Jenna Cohen is the workforce product manager at ACT. where their mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. ACT’s mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. It serves millions of people around the world with learning resources, assessments, research, and credentials to help them succeed from elementary school throughout their careers. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jenna about ACT’s WorkKeys produc...
Apr 19, 2022•26 min
It’s hard to believe, but here we are at episode 300 of the Leading Learning Podcast. When we sat down to record episode 1 back in 2015, we had no idea we’d make it this far. We are truly grateful for the thousands of learning business professionals who tune in each month and make this show part of their own lifelong learning. Milestones are a natural time to pause and reflect, so we’re doing exactly that. In this commemorative episode, we highlight the value of embracing your integral role as a...
Apr 12, 2022•26 min
Having escaped with her family from the Vietnam War to start again in the U.S., Van Ton-Quinlivan is passionate about paying forward the opportunities that an education afforded her. She has built a career as a highly impactful workforce development expert and currently serves as CEO of Futuro Health, a nonprofit with the mission of improving the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. In this episode of the Leading...
Apr 05, 2022•36 min
Jim Fong is chief research officer at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), where he and his research team help university leaders understand the trends impacting higher education. They also support the development of new programs and credentials to meet the complex needs of the ever-changing learner and the new economy. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb and return guest Jim Fong talk about why higher ed needs to evolve to meet...
Mar 29, 2022•38 min
When it comes to workforce development, learning businesses play a critical role in identifying and then delivering the skills employees need and those that employers want. From attracting and educating workers new to the field to upskilling and reskilling those already working, learning businesses can have a significant impact on the profession or industry they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we break down the topic of workforce development, including how we define it, k...
Mar 22, 2022•25 min
Clare Marsch is senior vice president of training and development at the American Bankers Association (ABA). Throughout her career, she’s been involved in developing training and learning programs for customers, members, and clients across a wide range of industries and in a variety of formats. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Clare about her role in leading learning for ABA, credentialing, and workforce development. They discuss the evolution of lear...
Mar 15, 2022•29 min
Credentials offer more potential than ever to learners and to the organizations offering them. And learning businesses in particular are uniquely positioned to leverage them to address challenges and create opportunities for the people and industries they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we share the key macrotrends making credentialing even more valuable today and what learning businesses may need to consider when offering credentials. We also break down and compare vario...
Mar 08, 2022•34 min
Tamer Ali, a seasoned learntech entrepreneur and founder of Authentic Learning Labs, believes in the power of technology to deliver transformative learning experiences. Authentic aims to address the challenges and elevate the status of learning within organizations through learning technologies and a global team to support initiatives. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Tamer about entrepreneurship, the evolution of the learntech market, and typical cha...
Mar 01, 2022•31 min
Courtney Vital, vice president of learning at the Association for Talent Development, describes herself as a learning leader for learning leaders—and for good reason. ATD is the largest association for professionals who develop others in the workplace, and its membership reflects individuals from all over the world, in all industries and sectors. ATD is focused on advancing talent development, convening a community of people who do talent development work, and supporting them with the necessary ...
Feb 22, 2022•35 min
As CEO of Web Courseworks, Amber Winter is committed to helping their clients maximize value and deliver high-quality, impactful professional development to their learners. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Jeff talks to Amber about her transition to the CEO role, the state of the learntech industry, and which trends are having an impact on learning businesses and learntech. They also talk about opportunities and threats for associations in the current learning landscape and what ...
Feb 22, 2022•31 min
Learning businesses often rely on subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop and deliver learning products. But those SMEs—although highly regarded experts in their particular field—likely don’t know how to develop and deliver products in ways that align with brain science and adult learning principles. In this episode, we focus on the importance of going beyond telling presenters what they need to do to be effective to playing an active role in showing them how. We discuss the tremendous opportun...
Feb 08, 2022•30 min
Longtime listeners of the Leading Learning Podcast have heard us talk about the Learning Business Maturity Model™ before. We’ve dedicated entire episodes to it in the past, covering what it is and how to leverage it. In this episode, we focus less on the logistics and specifics of the model and more on the purpose of the maturity model. We explain how the model can be used by learning businesses for three interrelated purposes: dialogue, diagnosis, and direction. We also share how our latest off...
Feb 01, 2022•23 min
As CEO of Vista Cova and a Certified Professional Facilitator, Lowell Aplebaum collaborates with organizations to create transformative dialogue around vision, strategic planning, community, and value. He’s passionate about building a better future and his inclusive, learning mindset carries through in his work helping others recognize their potential for lasting impact. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Celisa talks with Lowell about the components of an effective strategy, how s...
Jan 25, 2022•47 min
As professor emeritus and senior fellow at the University of Illinois Springfield and senior fellow at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), Ray Schroede is a leading expert in higher education and online learning. With decades of experience teaching, leading, curating, and writing, Ray brings unmatched knowledge and passion to the conversation around emerging technologies and the future of education. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Jeff talks...
Jan 18, 2022•35 min
The turning of a calendar from one year to the next is a natural time for reflection and preparation. In the previous episode , we looked back at the year that was for learning businesses. In this episode we turn forward to focus on the year that is. Drawing on data collected at the end of 2021, we uncover the top areas that learning businesses are prioritizing in the new year. We also reveal three trends and two major barriers that will impact learning businesses in 2022. Full show notes and a ...
Jan 11, 2022•28 min
As we just said goodbye to 2021 and rang in a new year, it feels only natural to pause and take a moment—or, in this case, an episode—to reflect. And, as learning business leaders, we know what a profound impact reflection can have on learning. That’s why in this first new episode of 2022, we’re looking back at the broader learning landscape and larger trends that shaped the previous year, including how the pandemic impacted learning businesses. We reflect on what we can learn from the year that...
