The Art & Science of Learning

Changing careers or building a business can be daunting, and it requires learning many new skills and being creative. In this episode, my guest is one of my former professors from the Harvard Graduate School of Education who has inspired me in the work that I do now as a workplace learning consultant. We discuss how she built a successful learning evaluation business, became a Harvard professor, and now established herself as a successful children’s book author. Dr Ilona Holland shares how limitations can be the mother of invention and the importance of looking for voids as you build the career of your dreams. Dr. Ilona E. Holland is an educator and award-winning children's author who inspires readers to ask questions and see the world with awe. Ilona spent over a decade of her professional life teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition, she conducted evaluations for PBS producers of programs like Martha Speaks, CyberChase, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, WordGirl, and Wild Kratt’s. Since retiring, she spends most of her time writing for children and visiting schools all over the world. Ilona’s titles have won state and national recognition and awards. Her first book, Buddy Bison’s Yellowstone Adventure is included in United Through Reading, a program that reaches 100,000 military families around the globe. Ilona’s other books have received first place awards given by the Delaware Press Association and the National Federation of Press Women. Her work has also been featured in Ed Magazine and her first book was selected as one of Hoda Kobt’s favorites. Ilona E. Holland Ed.D.: https://ilonaeholland.com

As new technologies like AI, are disrupting the way we work, there is an increasing need for effective ways to integrate these innovations into workflows. Learning to use new technologies effectively is a primary focus of learning teams around the world. But how can we quickly and proactively adapt to new technologies? McKinsey & Company’s Research & Innovation Learning Lab values developing capabilities that enable teams to stay current with their ever-changing landscape of emerging tech and lead through changes in the future. In this episode, I speak with two learning design experts who have developed a dynamic approach to fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation with emerging tech, all within existing constraints. Sam Lee was a Learning Design Expert at McKinsey & Company at the New York City office and has recently transferred to Microsoft. With over a decade of experience in workplace learning domains, she has served in learning design and product leadership roles to design, scale, and innovate learning journeys for a global audience, focusing on future-ready digital leadership and tech skills. Sam is passionate about merging learning science and emerging technologies like AI to enable hyper-personalized learning experiences at scale. Veronica Gomez is a learning design expert passionate about learning science and co-creating joyful learning experiences. She leads global design projects for some of McKinsey’s large learning initiatives and programs. Gomez has a master’s degree in educational technology and complements that with her psychology and web design background to build human-centered experiences that strive for equitable access to learning. Sam Lee’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junghwasamleeny/ Veronica Gomez’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicagomezatencio/ Future-proof L&D’s capabilities: three questions can guide your team toward fluency in emerging technologies (ATD Magazine): https://www.td.org/content/td-magazine/future-proof-lampdrsquos-capabilities

The author of a fantastic book - The Learning and Development Handbook: A learning practitioner’s toolkit – is the guest in this episode. I enjoyed reading her book and found it to be a great resource for all L&D professionals. In this episode, we discuss the importance of updating approaches to learning in the workplace and some of the key insights and strategies from her book. Michelle Parry-Slater is an award-winning L&OD professional with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She is the Founder and Director of Kairos Modern Learning, an L&D consultancy specializing in driving a shift from traditional courses to embrace the best of digital, social and face-to-face workplace learning. Working with clients such as the CIPD, Co-op, Shelter, the Charity Learning Consortium and Garden Vets at Keele, Michelle was also the Lead Volunteer for L&D at Girlguiding UK for over five years. She was listed as one of the Top 20 Corporate eLearning Movers and Shakers of 2018 by eLearning Industry and named by HR Magazine as one of the most influential HR thinkers in 2023. Michelle wrote ‘The Learning and Development Handbook: A learning practitioner’s toolkit’ and is also the host of 'Learning From The Edges' podcast, looking at friction in work and how to overcome it. Website: https://www.kairosmodernlearning.com Book: https://thelndhandbook.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleparryslater

Podcasts can be a great way of learning but are rarely used in workplace training. In this episode, my guest is the co-founder of Assemble You, a company that develops podcasts for workplace training. We discuss strategies to design podcasts that help people retain new knowledge and about his experience as a learning tech entrepreneur. Adam Lacey is the Co-Founder of Assemble You and host of the L&D Challenges podcasts. He has 10+ years of experience creating and selling digital learning. In 2022 he launched Assemble You with his business partner. Assemble You is the home of podcast-style audio lessons and helps enable learning on the go. Links: Adam Lacey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamlacey/ Assemble You: https://www.assembleyou.com L&D Challenges Podcast: https://www.assembleyou.com/resources/learning-challenges

