I'm Presenting at #DevLearn

I am very excited to be presenting at the eLearning Guild's DevLearn Conference this October. If you are heading to the conference this year, I hope to see you there. If you cannot attend, keep an eye on their Twitter hashtag, #DevLearn, which is a fantastic conference backchannel.

I will be discussing using characters in eLearning, a topic near and dear to me. Below is a description of my session.



Adding More "Character" to Your eLearning

Designers of eLearning continually search for ways to ensure their courses are engaging, interactive, and relevant to their audience. Marketing of online courses and use of social media in learning is also a continual struggle at many organizations. Use of characters can help these efforts; however, designers face common pitfalls like creating characters that are one dimensional, overused, or inappropriate for the content. There is also little use of characters beyond courses, for example in marketing of courses to learners and using them in social media and informal learning where they can be of immense help.

Participants in this session will learn how to effectively use characters in the design of learning programs. You’ll see examples of eLearning courses that successfully use characters, and you’ll learn how to weave characters into your learning designs resulting in more engaged course participants, personalized learning, added entertainment value, and an avenue for your learners to interact more directly with the content. You’ll get specific strategies for using characters in marketing your courses and employing them in social media and informal learning.

In this session, you will learn:

• Creative ways to incorporate characters into eLearning programs
• Practical tips for bringing your characters to life
• How to use characters in social media and informal learning strategies
• How to utilize characters to market courses to your organization’s learners
• Where you can find resources for creating original-character graphics or acquire ready-to-use characters.

The eLearning Guild's DevLearn Conference is a fantastic conference for anyone in eLearning whether just starting out or an expert staying sharp. Take a look at this year's sessions. Hope to see you there and hopefully you will also stop in to attend my session.