Starting a career in instructional design can be exciting, yet challenging. To help you get up and running, we've collected all of the guides, checklists, resources, and tips you'll need in your new profession. And we made all of them interactive, so your first steps in eLearning will be not only enlightening but fun!

Perhaps the single greatest challenge facing instructional designers is providing training materials that are accessible to all AND providing training that is maximally effective in achieving performance gains. We need to do both!  Don't resist good instructional design on account of needing to be 508 complaint. In this eBook, Ethan Edwards, Chief Instructional Strategist, shares some clarity and useful strategies to combat the difficulties in creating effective and accessible courseware. 

In today’s fast-paced digital world, course creators face the significant challenge of cutting through the noise and capturing learners' attention amidst a flood of information.  With the average attention span dwindling, it’s essential to craft courses that are not only informative but also visually engaging and memorable. In this guide, you will discover how combining the powers of Animaker and Articulate Storyline to add animated storytelling to your courses will make it the most impactful course you have ever built.  Download the guide and start creating engaging courses that will: And 2X the Course Completion rate! Increase course engagement rate by 100% Positively impact the company’s revenue by 30%

Although variations of the flipped ideology have been around for years, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams are considered pioneers of the movement since their adoption of the flipped classroom in 2007.       The idea of the flipped classroom is simple: take what's typically done in the classroom (lecture, direct instruction) and provide that for students to view at home, or outside of class, in the form of a video.  

Paper in Brief Discover the limits of "feel good" teambuilding activities, especially when critical business results are on the line Explore a thinking-based system to help teams build trust faster, streamline communications, make better decisions and get the benefit of diverse perspectives Learn how to apply the latest research on thinking and team effectiveness to achieve specific business objectives, whether the team is virtual or co-located, intact or cross functional Get practical tips for overcoming three common team challenges

L&D leaders are navigating growing pressure to adopt AI quickly, often before the right questions have been asked or the right foundations are in place. This guide explores how learning leaders can take control of the AI conversation by slowing down in the right places, surfacing hidden assumptions, and making decisions they can confidently explain and defend.  Download this guide to get a practical framework of questions that help L&D leaders stay grounded, move deliberately, and ensure AI is introduced in a way that strengthens their operations rather than complicating them.

The pandemic has forever changed how we work and learn. Not only have organizations discovered the strategic possibilities of a distributed workforce, but employees have also come to expect flexibility and choice in how they communicate and collaborate. Even as companies around the world return to physical offices, supporting both in-person and remote employees will be essential to thriving in a competitive business environment. A hybrid workforce is here to stay, creating new challenges for L&D professionals looking to train the workforce.   Download our white paper, The Essential Hybrid Training Playbook to learn:  How ready your organization is for hybrid training How to prepare for a new working environment 6 steps to building a future-proof L&D strategy

If "enterprise AI rollout" sounds overwhelming, high-risk, or just like a combination of way-too-common buzzwords at this point - that's normal. The language around AI has been loud. Dramatic. Occasionally apocalyptic, even.  So join us in taking a deep breath, maybe even a minute or two of box breathing, because this piece is NOT that. This guide is not about turning the organization into an AI lab. It's about adding structure before things get messy or confusing - it's meant to keep us all on track throughout a difficult, complex process.  This rollout guide is intentionally phased. It starts small, it tests safely, and measures impact. It scales only when the process is ready for the next stage. For People & Development leaders, the terrain should feel familiar. This guide covers process stages like:  Days 1-30: Establishing boundaries, identifying practical wins, and aligning leadership Days 31-60: Officially launching & operationalizing with safety, clarity, and defined goals for success Days 61-90: Scaling intentionally, expanding what is working and formalizing governance & ownership  Handled early, calmly, and carefully, AI adoption is truly operational. Structured. You may even find it to be boring (in the best possible way).  We built this guide to help make this happen. So let's hop in - And remember, you've got this! 

For the last few years, I have spent endless hours writing and editing a book, Design for All Learners, on accessibility and inclusion in learning and development. This has been an incredibly rewarding process that came with a huge responsibility: ensuring that the book itself was accessible and inclusive. When I started, I thought I had a solid plan for how I would approach the book, from organizing to working through the publishing process. I was fortunate to work with a team of people dedicated to developing and publishing this book—contributors, editors, marketing staff, graphic designers, and more. The publisher assured me that their team was on-board with making sure what we produced was as accessible and inclusive as possible, and they meant it. There were also external players to consider such as book distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. We were all diligent in our efforts throughout the process. For example, I collaborated with the book cover designer to ensure that we did not use all caps in the title and that we used good color contrast, font choice, and inclusive imagery. I provided feedback to ensure visuals used throughout the book were accessible and inclusive. I made sure the editors had the appropriate alternative (alt) text and image descriptions. This included establishing a plan for how to use image captions and describe images in the text in conjunction with the alt text used in the e-book. Charts were updated to avoid using color as the only differentiator; an illustration of a wheelchair was modified to be more realistic; colorblindness simulations were triple-checked. We documented everything to pass on to the next person in the process, and each time I took care to explain what we were trying to do and why. Although everyone on the team happily supported these changes, we still ran into challenges along the way. There were breakdowns on some efforts due to existing processes, and we often needed to take extra time to make sure everyone understood what solutions were possible and what we might not accomplish due to current constraints. Yet, even when it was difficult, we were determined to ensure that this book was a true representation of our commitment to accessibility and inclusion. This meant working together to problem solve and create an amazing book that is its own example of Design for All. As illustrated by my book writing and editing experience, ensuring accessibility is difficult when it’s not operationalized throughout the organization, end-to-end. It’s not realistic for one person, or even an entire project team, to chase down and address every accessibility issue. And, fixing a problem after the fact is much more difficult and expensive than improving things from the beginning. An organization that is mature in its accessibility and inclusion efforts recognizes that everyone plays a role through their own work. This means planning ahead and providing support to be successful.

Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, many (if not all) companies are hyperfocused on boosting sales. A Google search for "sales enablement" yields millions of results—and a variety of conflicting definitions. Clearly, sales enablement can mean different things to different people. To some, it’s tools, tactics, and training. To others, it’s all about strategy, data, and analytics.  To us, it includes all those things—but it always starts with the story. Like any good book, your sales story should be a page-turner—keeping prospects hooked by engaging, inspiring, and making powerful emotional connections with them. But too often, the stories sales teams tell are fragmented, overly focused on product specs and features, or misaligned with marketing. The right story can make all the difference. And because research suggests that 50% of leads are qualified but not ready to buy, telling that story in the right ways at the right stages of the sales funnel is essential for converting new prospects into loyal customers. But an effective sales story involves more than delivering certain keywords to drive awareness, consideration, and decision as prospects move through the funnel. It should be a holistic, consistent thread that runs through all your communications to prospects—and one that’s laser-focused on the value you offer and the problems you can solve for them. Here are three critical steps to ensure that your sales team is telling a clear and compelling story about what you offer and why people will want to engage with your brand.

Is your business prepared for the way we’ll work in the future? To stay ahead of the competition you need a proactive, integrated approach to your entire  talent management lifecycle. SuccessFactors offers a full suite of talent solutions to help you: Attract,engage,select, and hire the right talent Get your new hires up to speed in record time Provide continuous performance management Reward and retain your top talent Identify and anticipate talent gaps Provide learning anywhere, any time Get content as a service Harness the power of collaboration

Many small and medium-sized businesses encourage learning through Tuition Assistance Programs (TAPs) and other forms of education reimbursement. Yet, it’s not uncommon for funds in those programs to go unused — but why? TAPs and other reimbursement-style stipends aren’t equitable for all employees, especially for those who are financially constrained. The benefit becomes a barrier, slowing your workforce’s ability to upskill, adapt and grow. It’s time to reimagine this outdated model with prepaid learning stipends. Based on our experience, this kind of program can increase fund usage by 8 times, while still providing detailed expense monitoring for managers. Download our eBook to learn more about the impacts prepaid learning stipends could have on your workforce.

Just as B2B sales strategies must adapt to increasingly savvy buyers, sales training must change too. This brief discusses how newer training content and methods can result in a better, smarter sales force.

You are about to embark on a journey that is going to help you to book, sell, and retain like never before. This book reveals: What has changed in our B2B industry/profession, how to cope with the change, and what skills should one acquire to thrive? What should you change/improve to book, close, and retain more than ever? What resources are valuable to keep on your road to success? "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." ― Alvin Toffler Click below to download this eBook.

