The Ding-O-Meter

Geraldine Murphy was a learning designer before learning design was invented. She's worked with universities, startups and large organisations to design and deliver engaging learning experiences. In this episode, Geraldine explains how using principles of andragogy can help learning designers harness intrinsic motivation in learners, and shares her views on how learning designers can work alongside UX and UI specialists to add value to businesses.

In this episode, our guest is Agnese Spona, Founder of Women in Customer Experience and Managing Director of Made For Customer Experience. Agnese works at the intersection of Service, User and Customer Experience design to help businesses design and deliver market-leading experiences. During the podcast, Agnese helps us examine the intersection of UX, CX, service and learning design to consider how each discipline can benefit from the others.

Alice Brazil-Burns is an award-winning producer, human-centred storyteller and researcher in User Experience design. In this episode, Alice explains how listening to stories from across an organisation is integral to designing effective learning experiences and systems. Alice has a background in theatre, and she uses the knowledge and skills from her theatrical training to help learning designers and user experience designers pay more attention to the value of storytelling when designing experiences.

The world needs more translators and fewer innovators, says Tomer Garzberg. Tomer is the founder and CEO of GRONADE, an enterprise optimisation and blockchain growth-hacking company in Sydney. He's an IBM Global Entrepreneur, TED speaker and innovation advisor, and he believes we should be thinking differently about education if we're going to prepare graduates for the real future of work. Listen to his persuasive argument and see if he can convince you...

What metaphors might best describe some of the side-effects of the pandemic on universities, their staff and their teaching?  How can educators and their learners keep up with the increasing rapidity of new knowledge, and what do we mean when we say, ‘beware the creepy treehouse?’ In this episode, our guest is Jeremy Hunsinger, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. Jeremy explains why we need to be mindful of 'professorial zombies' and the nihilistic acceleration of the modern university. 

What has the pandemic taught us about the diverse needs of learners? How should we be designing learning in response to a digital-first higher education environment? In this episode, our guest is Dr. Adity Saxena, an associate professor of Media Education based in New Delhi, India. Adity is a creative educator who has done lots of work in the area of intercultural communication, and in this episode she sets out the key principles she believes should underpin learning design in response to the pandemic.

To what extent are we mindful of how we communicate? How could we communicate better? And what about when we're communicating online? Our guests in this episode are Zanne Gaynor and Kathryn Alevizos from Acrobat Global, who are experts in helping people communicate more effectively. Zanne and Kathryn are language specialists and authors who provide practical advice and guidance to overcome the challenges of everyday language use. Their recent book has been shortlisted for the Business Book Awards, and in this episode they share top tips and advice for communicating effectively.

How do you teach animation when you’re stranded on the other side of the world? Meg Bisineer had no choice but to find out after she was stranded in London during the first wave of the pandemic. In this episode, we catch up with Meg to find out how she’s managed to successfully teach her students online despite an 8-hour time difference.

Tom Whitford is Head of Learning Design at Curio, a global learning consultancy, and he has a research background in designing social online learning experiences and communities. He also has a lot of experience of working with clients to solve problems arising from poor learning design. In this episode, Tom shares his advice and tips for ensuring that online learning design is not only student-centred, but also meets the needs of tutors too.

For nearly 20 years, Professor Constance Steinkuehler has undertaken research into video and online games. She's worked as a policy advisor to the Obama presidency, and she's a leading light in the quest for greater diversity and inclusion in the world of e-sports. In this episode, Professor Steinkuehler shares some key insights into the transformative potential of online gaming, and shows how learning design could benefit from the inclusion of more game mechanics.

Paul Hoskins is Principal at Curio, a global higher education consultancy. Paul has been at the forefront of digital transformation in Higher Education for over 30 years, during which he grew Precedent, his digital agency, into a global education consulting business. The reason were so chuffed to plug Paul into the Ding-O-Meter is that, as Principal of Curio, he has a privileged insight into the challenges and opportunities currently facing Higher Education at a global level. In this episode, Paul highlights key opportunities for universities to help them weather the challenging conditions currently facing the sector.

Jo Nolan is the managing director of cultural development agency Screen South, who connect artists, film-makers and digital creatives with funding opportunities to bring awesome projects and ideas to life. Jo brings people together from across the arts, heritage, leisure, tourism and education to form partnerships that create opportunities for the next generation of digital creatives. In this episode, Jo explains some of the challenges of managing creative teams and projects remotely, and highlights just how important a good conversation is in order for projects and people to evolve and grow. 

Jordan Buckner is a film-maker, artist and lecturer in animation. In response to lockdown, he moved his teaching into online spaces that his students were already using - particularly Twitch and Discord. The result was not only minimal disruption to students' learning experience, but also the opportunity to give them a window into Jordan's professional life as a creative professional. In this episode, Jordan discusses the benefits and challenges of moving his teaching into his students' online world, and considers how less formal online activities can help to build meaningful learning relationships between tutors and students.

Allan Atlee is Deputy Director at the Glasgow School of Art, and the former Dean of Academic Strategy at Central Saint Martins in London. Through his teaching work, management roles and creative practice, Allan has developed a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities currently facing creative education.  In this episode, Allan shares his experiences of how creative disciplines in higher education are responding and adapting to the COVID situation. 

Emma Henry is a learning designer who helps businesses develop products and apps that have a positive impact on learning. She's also a gamification ninja, and regularly helps companies align their products more clearly with learners' needs. In this episode, Emma reveals why gamification in online learning often fails, and explains what you can do about it.

Dr Emi Garzitto is a conflict coach and workplace climate specialist. For years, Emi has been doing awesome work in schools to help kids deal with conflict, and she’s now helping people and businesses adopt conflict resolution strategies to improve outcomes. In this episode, Emi explains how we need to be more aware of how to read our own and others’ body language as we all work increasingly online in order to mitigate conflict.

Meg Bisineer is an animator, visual artist and associate professor at the California College of the Arts. Meg was supposed to be having a year's sabbatical to focus on her research, but instead found herself stranded in London unable to return to the United States. In this episode, Meg tells the story of her journey and of how she's planning to teach online from the other side of the world.

David James is Chief Learning Officer at Looop, where he helps businesses use a data-driven approach to solving business problems with Learning and Development. In this episode, David argues how using data and a resource-based approach to supporting employees can help the traditional L&D function evolve in response to the demands of the digital age.

Helen Curston is a former broadcast journalist and BBC TV producer who now runs the TV Production courses at the University for the Creative Arts. In this episode, Helen shares her experiences of teaching online during lockdown, and offers practical suggestions for getting the best out of people while working remotely.

Francesca Maxwell is an award-winning artist who has worked with Wes Anderson, Tim Burton and Aardman Animations. She also happens to be an awesome educator who regards online learning as an essential skill for anyone wanting to work in the film industry. In this episode, Francesca reveals some of her secrets for providing awesome online learning.