX is a rapidly growing field where many instructional designers are finding success.
Mel tells us her story and why she is making the transition. This IDIODC episode is important to hear how others are navigating their careers so you can learn about options you may not have known existed for you.
You can find all the details in the episode blog post right here.
#6: How to Create Better MicroLearning Videos with LaTarshia Wooten
In this IDIODC episode, LaTarshia talks with us about microlearning.
It's a hot topic these days and has been for a few years now. LaTarshia shared five methods for creating microlearning videos.
Her perspective is unique in that she started her career in marketing before transitioning to her role as a Learning Experience Designer. This is important because we often talk about the connection between the role of marketing and L&D.
Check out this episode for a unique perspective on creating microlearning videos.
What a season it was!
For Chris and I, it’s a pleasure to host Instructional Designers in Offices Drinking Coffee each Wednesday morning. And this year we marked a couple of awesome milestones, including passing 150 total episodes and 100,000 downloads of the audio podcast version of our session.
Regular attendees know that while the guest and topic are important it is the community and comradery shared each Wednesday that makes IDIODC special.
Add IDIDOC to your calendar and make it a habit to start your midweek motivation by engaging with your community.
We're planning a fantastic new season – holy cow, season 5! – starting Sept. 1.
Here are a few of the guests and their topics you can expect to see:
- Sravani Tammiraju - Classroom to Virtual Classroom
- Vince Han - Chatbots
- Alexander Salas - Escape Rooms for Learning
- Frank Nguyen - Career Reflections & Transitions of a CLO
- Amy Kay Czechowicz - Involving Managers in Employee Learning Experiences
Stay up to date by checking out the IDIODC home page and our Crowdcast channel!