McGraw-Hill Education ("McGraw-Hill") is a leading learning science company and publisher that delivers personalized learning experiences. As the world went digital and technology adoption soared in recent years, McGraw-Hill realized a drastic need to reassess digital delivery options for their content to keep pace with competitors and meet the changing expectations of their evolving customer base. How could they digitize their well-known test prep material in a way that would generate more revenue and not abandon their core business model?  Download this case study to learn how BenchPrep's modern LMS increased McGraw-Hill Education's online learner engagement by 10x.

Research shows that mobile learning results in better retention than other training models. Discover why training organizations use mobile devices to embrace online learning content. Among the many benefits, mobile devices enable learning from anywhere a user can connect to the Internet—in turn, allowing a more flexible training schedule.  

Will your employees flourish in 2014? If you have a big budget there’s no problem launching a host of great HR programs. If not, here are some simple things you can do for employees in the coming year. Pick the ones that best suit your organization.

Managing live, virtual, and hybrid Instructor-led training (ILT) sessions requires more than a basic LMS. Discover the operational platform modern L&D programs require. If you are coordinating instructor-led training across spreadsheets, calendar invites, and basic LMS tools, your administration costs are likely exceeding the price of a dedicated system. Download "Best Practices for Leaders in Choosing a Training Management System - 2026 Edition" to get a complete framework for scaling your L&D operations. Inside, you'll find: The LMS vs. TMS Breakdown: Understand exactly where your LMS falls short for live training coordination.  The Evaluation Toolkit: 10 essential capability domains and the exact questions you need to ask vendors to separate real capabilities from marketing claims.  The Vendor Scorecard: A ready-to-use matrix to evaluate platforms on scheduling scale, automated compliance, and real-time cost tracking.

Based on extensive research from BetterUp, "Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty" provides a framework for building resilient individuals, teams and companies. The report reveals the benefits of investing in resilience: resilient employees are not only better prepared to manage and work through adversity, but thrive through uncertain times; and resilient companies experience direct benefits to the bottom line, including increased revenue, retention, and innovation. 

AI has taken the learning world by storm. But for many, it remains limited to faster, cheaper, scalable content creation. What if that’s just the beginning? This ebook invites learning and development (L&D) leaders to step into a broader vision: using AI not just to build training, but to fundamentally redefine how we measure success, evolve instructional design, and personalize the learner experience. The insights in this ebook are drawn from a dynamic conversation between Josh Penzel, the former vice president of AI solutions at ELB Learning®, and Maya Mikel, AI product manager at Docebo. Their discussion explored not only the future of learning technology but also the strategic shifts required of L&D teams to stay ahead. Let’s unpack what it means to go beyond content and measure what matters.

A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development found that evaluation was a top priority among learning and development (L&D) professionals (Personnel Today staff, 2012). Despite this fact, calculating return on investment (ROI) on development programs is still rarely done; a McKinsey Quarterly report found that only 8 percent of organizations actually evaluate the value of L&D initiatives (Palmer, 2010). And too often, those who do track ROI rarely go beyond asking for feedback from participants immediately after the event.

Beyond the Sales Process focuses on the frontline of engagement with customers. It is specifically intended for salespeople, account managers, their managers, and sales leaders, as well as others who have responsibilities and pressures associated with developing and winning business, and those who are tasked with extending and expanding their relationships with customers.

With the next full season of your favorite show just a click and a mindless weekend away, what could that mean for learning? If binge-watching is the new norm, is binge-learning next? Organizations know they need to do a better job of providing rich and interactive learning experiences. Download the whitepaper for tips on taking the characteristics of binge-worthy TV and applying them to your learning programs, including:   Five simple steps to keep learners engaged and coming back for more How to determine the right formula for the length and delivery method of your learning and development programs Tips for enlisting a stellar cast of characters to deliver the lesson

Attention spans are dropping at the same time technology is advancing, leading to a digital skills gap costing the U.S. economy 1.3 trillion dollars in lost productivity. Therefore there’s an ever-growing need for new and better ways to teach, learn and train the 21st century workforce -- and Microlearning is the solution. This white paper is designed to educate L&D professionals on the advantages microlearning can offer their organizations and a brief introduction on how to create it. In this white paper you’ll learn: Why microlearning is better for learners Why microlearning is better for trainers and creators The principles of effective microlearning and how to create it for your own organization