Design For How People Learn

Products, technologies, and workplaces change so quickly today that everyone is continually learning. Many of us are also teaching, even when it's not in our job descriptions. Whether it's giving a presentation, writing documentation, or creating a website or blog, we need and want to share our knowledge with other people. But if you've ever fallen asleep over a boring textbook, or fast-forwarded through a tedious e-learning exercise, you know that creating a great learning experience is harder than it seems. In Design For How People Learn, you'll discover how to use the key principles behind learning, memory, and attention to create materials that enable your audience to both gain and retain the knowledge and skills you're sharing. Using accessible visual metaphors and concrete methods and examples, Design For How People Learn will teach you how to leverage the fundamental concepts of instructional design both to improve your own learning and to engage your audience.

Julie Dirksen is an independent consultant and instructional designer who has more than 15 years' experience creating highly interactive e-Learning experiences for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative technology startups to major grant-funded research initiatives. Her focus has been on utilizing the disciplines of educational psychology, neuroscience, change management and persuasive technology to promote and support the improvement of peoples' lives through sustainable long-term learning and behavioral change. Ms. Dirksen holds an M.S. degree in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. She has also been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she taught courses in Project Management, Instructional Design and Cognitive Psychology. She gets ridiculously excited about everything from learning applications of behavioral economics to the way glucose is regulated in the brain. She's happiest whenever she gets to learn something new and can find her online at www.usablelearning.com "U>http://www.usablelearning.com/"