Blog posts

Because we’re remote, we’re laser-focused on productivity. We know a team’s working well because they’re producing high-quality work. And we know when things aren’t working well because there are hiccups in productivity or quality.

In fact, I firmly believe that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Articulate is better at collaboration and communication</em> than many traditional companies because we haven’t had the luxury of assuming it’ll just happen organically. We deliberately architect the way we work to support collaboration and foster clear, direct, open communication.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that working remotely actually fostered a culture of productivity. After all, the only way I knew people were working was when they delivered tangible work product.

Cognitive science has to do with the mind and mental processes, such as thinking, learning, and problem solving at the human (or other organism) level.<em> </em>Neuroscience has to do with the biology of the nervous system, including how the brain works, at the anatomical level such as neurons.

Bottom line: When you hear claims about <em>neuro</em> or <em>brain</em> related to training, you should ask: Is it cognitive science or is it made up?

The amount a learner will forget varies depending on many things. We as learning professionals will be more effective if we make decisions based on a deep understanding of how to minimize forgetting and enhance remembering.

To be specific, when we hear statements like, “People will forget 60% of what they learned within 7 days,” we should ignore such advice and instead reflect on our own superiority and good looks until we are decidedly pleased with ourselves.

Many of the experiments reviewed in this report showed clearly that learning methods matter. For example, in the Bahrick 1979 study, the best learning methods produced an average forgetting score of -29% forgetting, whereas the worst learning methods produced forgetting at 47%, a swing of 76% points.

<p>Recently, in working with a company to improve their smile sheet, a first draft included the so-called World’s Best Smile Sheet Question. But they were thinking of piloting the new smile sheet for a course to teach basic electronics to facilities professionals. Given the topic and audience, I recommended a simpler version:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>How able will you be to put what you’ve learned into practice on the job?&nbsp; Choose one.</strong></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">A. I am NOT AT ALL ready to use the skills taught.<br> B. I need MORE GUIDANCE to be GOOD at using these skills<br> C. I need MORE EXPERIENCE to be GOOD at using these skills.<br> D. I am FULLY COMPETENT in using these skills.<br> E. I am CAPABLE at an EXPERT LEVEL in using these skills.</p> <p>This version nicely balances precision with word count.</p>

<p>The study's authors speculate that the reason the numbers are so high is because women at remote or mostly remote companies are more likely to be fairly evaluated.</p> <p>“It’s because remote work requires companies to focus on the most important aspects of work—<a href="https://www.workingmother.com/show-this-to-your-manager-people-who-work-from-home-have-been-proven-to-be-more-productive" class="linkTargets-processed">productivity</a>, progress, results—rather than less important things like face time in the office, office politics, traditional notions of what leadership ‘looks like,’ popularity or likability, or hours spent at your desk,” they write.</p>

The number of hours required for course design and development covers a wide range from 70 - 600 hours, with an average of about 250 hours.