.png?width=350&height=&ar=16:9&mode=crop&format=avif&dpr=2)
Top AI Tools for Business and Work (Updated 2023)
A curated list of AI tools for productivity and work from The Neuron. The tools are sorted into categories, with brief reviews of each tool.
Blog posts
Ten of My Favorite Papers on the Science of Learning and Thinking - Scott H Young
A list of 10 papers on the science of learning with summaries of insights from each.
Callmetak | Freepik
Illustrator with several sets character images that can be used for scenarios. Search for character or avatar. Some are free with attribution, some are paid.
Yes, but; No, and; etc.
Old discussion on reddit about a game design mechanic that helps go beyond yes and no by adding complications. Some of these have 6 options, which is too many for a branching scenario, but a smaller version of the model could work. Maybe Yes, Yes but, No with 3 choices: Yes you succeed, Yes you succeed but with a complication, or No, you don't succeed and have a negative consequence.
<li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">No, and...</p></li><li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">No.</p></li><li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">No, but...</p></li><li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">Yes but...</p></li><li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">Yes.</p></li><li class="_3gqTEjt4x9UIIpWiro7YXz"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">Yes and...</p></li>
ChatGPT Prompts for Business Videos | ChatGPT Script Prompts
20 sample prompts for scripting animated videos. 5 of these are specifically in their L&D category; some of the HR and other prompts are also relevant to training. The most useful part of this article may be the Sample Script Makeover at the end though, showing the process of using ChatGPT for a first draft but also explaining how to revise and improve the script. That's how many of us will be using these tools: as a first draft that we need to revise.
Designing eLearning Games Using Interactive Stories - Scissortail Creative Services, LLC
Kayleen Holt shares 6 questions to consider when designing elearning games that incorporate interactive stories.
<p>When designing eLearning games using interactive stories, ask yourself the following six questions:</p><ol><li><strong>What’s the point?</strong> Be clear about the learning goal.</li><li><strong>Does it matter?</strong> Make sure the story is realistic, relevant, and tied to the learning goal.</li><li><strong>Is it fun?</strong> Slapping a leaderboard onto a course doesn’t make it a game. Games need to be fun. Test the fun factor by getting input from learners.</li><li><strong>Does it make sense?</strong> Take time to get the script right in the beginning, and check it with every change to make sure all the branching paths still make sense.</li><li><strong>Is it immersive?</strong> Don’t pull your learner out of the story. Show, don’t tell. Use high-quality visual design and audio (if narrated). And don’t preach.</li><li><strong>Does it exclude anyone?</strong> Include diverse characters and avoid stereotypes. Use inclusive language, and design with accessibility in mind.</li></ol>
The Magic Email - Closing the Loop
The "magic email" is a template for getting prospective clients to respond to you even if they've been ghosting you for weeks (or even months). The intro of the article talks about sending it in September, but it really works at any time of year. I've used this, or variations of it, with several clients, and it's amazing how quick people respond and how high of a success rate this has.
ChatGPT for ID: Automate mini-scenario creation — Educraft
This post has example prompts for creating mini-scenarios. This doesn't actually follow Cathy Moore's "Map It" approach, regardless of the claims in the article and the mention in the post. (The prompt creates dialogue for the scenario, so it ends up creating a conversation about what action to take rather than a decision to actually take an action. They also include instructional feedback rather than just intrinsic feedback, which isn't part of Cathy's typical approach.) But, even though it's not quite Cathy Moore's mini-scenario approach, it is a pretty good prompt for a scenario, and you could genuinely use this with some tweaking and verification.
L&D Shapers Mentorship
Free mentoring for people in the L&D field. This is actually mentoring, with an expectation of a 6-month relationship, not a one-off coaching call. Read the guidelines and set your goals before starting.
Deskilling on the Job | danah boyd | apophenia
Reflection from danah boyd on how AI might affect work as it augments jobs. If AI is doing large parts of the easy work in jobs, how do new people in a field gain skills? How do we help people maintain skills they need during a crisis if AI is doing those tasks when they are routine? There are no clear answers here, but I appreciate the thoughtful questions.
EnTWINEd Narratives
Teachers in New Zealand are learning how to use Twine so they can teach their students how to create interactive stories
AI Tools Directory
A directory of AI tools with search capability and categorization. This looks like a good place to look through what options are available and to find more specific tools beyond the ones that have all the buzz.
How Much Should I Charge As A Speaker? Find Out Here!
These benchmarks for professional speaking fees are higher than some other sources, but the infographic at the bottom breaks down the lower end of the range more.
How Much Should You Charge for a Speech?
Pricing suggestions for how much to charge for speaking
How Much to Charge For Public Speaking, Without Apology | Foundr
Benchmarks and suggestions for what to charge for public speaking
StudioShot | Premium headshots from anywhere
Another tool for creating headshots from existing photos. The person who shared it said she got 80 images for $30...but only about 10 of them were usable. They aren't probably good enough for hero images on a website, but they might be good enough for social media.
