Date: 4/8/24

Presenter: John Kilroy

Tags: instructional design, AI

AI Generated Summary:

This Zoom meeting was for an audience of instructional designers and focused on the transition from instructional designer to digital learning professional.

The meeting was hosted by the Digital Learning Institute (DLI). The speaker, the founder of DLI, discussed the institute’s mission to elevate standards in digital education and online learning.

DLI’s Offerings and Background: The speaker provided background information about the Digital Learning Institute (DLI), including its university-accredited courses in digital learning design and the diverse backgrounds and global locations of its students.

The main sections of the meeting included:

• Skills 1st Agenda:

• • The speaker emphasized the importance of reskilling and upskilling, driven by factors like AI and the diversification of the workforce.

  • By 2030, 50% of workers are expected to need reskilling, and 44% of jobs will require it (Source: World Economic Forum).

  • The challenge for learning professionals is to address this reskilling demand by designing agile and engaging learning experiences.

  • The discussion highlighted a shift towards a "skills-first" approach, focusing on capabilities and potential, rather than just roles or career paths.

  • Learning programs should aim to develop both broad and deep skills, including transferable skills like collaboration, communication, and digital literacy, to future-proof both individuals and organizations.

  • • Reskilling and Upskilling: The agenda begins with the recognition that a significant portion of the workforce will need to acquire new skills due to the impact of AI and the changing nature of work.

    • Addressing the Reskilling Challenge: Learning professionals are tasked with creating learning experiences that are not only effective but also agile and can be delivered rapidly to meet the demands of a changing job market.

    • Shift to a Skills-First Approach: This involves a fundamental change in how organizations view talent development, moving away from focusing on specific job roles or career paths to instead prioritizing the capabilities and potential of individuals.

    • Designing Learning Programs Around Capabilities: Learning programs should be designed to cultivate the skills that organizations need to be agile, adaptable, and future-proof.

    • Developing Broad and Deep Skills: The agenda emphasizes the importance of developing both specialized skills (depth) and a wide range of transferable skills (breadth), such as collaboration, communication, and digital literacy.

• Transition from Instructional Designer to Digital Learning Designer:

• • The speaker explored the evolving roles in the learning and development field, noting the emergence of roles like learning engineer and learning scientist.

  • These roles require a blend of learning science, engineering, and computer science.

  • The speaker also introduced DLI’s design framework, which aims to simplify the design process for learning experiences across various delivery modes, including blended, hybrid, and fully digital learning.

  • • The framework seeks to address the increasing complexity of designing learning experiences across different modes of delivery.

    • The speaker mentioned that the framework includes templates.

    • The speaker planned on sharing the full framework and templates with the participants.  

• Examples and AI:

• • AI in Learning Design: The discussion covered how AI is being used in learning design, including AI tutors that offer personalized learning and feedback. It also addressed AI's broader role in creating personalized learning experiences.

  • Data and Privacy: The speaker stressed the importance of tackling issues related to data and privacy, such as student concerns about how their data is used and whether it will affect their grades. The speaker also noted that younger learners tend to be more open to sharing their data compared to older learners.

  • Quality Assurance: The meeting highlighted the necessity of quality assurance and applying learning science principles when using AI-generated content.

  • AI Prompting and Frameworks: The speaker provided an AI prompting worksheet and introduced the CARE framework (Context, Action, Results, Examples) for effective prompt engineering.

  • Addressing Concerns about AI: The speaker acknowledged that some subject matter experts are resistant to AI, fearing it might replace them. The speaker offered strategies for introducing AI tools, such as piloting them for specific tasks and working with current technology providers..

  • The framework seeks to address the increasing complexity of designing learning experiences across different modes of delivery

  • The speaker mentioned that the framework includes templates.

  • The speaker planned on sharing the full framework and templates with the participants.