What makes IDOL Academy truly amazing is its community and support system. It’s not just a collection of ID-related lessons, but it provides mentoring and coaching as well. In this insightful post, IDOL coach Ivett Csordas shares how coaching works and what her method is for giving feedback. 

What makes the IDOL Academy truly amazing is its community and support system. Members get access to an extensive library of carefully curated and sequenced lessons. However, the real value lies in the social community platform and access to IDOL members and coaches. 

The difference between IDOL mentors and IDOL coaches is that mentors work with the members. They run weekly virtual catch-ups with their small group of mentees. They basically work with them and truly mentor them to become better learning content designers. 

On the other hand, coaches are not truly coaches in the real meaning of the word. In IDOL Academy, coaches stay in the background and they provide...

Guest: Matt Gjertsen

Unleash the power of your brain for training transformation with Matt Gjersten! Join me as I chat with the visionary founder of Better Everyday Studios, an instructional design consulting company. Get ready to be inspired as we delve into how Matt empowers learning teams to create a monumental impact. Don't miss out! Tune in now and discover the ultimate brain hacks for mastering behavior change in your training.

Listen to this episode below: 

Subscribe to Become an IDOL Podcast: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast 

Connect with Matt: LinkedIn

Enjoy the Episode Transcript below:   

Robin Sargent  I have here with me today, Matt Gjertsen, and he is the founder and owner of Better Every Day Studios. And today we are going to talk about how to hack your brain to create behavior change in your training. And of course, Matt will explain more what that means. But first, Matt, will you...

Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

How Much Do Instructional Designer Make? Plus 5 Factors That Affect Salary 

How does an instructional designer's salary compare to a teacher's salary? There are several factors to consider. In this episode, I discuss the 5 factors that can affect how much you make as an instructional designer, plus I give you some insight into how much you can make compared to a teaching role.

Listen to the episode here:

Connect with Kristi on LinkedIn  and Monica on LinkedIn

Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva. I'm so glad you are here today. And today I'm talking about pay salary. How does an instructional designer salary compare to a teacher's salary? Well, according to world population review.com, the average teacher salary in the US is $66,397 per year, which comes out to $33 an hour. New York teachers make the most at 92,000 a year and Mississippi teachers...

Introduction:

Hey there, welcome to the world of instructional design in the corporate realm! Designing compelling learning experiences for diverse audiences and topics might seem daunting, but fear not! We've got a master formula that can work wonders in any context. In this blog post, we'll explore the Pebble-in-the-Pond Model for Instructional Design and dive into the five first principles of instruction. Get ready to create some seriously impactful instructional designs!

The Pebble-in-the-Pond Model for Instructional Design:

Okay, let's talk about the Pebble-in-the-Pond Model for Instructional Design, brought to you by the genius M. David Merrill. This model is the superhero of instructional design because it's built on five interrelated principles that can tackle any learning challenge. Seriously, it's like a Swiss Army knife for instructional design!

The Five First Principles of Instruction:

Activation Principle: Supercharge Learning with Prior Knowledge

Imagine activating...

Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

A Day in the Life of a Government Instructional Designer with Monica Garcia 

In this episode, Kristi talks to Monica Garcia. Monica works as a supervisor for a team of instructional designers in the government sector, specifically the Air Force Career Development Academy. She discusses how she upskilled using IDOL courses Academy and how a career in government ID is an untapped resource.

Listen to the episode here:

Connect with Kristi on LinkedIn  and Monica on LinkedIn

Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Kristi Oliva  Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva. I'm so glad you're here. Today's topic is a day in the life of a government ID and I have a special guest here to talk about it. So today I have with me Monica Garcia, member of IDOL Courses Academy and a government ID welcome Monica.

Monica Garcia  Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Kristi Oliva  Oh, no...

Guest: Theresa Francomacaro 

In this episode, I am chatting with Theresa Francomacaro, the owner of Why Story Works. She helps others who want to get unstuck, sell their ideas, clarify their message and attract more clients. Tune in to hear her three golden rules for storytelling and so much more. You will feel Theresa's energy in this episode! 

Listen to this episode below: 

Subscribe to Become an IDOL Podcast: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast 

Connect with Theresa: LinkedIn

Enjoy the Episode Transcript below:   

Robin Sargent  I have here with me today, Theresa Francomacaro, and she is the founder of Why Story Works and she focuses specifically on instructional design story telling, but Theresa do you do a better job of introducing yourself and telling us who you are and what it is that you do?

Theresa Francomacaro  Absolutely. Thank you so much, Dr. Robin. And thank you for inviting...

Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

What to Include in Your Instructional Design Portfolio

In this episode, I’m going to talk about what you should have in your portfolio, what tools to use, and how long it may take to build a portfolio.

Listen to the episode here:

Connect with Kristi on LinkedIn 

Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva, and I'm so glad you are here. Today's topic is instructional design portfolios. I'm going to talk about what you should have in your portfolio, what tools to use, and how long it may take to build a portfolio.

And those things are really good indicators that you would be a great fit for instructional design, you may even be able to use some of those things in your instructional design portfolio. But that isn't all you need. A really big part of an instructional design portfolio is demonstrating that you know how to use the technology and tools in the ID...

Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

Instructional Design Technologies You Need to Know 

In this episode, I give you a list of the 10 instructional design technologies that are most used, as well as some more cost-effective alternatives!

Listen to the episode here:

Connect with Kristi on LinkedIn 

Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva. Thank you so much for being here. Today, I'm talking about the technology you need to know to leave the classroom and pursue a career in instructional design. I've mentioned before that I mainly worked for low income schools during my teaching career. So technology never really became my forte. That's not to say I didn't know about some technology. I even worked in an online school for the last three years in my teaching career.

So let's get started. The first one I'm going to talk about is called Audacity. Audacity is a free, easy to use, multitrack,...

Guest: John Reynolds

In this episode, I'll be chatting with John Reynolds, an Instructional Designer with Activision Blizzard,  and a lifelong nerd. He strives to blur the line between creative training content creator and quest-giver. As an insatiable learner, he hopes to continuously connect with new people and gather fresh and exciting ways to change the game and keep training fun! Tune in to hear his full story and what its like to work for a video game company! 

Listen to this episode below: 

Subscribe to Become an IDOL Podcast: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast 

Connect with John:  LinkedIn  

Enjoy the Episode Transcript below:   

Robin Sargent  I have here with me today, John Martin Reynolds. And I met John through LinkedIn. And he is an instructional designer at Activision Blizzard. But John, would you please do a better job of introducing yourself and given us a little background?...

Leaving the Classroom: A Transitioning Teacher Podcast

5 Instructional Design Acronyms You Need to Know 

There is a whole new language to learn in the instructional design world. In this episode, learn 5 of the terms you need to know for instructional design, and they all happen to be acronyms.

Listen to the episode here:

Connect with Kristi on LinkedIn 

Enjoy the podcast transcription:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to leaving the classroom. I'm Kristi Oliva. And I'm so glad you are here. Today I'm talking about the terminology, specifically acronyms you need to know to leave the classroom and pursue a career in instructional design. Now acronyms when you enter the corporate world, and you know this happens, even in teaching, that is just acronym city, there are so many acronyms you need to get to know in order to feel comfortable. And to be honest, there's always new ones, always new ones being added. But there are some staples that you need to know, to understand...