Jan 04, 2022•23 min
We’ve covered a lot of ground in the first six “courses” in the series for our mythical learning business MBA, and we’ve mostly focused on what —identifying the key skills and knowledge learning businesses need to survive and thrive. The what is important, but so too is the who —finding people with the key skills and knowledge and cultivating those skills and knowledge in your team. This includes people (the human resources), but it also extends to how to support those people in doing their work...
Nov 16, 2021•30 min
We've reached our next-to-last installment in our learning business MBA series, where we're continuing to explore the question "What kinds of skills, knowledge, and behaviors do learning businesses need to be successful?" A common theme has emerged as an answer. (1) You have to know your market and audience, and (2) you have to get product development right. But there's another component that too often does not get added—or doesn't get added with enough discipline and con...
Nov 09, 2021•38 min
Steven Schragis is founder and director of One Day University, an adult education program that brings the best and most popular professors from all over the country to develop fun and engaging talks that inform and inspire adult “students-for-a-day.” At One Day U, learning isn’t driven by career advancement goals or earning a degree; it’s for people who simply want to engage in the pure joy of lifelong learning. Steven has positioned One Day University to effectively meet the needs of a large ni...
Nov 02, 2021•31 min
Jim Obsitnik is the chief executive officer at Cadmium , a software-as-a-service provider that brings events and education technology together. He believes in the higher social calling of learning and education and has spent many years in the learning space. Jim also holds an MBA from the Wharton School with a focus in marketing, which makes him an excellent guest lecturer in our learning business MBA series. In this midpoint episode in our seven-part series, Jeff talks with Jim to get his exper...
Oct 26, 2021•28 min
This podcast series is our attempt to offer a theoretical learning business MBA program, and we invite you to play along. Imagine you’re in business school and about to hear a guest lecture by Mary Byers , a speaker, facilitator, consultant, and author of several books, including Race for Relevance: Five Radical Changes for Associations . She’s also host of the Successful Associations Today Podcast . Her work centers on helping organizations remain relevant in a rapidly changing environment, and...
Oct 19, 2021•34 min
Both marketing and strategy are fundamental to the health and success of a learning business, which is why we knew we had to address them in the context of the learning business MBA. Of course, the learning business MBA doesn’t exist yet, rather, we’re using it as shorthand for the key skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed by those working in market-facing learning businesses so they can ensure their organizations survive and thrive. While a single podcast series won’t allow us to do the work ...
Oct 12, 2021•39 min
Chances are, if you’re in the learning business, you probably didn’t go to school knowing this is where your career would take you. Some of you may a have strong background on the learning or education side, while others may have it on the business side—but likely, you don’t have an equally strong background when it comes to both, and it may be difficult to combine the two. And because we want you to have the core skills and knowledge needed to run a successful learning business, we’re focusing ...
Oct 05, 2021•29 min
This is the last installment in our seven-episode series on learning science’s role in a learning business , and we’ve covered a variety of interesting topics. But we want learning science to be more than interesting. We want you to apply it so you can elevate the success and impact of your learning business, as well as the success and impact of the learners you serve. In this episode, we revisit comments from the interviewees in the series about the one tenet or aspect of learning science they ...
Aug 24, 2021•28 min
Learning science uses evidence-based practice to support learning, and evaluation plays a critical role in providing that evidence by revealing learning’s true impact. To help us unpack how evaluations should inform decisions about learning, we spoke with Dr. Robert Brinkerhoff and Dr. Daniela Schroeter, co-directors of the Brinkerhoff Evaluation Institute (BEI). Rob is an internationally recognized expert with four decades of experience in evaluation and learning effectiveness, and he’s the aut...
Aug 17, 2021•40 min
Practice and feedback are essential to effective learning, yet all too often they aren’t given the time and attention they deserve by learning businesses. Practice and feedback are powerful tools for moving a learning experience away from pure theory and content and towards deeper learning and application in the real world. In this fifth episode in our seven-part series on learning science’s role in a learning business, we feature key insights related to practice and feedback from conversations ...
Aug 10, 2021•38 min
Both Ruth Colvin Clark and Myra Roldan are evidence-based learning designers who combine a nuanced understanding of learning theory with years of hands-on experience developing solutions. Ruth is principal and president of Clark Training & Consulting and has spent her career as an instructional psychologist, working with diverse organizations. She’s the author of many articles and books, including Evidence-Based Training Methods , and she co-authored e-Learning and the Science of Instruction...
Aug 03, 2021•44 min
Learner needs are important—but, in the context of learning businesses, learner wants are just as important. Correctly satisfying these needs and wants requires figuring out what to offer—not by assuming or guessing what’s needed in the market but by following processes and systems that yield the data to prove it. In this third installment in our seven-part series focused on learning science for learning businesses, we explain why performing market and needs assessments are critical steps in eff...
Jul 27, 2021•26 min
Dr. Megan Sumeracki is an associate professor of psychology at Rhode Island College and co-founder of The Learning Scientists , a group of cognitive psychological scientists aiming to make scientific research on learning more accessible to students, teachers, and other educators. Her area of expertise is in human learning and memory, and in applying the science of learning in different contexts. In this second episode in our series on learning science’s role in a learning business, Jeff talks wi...
Jul 20, 2021•49 min
For any organization offering learning, learning science is important. But it’s arguably even more important for learning businesses because of the far-reaching impact that can be achieved from effectively applying it. In this first installment in our "Learning Science for Learning Businesses" new seven-part series, we take a broad look at the science of learning, including related practical insights and key areas of influence for learning businesses. We also preview the specific areas o...
Jul 13, 2021•33 min
