The keynote room at DevLearn last November was filled with cheers and applause as Diane Elkins was announced as the newest Guild Master. Elkins, owner of Artisan Learning, was chosen for her invaluable contributions to the field of learning & development (L&D).
After the award presentation, I caught up with Diane to discuss how it all began, what she’s working on now, and where she thinks L&D is going in the future.
L&D wasn’t the original plan
Initially, Diane wanted to pursue a career in advertising, so she earned degrees in graphic design, English, and marketing. However, she found herself in a situation where she couldn’t work in her chosen field. Instead, she took a job writing resumes, which eventually led her to a role training others on job-search techniques.
Finding purpose in training
Though Diane eventually worked in advertising, it didn’t fulfill her the way training did. "At the end of the day, I hope to help somebody do their job better. And if people know how to do their job well, everybody wins. And that’s a great reason to get out of bed every day," she reflected.
Diane’s global impact
Her passion for training led her to co-found Artisan Learning, a custom learning design firm. What started as a partnership between her and business partner Desiree Pender two decades ago has blossomed into a company with 24 employees and clients like the American Red Cross.
"I know that when a volunteer goes to help out at a shelter after a hurricane, that volunteer’s taking training that I wrote. And that’s pretty cool," Elkins shared.
She has Mixed feelings on AI
Diane has been actively exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can elevate L&D. "I have really mixed feelings about it," she admitted.
While she finds AI's graphic capabilities to be a game changer, especially for presentations, she’s more hesitant about the writing side, since the copy it produces can be wordy.
Despite her reservations about AI’s current limitations, she’s optimistic about its potential to improve accessibility and grade critical thinking skills accurately, a challenge that has plagued eLearning for years.
“I'm really excited about how it can make us better, but I'm a little worried about how it can make us worse,” Diane cautioned.
Looking ahead at the future of L&D
Diane sees many opportunities for L&D to further embrace accessibility. “Everybody deserves the chance to get better at their job. And everyone means everyone,” she said.
Elkins went on to give examples of people who can’t use their mouse because of rotator cuff injury or can’t see, each of whom needs to be accounted for when creating training.
While Diane has seen notable strides made in the last four years, she believes there is still more to be done. "People are talking about it, people are caring about it, the tools are being better about it, but there’s still more room to grow."
See the full interview with Diane: