L&D: The Evidence-Informed Practitioner Conference

 COMING SOON TO A BROWSER NEAR YOU!!

OVERVIEW

Our last conference, The Learning Science Conference 2024, covered the basics of learning science… but then what? How does one take the science of effective learning and transfer that into practice back into the work environment? That is exactly what this upcoming conference is all about!

Throughout, we will provide evidence-informed practices for… well… putting learning into practice.

Last time we asked, “What’s a responsible instructional designer to do?” This time, we ask, “What’s a responsible learning practitioner to do?” 

You’ve heard the old phrase: “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is?” L&D: The Evidence-Informed Practitioner Conference 2025 (April 7 to May 2) is your answer. Led by internationally known experts, this program provides you with a practical overview of how to bridge the gap between principle and performance… from learning the knowledge and skills to mastering them within the flow of work. 

• We’ll look at the barriers to learning - expectations, budget, timeline, and more - and talk about specific steps to address them.

• We will delve into support tools and systems to facilitate practice and ultimate mastery.

• We will provide frameworks for continuous design and iteration as real-world factors take the driver’s seat.

• We’ll investigate ways to actively manage learning culture and foster the intrinsic value of implementing the learning (think motivation).

• We’ll look at support processes like coaching and mentoring, and so much more.

• Oh… and did we mention that evaluation thing? That’s in there, as well!

You’ll leave equipped to implement what works and avoid what doesn’t as you enhance your abilities to navigate all things learning.

Most importantly, it is a conference that enables you to discuss and question the presenters, learn from each other, and space out your own learning so you can practice and apply it back on the job. Become the practitioner you and your employer want and need you to be!

CONFERENCE TOPICS (SESSIONS)

Each topic below will have a video presentation and a live session (90 minutes long- unless otherwise indicated), repeated once to cover time zones as much as possible.

Session times are listed in ET (New York time).

We will also have a special event each day…. A panel discussion, a debate, a discovery/ exploration session, and more. Special sessions are only offerend once and last 60 minutes.

Topics are:

Designing in the real world: (Matt Richter & Clark Quinn: April 28 at 8h00 and again at 18h00)

We start by working with SMEs, but also include the tension between stakeholder expectations and what works for learning. We talk about how tools are oriented towards knowledge, but we need performance. How do you do meaningful performance within real world constraints? What about budgets, politics, and other logistical concerns?

Panel Discussion (MODERATED BY NIDHI SACHDEVA: April 28 from 10h00 to 11h00)

Reasons People Don’t Learn (Julie Dirksen: April 28 at 11h30 and again at 16h00)

Why don’t people learn and ultimately transfer that learning to the workflow? What barriers affect behavior and performance? And what can we do about it?

Analysis First (Dawn Snyder: April 28 at 13h30 and April 29 at 18h00)

This is about performance consulting, looking at performance gaps, root causes, and the various interventions. 

Evaluation (Will Thalheimer: April 29 at 8h00 and again at 13h30)

We delve into the practical issues with evaluation. First, why performance. Then, what sources? How do you make the change? How do you sneak it in? How do you include others?  

Round Robin Exploration Session (April 29 from 10h00 to 11h00)

Creating a Motivating Environment (Maarten Vansteenkiste: APR 29 at 11h30 and again at 16h00)

Let’s consider the motivational environment… how do we avoid chaos and provide supportive structure? How do we provide autonomy support, but without a controlling and dismissive outcome? How do we foster engagement and community?

Learning Resources (Matt Richter: April 30 at 10h00 and again at 16h00)

Curation over creation, and perhaps federated search. It’s also about tagging and ontologies, also media, and the associated tradeoffs. (Audio: for driving, production; video; etc.)

Ed Tech. (Lori Niles-Hofmann: April 30 at 12h00 and again at 18h00)

How do we set up the technology tools we need? How should we consider what to use and how should we engage with vendors?

Debate: Theory versus Practice (Thalheimer vs. Quinn, MODERATED BY KOPPETT: April 30 from 14h00 to 15h00) 

Performance Support: (Dave Ferguson: MAY 1 at 10h00 and again at 16h00)

How do we design performance support tools? Actually… first… what the heck is a performance support tool and how do we make these support tools useful and practical?

Coaching & Mentoring (Emma Weber: May 1 at 8h00 and again 18h00)

What are coaching and mentoring, and when do you do each? What does it take? How do we differentiate between the silly & inane and the effective?

Put Into Practice Session: SABOTAGE! A GAME (Matt Richter: May 1 from 14h00 to 15h00) 

Learning Culture (NIGEL PAINE: May 2 at 10h00 and again at 15h00)

This is where we talk about what a learning culture is, and what it takes to make it work. Trust, openness, opportunity to talk about leadership.

Innovation (CLARK QUINN: May 2 at 12h00 and again at 17h00) 

Here we’re talking brainstorming and collaboration, as well as communication. How do you get folks working out loud?

Closing Session (CLARK QUINN & MATT RICHTER: May 2 from 19h00 to 20h00)