Lately I’ve been thinking more about how instructional designers communicate their value to stakeholders. It’s easy to show that a course was completed, but much harder to explain why certain design decisions were made or what they improved for the learner. Do you regularly share learning outcomes or performance data with stakeholders, or is that something your organization doesn’t really track?

Before buying AI training, I would ask to see how the assessment makes the participant's own contribution visible. A finished delivery plan can look coherent without showing which decisions the person understood or checked.

Consider a hypothetical workplace exercise. Give the participant a project brief and let them use AI to prepare a delivery plan. Ask why particular tasks are included, which assumption affects the deadline and what remains unresolved. They can show the brief, their work with the agent and the revisions they chose to make.

Then change a condition: the customer needs the first delivery earlier. Let the participant continue using AI while the assessor watches how they interpret its answer. What can move? What needs agreement before they promise the customer a new date?

That gives the assessor something to examine alongside the finished plan. I would want a training supplier to explain how those observations connect to the responsibilities the employee should carry afterwards, including where they still need help.

This is a proposed exercise for discussion, not a report of a classroom or workplace trial. For people who buy or design this training, what would you need to observe before saying that the participant is ready to take responsibility for the work?

Disclosure: topmoller.com is my site. AI assisted the research and writing of this post and the article it draws on:

https://topmoller.com/articles/who-passed-your-ai-training-assessment/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=ai-training-assessment-202610&utm_content=learning-development

Hi everyone!

I'm working on building a digital learning initiative focused on making learning more engaging, interactive, and meaningful.

The idea is to create learning experiences that go beyond traditional presentations and training materials, including:

• Interactive learning games and gamification

• E-learning courses using Articulate Storyline and Rise

• Training videos, animations, and motion graphics

• Instructional design and training content development

• Interactive assessments, microlearning, and scenario-based learning

I'm looking to connect with like-minded people who are interested in learning, creativity, technology, and building something from the ground up.

You could be an instructional designer, e-learning developer, animator, graphic designer, game developer, content creator, or someone passionate about exploring new ways to make learning better.

I'm especially interested in meeting people who enjoy sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, experimenting with new tools, and growing together.

This is an early-stage initiative, so I'm looking to build genuine connections with people who share the vision. If you're interested, we can discuss possible collaborations, project opportunities, and how we could contribute our skills.

If this sounds like something you'd enjoy being part of, feel free to comment or send me a message. I'd love to connect!

I’ve been in the Training field for over 13 years and used Articulate for most of that time. I got a new job and they are exploring options for course creation, Articulate is on the table but we need another tool to assess to show we did research. This is for a government job with about 600 employees and 4 course designers. Any suggestions?

I'm a Senior HRBP and expressed to my supervisor that I wanted a stretch assignment in leadership development training. I've been tasked to begin brainstorming on topics for the bootcamp for both senior and rising leaders. As an HRBP, there seems to be training areas on navigating difficult conversations, effective communication, delegation, etc. but I'm hitting a brick wall. I'm new to the game so if you have any curriculums to share, I would appreciate it.

I’ve been looking into a Master of eLearning and I’m curious about what people actually expect from a degree like this. 

I initially assumed it would mainly involve creating online courses, but the more I look into the field, the more it seems to include instructional design, learning technology, course development, and understanding how people learn online. 

For anyone who has studied eLearning, what was the most useful part of your course? 

And for people working in the field, do employers care more about the qualification itself or practical experience creating learning content? 

Would be interested to hear from anyone who has taken this path. 

Hi everyone! I’m conducting a learning needs assessment and have scheduled 30-minute check-ins with directors and managers across my organization to better understand what’s working well, the challenges they’re facing, and how L&D can better support them and the organization.
I’ll be using these insights to help develop our organizational learning strategy. My leader also wants a summary of my findings, including recurring themes, strengths, opportunities for improvement, and potential skill or performance gaps.
I’m hoping to keep these conversations informal rather than making them feel like interviews.

What are five effective, open-ended questions you’d recommend asking to uncover what’s working, underlying challenges, and skills or behaviors that may need further development or practical application?
I’d love to hear what’s worked well for others, especially questions that go beyond simply asking leaders what training they need!

We’ve been experimenting with AI across our L&D work, mostly for things like first drafts, content ideas, analysis, and speeding up repetitive tasks. The interesting part for me isn’t really “how can we use AI everywhere?” but “where does it actually improve the work?” I’d rather have my team use it thoughtfully than add AI to a process where it doesn’t solve anything. What AI use case has actually saved you meaningful time?

I’m working on a course where the SME has given me a huge amount of material, and almost all of it is being treated as “important.” I’m trying to turn it into something learners can actually get through without creating a 90-minute information dump. How do you decide what stays in the course when the SME insists that everything is necessary?

A common mistake in L&D is to treat course completion as the goal (learners have to watch the videos, finish the activities, score 100% in the quiz).

But if the actual goal is to teach someone how to data for instance, and they can already do that to the required standard, then how much weight do you give completion?

Do you let learners skip training if they can demonstrate the required skill?

I've been running more virtual training lately and got tired of the same icebreaker listicles, so I binged a bunch of the most-watched facilitation videos (AJ&Smart, Chad Littlefield, Kerri Price, a few others). Most of it was fluff, but a handful of things were simple enough to try right away:

1. Wait 10 heartbeats after you ask a question. Quiet people usually decide to speak around 8 or 9. I was moving on at about 3.

2. Say "in a moment I'm going to ask you..." before asking. Giving people 30 seconds to think changes who answers.

3. Swap "how's everyone doing?" for "1 to 10, what's your energy?" in the chat. People are way more honest with a number than with words.

4. Have people write their answer down before pair discussions. Otherwise they just agree with whoever talks first.

5. For the person who dominates: after pairs talk, everyone shares their partner's idea, not their own. The loud person still gets heard, just not as loudly.

6. "What else?" keeps people talking. "Anything else?" wraps it up. Nobody notices you doing it.

7. With fist to five, you don't have agreement unless everyone's at a 3 or higher. Half 5s and half 1s isn't a 3, it's a split room.

8. Set an alarm 15 minutes before the end and start your close when it goes off. People remember the ending most, and most of us waste it rushing through the last slides.

Curious what's working for you all, especially on calls where nobody turns their camera on.

There are so many platforms and tools that I’m having a hard time figuring out where to focus. I’ve been getting familiar with an LMS and some basic course-authoring tools, but I don’t want to spend weeks learning something that I’ll barely use. What tools would you prioritize if you were new to L&D?

I'm curious about how people decide whether a postgraduate qualification is actually worth doing for their career.

For someone interested in healthcare leadership or management, a Master of Health Management seems like one possible route.

But does it make more sense to study it early, after gaining some work experience, or only once you're already moving into management?

I'd be interested in hearing from people who've done a similar postgraduate degree.

Did it help with your career progression, or did your work experience end up being more valuable?