Ep. 6: Designing the Learning Experience & Defining “Complex Skills”

Mirjam Neelen, Learning Experience Design Lead at Accenture, talks with Donald Taylor about what it really means to “design” learning, as well as how she defines the “learning experience.” Mirjam also explores what she calls “complex skills,” and how to design learning experiences specifically for these types of skills – which, according to Mirjam, consist of many elements that interact with one another. Throughout her career, she’s used scientific research to make informed decisions in everything she does – including designing learning at Accenture. She and Donald also discuss how learning experience designers, like cooks, need a “kit” which consist of three things: Tools, techniques and ingredients. Only then can we create the best dish – or the best learning experience. Miriam can be found via: Twitter https://twitter.com/MirjamN LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirjamneelen/ Blog https://3starlearningexperiences.wordpress.com/ Links: Mirjam’s book: https://www.koganpage.com/author/mirjam-neelen (Written with Paul A. Kirschner) Dr Will Thalheimer does an excellent job ‘translating’ scientific research into practical insight for learning and development professionals. https://www.worklearning.com/ Julie Dirksen is the author of the excellent Design for How People Learn, and blogs at http://usablelearning.com/ Clark Quinn is the author of several books and is always worth reading. He blogs at https://blog.learnlets.com/ Patti Shank’s most recent book is Manage Memory for Deeper Learning. Her blog is https://www.pattishank.com/ Jane Bozarth blogs at http://bozarthzone.blogspot.com/ and the author of Show your Work (https://www.amazon.com/Show-Your-Work-Jane-Bozarth/dp/1118863623) definitely work reading. Mirjam mentioned Ten Steps to Complex Learning (Kirschner and van Merriënboer) as one of the key influencers on her work. Read an excellent article from MIT (http://web.mit.edu/xtalks/TenStepsToComplexLearning-Kirschner-VanMerrienboer.pdf) or check out the website, where you can buy the book itself (http://www.tensteps.info/)