Secta Labs - Reinventing photography
This service turns other photos into more professional headshots. From discussion in a group where people have used these services, your quality of original images really matters. Some of the results end up with bad uncanny valley problems, weird jewelry and hair, etc.
10Web - AI -Powered WordPress Platform
AI help to speed up building WordPress websites. One of the features is to find a website you like and then copy it so you can use another site as a starting point. While I think that would make it way too easy to just copy without doing enough customization to make something your own, I can see the use of getting a quick starting point for a site.
Career Tips All Women Should Know - Scissortail Creative Services, LLC
Kayleen Holt recaps the TLDC Women of L&D 2023 event with a summary of key points addressed in multiple sessions. Reading this article may help you determine how to prioritize which recordings from the event you want to watch.
Show, Don't Tell: Tips and Examples of The Golden Rule
Tips for improving writing by using dialogue to show character, describing action, and more.
Ranting on the Gender Pay Gap in e-Learning
An old blog post from Julie Dirksen about the gender pay gap in the elearning field. Even though this is over 10 years old, the discussion is sadly still relevant. Julie reviews some of the reasons women are often paid less and the problems with putting the burden of fixing the problem on women.
Freelancing Females Rate Sheet — Freelancing Females - The Largest Community of Freelance Women
A database of freelance rates in many fields to help increase pay transparency and give freelancers benchmarks to know what they're worth. Registration required to view.
Role-Play Training – Insights From Clark Aldrich
A lengthy article from Clark Aldrich on how to create Short Sims or branching role-play training. One of the most useful things in this article is the section "7 steps to create an effective role-play," where he breaks down his process for creating branching scenarios with time estimates for each section. While some of this is specific to iSpring, the process is similar to what I teach in my branching scenario course.
Perhaps the perfect way to learn is by doing something worthwhile that lines up with the real world, and very judiciously receiving some friendly guidance when we get stuck.
If you’re running a flight simulator and want your pilots to learn how to land an airplane in a snowstorm, Short Sims can only have introductory benefits. They can teach you some of the strategies.
With practice, you should be able to create an entire role-play in about 40 hours over two weeks. If you are going over that, you’re probably overthinking or over-executing it. Remember that you need to keep it simple.
Transcripts | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C
I have been creating both basic and descriptive transcripts for a project with animated microlearning videos with a lot of visual information. However, I didn't know the name for that descriptive transcript until now. Most people I have talked to have been unsure how to handle transcripts for animated videos, but this page explains it.
<p><strong><em>Descriptive transcripts</em></strong> for videos also include visual information needed to understand the content.</p>
<p><img src="/WAI/content-images/wai-media-guide/braille.jpg" alt="" class=" normal right"></p>
<p><em>Who:</em> Descriptive transcripts are needed to provide audio and video content to people who are both Deaf and blind. They are also used by people who process text information better than audio and visual/pictorial information.</p>
AI Text to Speech: Human-level Voices | LOVO AI
This AI voiceover tool has options for adding emotions. While there are several AI text-to-speech tools that do reasonably well for a flat narration, most of the tools are weak if you want to add some emotion and dynamics. This one seems worth exploring for those additional features.
ScreenToGif - Record your screen, edit and save as a gif, video or other formats
Free tool for creating screencasts as gif or other files. If you need a very quick demo of how to do something, this looks like a good option.
Standard or Extended Audio Description: Which Do You Need?
Explanation of the difference between standard and extended audio description for making videos accessible. Extended audio descriptions pause the original content to allow more time for description, extending the overall time of the video.
Videos that lack natural pauses or contain a lot of important visual information can be tricky to describe without interrupting the original audio. In these cases, extended audio description is necessary.
Verbit Smart Player - Verbit
Video player with interactive transcripts and accessibility features like high contrast and audio description tracks.
Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Does Developing a Growth Mindset Help Students Learn?
Daniel Williingham reviews the theory of growth mindset and the conflicting research.
Is it worth trying to promote a growth mindset in students? Yes. The effect may seem small, but it’s in the range of <em>lots</em> of education effects. We know there aren’t any silver bullets. We have to take many small steps with the expectation that each will make a small contribution to greater student success.
<p>Growth mindset suggests three concrete steps for educators when a student suffers an academic setback:</p>
<ol><li>Encourage students to seek feedback about what went wrong.</li>
<li>Encourage students to analyze these errors and use them as opportunities for learning.</li>
<li>Encourage students to think of ways they might do things differently when they try again.</li></ol>
ID-Assist
A Google Doc add-on for using AI and NLP to help with instructional design tasks. This is an interesting concept, and I can see the value for things like summaries or course descriptions based on content provided. However, even their provided example has significant problems (weak objectives, low-level multiple choice questions, a truly terrible scenario). It might be worth playing with it to see where it can be useful, like speeding up the process of first drafts or generating ideas.