Create More Effective Learning with Evidence-Based Strategies   

October 14 & 15, 2026 • All Online 

Every learning experience is shaped by hundreds of design decisions. What should learners practice? How much content is enough? When should they reflect? What kind of feedback helps them improve? 

Research offers valuable guidance, but applying that evidence in everyday design work isn’t always straightforward. This event explores practical ways to turn science into better design decisions. 

In this online conference, you’ll explore practical, evidence-informed approaches to learning design that help improve retention, reduce unnecessary cognitive load, build expertise, and support transfer to the workplace. Through real-world examples, proven frameworks, and hands-on activities, you’ll discover strategies you can immediately apply to your own learning experiences. 

You’ll walk away with strategies for: 

  • Reducing cognitive overload and improving recall 
  • Designing practice, reflection, and reinforcement to support learning transfer 
  • Approaches that sustain learner attention and motivation 
  • Using media elements intentionally to support learning outcomes 
  • Designing for learners with diverse needs, backgrounds, and experiences 
  • And much more! 

Connect and exchange ideas with other attendees! At the end of each day, you’ll be invited to gather in small groups in our ThinkSpaces to reflect on key ideas from the sessions, share perspectives, and explore how you’ll apply what you’ve learned. 

Program

DAY 1: October 14

101: Weave Reflection into Learning to Improve Retention

11:25 AM – 12:30 PM ET / 8:25 AM – 9:30 AM PT

What if everything you know about reflection is backwards? Most of us save reflection for the end of training, but by then much of the learning has already faded. When reflection is woven throughout the learning experience, people retain more, apply learning faster, and remember what matters.

Learn more.


201: Cut the Clutter to Reduce Extraneous Load

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PT

Most extraneous load isn’t a content problem—it’s a design problem. Decorative images compete for attention, narration repeats on-screen text, visual hierarchy is unclear, and learners struggle to identify what actually matters. The content may be accurate and approved, yet post-training performance still falls short.

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301: Build Expert Performance—Online—with Deliberate Practice

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM PT

Online learning is good at delivering information. Building expertise online is a different challenge.

Learn more.

DAY 2: October 15

401: Move from Training to Transfer with Performance-Led Design

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET / 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM PT

Many learning solutions begin with content: what needs to be covered, explained, presented, or uploaded. The result is familiar. Learners are expected to remember too much, learning experiences become overloaded, and transfer is left to chance once people return to work.

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501: Write Clear, Effective Narration That Supports Learning

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PT

Voice-over is often the weakest element in otherwise well-designed eLearning. Visuals may be polished and interactions thoughtfully designed, yet dense, text-heavy narration increases cognitive load, causes learners to disengage, and weakens retention. The problem is rarely audio quality—it is how narration is written for listening.

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601: Transform Feedback into a Powerful Learning Tool

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM PT

Feedback has always been an essential element of effective learning. Robert Mager emphasized the importance of constructive feedback for improving performance, and that principle remains relevant, even as organizations increasingly rely on asynchronous eLearning. Feedback must do more than confirm whether an answer is right or wrong; online, it must serve as a stand-in for the instructor, guiding learners toward mastery without real-time facilitation

Learn more.