Having a quality management system in L&D can help ensure that the final learning experience is of high quality. In this episode, the author of the new book, Quality Management in Learning and Development, discusses her book and shares tips on how to embed a quality management system in the L&D process. Hadiya Nuriddin is an award-winning talent development professional with over two decades of experience in learning strategy, instructional design, elearning development, and facilitation. With Duets Learning, she’s worked with many companies in various industries on strategy, design, and quality management projects. She holds an MEd in curriculum studies, an MA in writing, and several other learning and quality management designations. She wrote the books StoryTraining: Selecting and Shaping Stories That Connect and Quality Management in Learning and Development, both published by ATD, the latter of which was released on June 25th 2024. Duets Learning https://www.duetslearning.com Book: Quality Management in Learning and Development https://www.amazon.com/Quality-Management-Learning-Development-Nuriddin/dp/1953946607/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=u5oio&content-id=amzn1.sym.d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c%3Aamzn1.symc.50e00d6c-ec8b-42ef-bb15-298531ab4497&pf_rd_p=d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c&pf_rd_r=N46HY3XPXXV5KXTNYW7M&pd_rd_wg=p5IuD&pd_rd_r=1b4ab8dd-78b9-407f-aabb-546e6b6d04bd&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

Coaching can be a powerful tool to transfer learning to improving on-the-job performance. However, it is often challenging to scale coaching to an entire organization, unless we use technology. I enjoyed testing out a new chatbot coaching tool called Coach M, which was developed by Lever - Transfer Learning. In this episode, I speak with the CEO of Lever about what it looks like to have a chatbot coach and the impact it can have on learning in the workplace. Emma Weber is CEO/Founder Lever – Transfer of Learning. Emma, a learning transfer authority, made it her mission in life to make a difference to learning transfer worldwide. Frustrated by the amount of learning which is wasted when it fails to make it across the knowing–doing gap Emma created the Turning Learning into Action™ methodology to solve that problem. This methodology is deployed throughout 20 countries and in 12 languages by a talented team and Coach M, a conversational intelligence chatbot. Coach M is challenging the industry's thinking of what’s possible in learning transfer. Emma shares her passion and expertise through her writing – her first book 'Turning Learning into Action: a proven methodology for effective transfer of learning' was published by Kogan Page in 2014 and is excited to have her 1st co-written ATD Association for Talent Development) press book ‘Designing Virtual Learning for Application & Impact’ published in 2023. Links: Emma Weber https://transferoflearning.com/about-us/emma-weber-2/ Lever Transfer of Learning https://transferoflearning.com Book: Turning Learning into Action https://transferoflearning.com/book/ Coach M https://transferoflearning.com/coach-m/ Book: Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact https://transferoflearning.com/designing-virtual-learning-for-application-and-impact/

Leading a great school requires many diverse skills that enable both the students and adults in the school to thrive. In September 2023 I had the honour of attending the Tatler School Awards in London UK, hosted by Tori Cadogan, the Education Editor at Tatler (interview in episode #35). Tatler Schools Guide is a magazine dedicated to shining a light on the top K-12 schools in the UK and is owned by Conde Nast. This was an exceptional occasion as Tatler Schools Guide was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting Magdalen College School in Oxford, a very special school, whose Head won the ‘Best Head of a Public School’ at the Tatler School Awards. I had the opportunity to speak with students and teachers and hear their experiences at this wonderful school. In this episode, I speak to the Head about what it takes to run a successful school, and how to create a culture of learning. Helen Pike is Master of Magdalen College School, Oxford. She is the ISC representative on UCAS Council, sits on the Sutton Trust Advisory Board, and is a member of the CASE Global Board. Educated in the state sector, she read Modern History at the University of Oxford, was a postgraduate student in the USA, and taught at the University of Warwick. She enjoyed a variety of teaching, pastoral and academic roles in leading independent schools before becoming Headmistress of South Hampstead High School. She is a writer, academic editor, school Governor and trustee of a newly-founded school in Uganda. Links: Helen Pike https://www.mcsoxford.org/master-helen-pike-wins-best-head-of-a-public-school-at-tatler-schools-awards-2024/ Magdalen College School https://www.mcsoxford.org

