Cara North

Going live at 3:00pm ET on YouTube and Twitch experimenting with streaming

www.youtube.com/live/vqSh6iz...

I really enjoyed @caranorth.bsky.social's keynote at @thelearningnetwork.bsky.social 's Connect conference back in November. I particularly liked this nugget of wisdom - it feels like a good reminder for the New Year to 'use our compass to be purposeful'.

2024 was a year of travel, laughs, and being more consistent on my health journey. Here’s to 2025!

L&D friends, we lost another giant. Ken Phillips passed away. He was also so kind to me and I enjoyed spending time with him at ATD events and even had dinner with him when he came to Columbus to do some consulting. Holding his family in my heart as they navigate this tremendous loss❤️.

Love this

Testing the meshing hypothesis in prospective teachers: Are there effects of matching learning style and presentation mode on learning performance and on metacognitive aspects of learning? - Instructional Science Learning styles are a popular concept in the educational field, although there is no empirical evidence that matching learning materials to an individual’s learning style actually enhances learning…

"In sum, the study provides further evidence that considering learning style in teaching methods such as presentation mode is not beneficial. Importantly, the present study used ecologically valid learning materials and a sufficiently powered sample." #AcademicSky #EduSky

Why in 2024 are captions considered a “beta” feature in Vyond?!

Pretty sure digital accessibility guidelines have been around before this year.

#a11y #instructionaldesign

I’m behind on content again but good reason. Several former team members are interviewing for a people leader role and I’ve been doing mock interviews and coaching them.
On the shoulders of giants :)

How are you using data to inform your decisions?
I'm delivering a session at ELB X Online next week on how to use data to inform our decision-making process without letting it dictate all our actions.
📆11th December
⏰16:00 GMT / 11:00 EST
www.elblearning.com/elbx-online
#LearningAndDevelopment #LnD

But your loyal customers have to “upgrade” for this feature 🙄

I love this notion site, have you thought about doing a session on how you build it? I’d tune in :)

What’s your strategy vibe this season? Are you a “plan every detail” type or a “let’s see what happens” kind of person? Share your best tips or stories below, can’t wait to read them.

#learningadvent25 #instructionaldesign

Stocking up on strategy is like prepping for a trip: pack the essentials, plan for detours, and remember that the snacks (involving the team) are non-negotiable. And if you fail? Learn, grow, and keep going.

This pushed back our transition plans and caused quite the disruption across the organization. After some four letter words and caffeine, we pivoted, re-prioritized, and delivered what we needed to do. I saw team members come together to work towards a solution that helped two of them get promoted.

The best leaders roll with the punches, adjust the plan, update the team, and keep moving forward.

I once led the team building a rollout strategy of a new learning technology across the organization only to have the single sign on completely bust like a can of biscuits on launch day.

As the great @tmiket.bsky.social loves to say “All of us is better than one of us” :)

The hardest part of leading a team and building a strategy is the inevitable pivot. No strategy will ever go exactly to plan (if yours does, you are either lying or live in magical unicorn land).

Much like the vision conversation from yesterday, I believe that strategies have to be created collaboratively and transparently. Involve other parts of the organization and of course the team. Ask them questions. Let them poke holes in your ideas.

Lesson learned: strategy isn’t about looking smart, it’s about being practical, intentional, and real. Now I take guidance from the organization's annual and quarterly goals and work backwards, making sure L&D strategy crosswalks to it and the team can see themselves in the work.

My first formal Learning Leadership role was in Operations where my leadership asked a lot of hard questions about feasibility and relatedness. One lesson I’ve learned is that if the L&D strategy isn’t in alignment with the organization, it will flop. You shouldn’t “assume” it fits.

You too? One of my MANY pet peeves as an Instructional Designer and something I vowed to not do when I was in the leadership seat.

I’ll admit, my first crack at building a strategy was… let’s say “chaotic.

Day 2 stocking up on strategy

Dec 2, Day 2: Stocking up on strategy: Spoiler “we will wing it” isn’t a strategy

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been told to stop working on a project or didn’t understand the direction your work was going because something flowed down to you and you had no say in it?

a blue pokemon with green leaves on its head is standing in the grass . Alt: Oddish Pokémon with green leaves on its head is standing in the grass .

Anyone else who works a hybrid schedule dealing with more bad hair days? Took me 30 minutes to tame my mane this morning. My bangs made me look like an Oddish.

Congrats

I hear their voices looking at this pic

Welcome! There needs to be more practitioners to keep asking questions and challenging our practices. Thank you for the kind words :)

Also you got this! There have been so many times I've felt like a lone wolf working on projects so if you ever want to talk more, my DMs are open.

3) Use feedback loops, even when solo, can feel like collaboration. Review your work as if you're the client or end-user—what works, what doesn’t? Use tools like checklists or rubrics to stay objective, and if possible, seek outside feedback from peers or mentors to refine your design.

2) Break your project into smaller steps to stay focused. It can seem daunting to produce something when working alone. How you prefer to tackle doesn't matter (Gannt charts, kanban, etc). Have a system and experiment. If you didn't like it, try something else next time.

When working solo, try these: 1) Seek peer feedback, it offers fresh perspectives. Lean into other departments if you can (no one said the feedback had to only be L&D). I recommend building your network with other L&D folks that you can also lean into during work like this.

A month of December calendar filled with actions you can take each day to be kind to others, yourself and the planet. On the Action for Happiness website you can download each day or add to your calendar.

💖 Do Good December 💖

Have you seen this before? The ‘Action for Happiness’ calendars are great, different themes every month.

For December: encouraging small acts of kindness to yourself, others & the planet.

You can go to the website (link below) and download the calendar.

#DoGoodThings

1/3