The University of Oxford is made up of over 30 colleges and halls spread across the city centre and beyond. These colleges are at the heart of Oxford's reputation as one of the best universities in the world and make it a very special place to study and live. With the oldest colleges being over 700 years old, it is a rare occurrence for a new college to be established. In 2019, Reuben Colleges was established as the newest college at Oxford University. It is a graduate college dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary exchange within an inclusive, innovative and impact-oriented community. My guest in this episode is the first president of Reuben College. Professor Lord Lionel Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci is the first president of Reuben College, and Theme Lead for the AI & Machine Learning research cluster. He is a world-leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare, with a strong track record in translation to clinical medicine. Professor Tarassenko’s work has had a major impact on the identification of deterioration in acute care and on the management of chronic disease. The system which he designed for patient monitoring in critical care was the first machine learning system to gain FDA approval (in 2008). Prior to that, Professor Tarassenko had been closely involved in the development of some of the jet engine monitoring software at the core of the Rolls-Royce TotalCare® package. This won him the Rolls-Royce Chairman's Award for Technical Innovation in 2001 and the Sir Henry Royce High Value Patent Award in 2008. Professor Tarassenko was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2000, and to a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013. He has won many awards for his work, including the British Computer Society (BCS) Medal, the Silver Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Engineering & Technology IT Award, among others. He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to engineering in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List. In May of 2024, Professor Tarassenko was appointed to the House of Lords as a non-party-political peer and will join the House of Lords as a cross-bencher (Baron Tarassenko of Headington).

Learning in the flow of work is a powerful way of learning and improving business outcomes. Superflow is a new platform that enables organizations to design their own learning programs that engage learning in the workflow. In this episode, I speak with the founder of Superflow about how this technology makes it possible to design online learning experiences. We also talk about what she has learned from starting her own businesses and being a female tech founder. Priszcilla Varnagy is the founder and CEO of Superlow, a next-generation training platform. Prior to starting Super, Prisszcilla also founded Be-novative, a Design Thinking Process Managment Platform backed by SingularityUniversity and Pioneers.io as shareholders and Microsoft as a strategic partner supporting 100+ Fortune1000 companies digitally on creating a culture of innovation and collective creativity. She is a Forbes 30under30, won US and EU competitions (Singularity University's first Global Impact Competition in the CEE region in 2012, The Next Web's Innovation Challenge, TechMatch Europe Silicon Valley, Morgan Stanley CTO Summits), wrote several articles about the future of collective intelligence, innovation and education and why collective creativity will contribute to breakthrough products and services, and how it strengthens our self-esteem and drives a happier and higher quality of life. Links: Priszcilla Varnagy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/priszcilla/ Supperflow - https://www.superflow.team

In a complex and ever-changing world, the role of futurists is becoming more prevalent. Governments and businesses are hiring futurists to help prepare for what is to come. However, what a futurist does is often misunderstood. In this episode, I speak with a futurist who helps organizations around the world and is an author of the Futures of Assessment Report by the Digital Education Futures Initiative at Cambridge University. Dr Fawaz Abu Sitta is a UNESCO Chair for Anticipatory Systems, a visiting fellow at Hughes Hall, the University of Cambridge and the Foresight Research Director at the Center of Futures Studies, the University of Dubai. He is also an adjunct faculty in the Master of Professional Studies: Future Foresight & Planning at Rochester Institute of Technology. Fawaz is the co-author of the first edition of Dubai e-Government Model that laid the foundation for Dubai Government Digital Transformation. He has received several recognition certificates and international awards for his work. Dr Abu Sitta’s research focus and interest is in the futures thinking, scenario planning, and systems thinking with emphasis on developing anticipatory systems. He has achieved his MSc in Foresight from the University of Houston and PhD from the University of Bath. Links: Dr Fawaz Abu Sitta: https://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/our-people/seniors-members/dr-abu-sitta/ The Futures of Assessment Report: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/698413-the-futures-of-assessment-navigating-uncertainties-through-the-lenses-of-anticipatory-thinking.pdf