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Dani Watkins | Canva Champion | Instructional Design | eLearning

@zenithperformancesolutions

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We partner with learning teams to create custom training courses, ILT, vILT, or eLearning, on their processes, policies, tools, and systems.

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✨ Are you Around our Campfire?

Every week, I send out a quick, no-fluff newsletter, Around the Campfire, packed with ideas to make your work as an instructional designer, eLearning developer, trainer, and leader a whole lot easier (and way more fun).

Think of it like your behind-the-scenes pass to:
✅ Fresh tips and strategies you can put into practice right away
✅ Creative ideas to spark learner engagement
✅ Tools and tech shortcuts that save you hours
✅ Inspiration to help you stay ahead in our ever-changing L&D world

If you’ve ever thought, “I wish someone would just send me the good stuff without all the noise,” this is it.

Join us Around the Campfire.

Let’s #IgniteLearning💡 by @zenithperformancesolutions

Expectations vs. reality of a "quick sync" 😅

Expectation: a 15-minute chat about a new training idea.

Reality: the solution, the audience, and the due date were decided last Tuesday. You're here to build it.

Here's what I do now. I put my thinking on ONE page in Canva:

📌 The problem in one sentence
📌 The behavior we want to change
📌 Three to five options side by side
📌 My recommendation
📌 What training alone won't fix

That page gets forwarded to the director I'll never meet. It argues for me when I'm not in the room.

What would be on your one page right now?

#InstructionalDesign #Canva #TrainingDesign #InHouseLAndD by @zenithperformancesolutions

I was in the back of a live classroom, watching a new facilitator move quickly through some critical clinical reasoning content for ER nurses. The learners needed a knowledge check before the afternoon practice scenario, and I had about 10 minutes.

So I used AI to build a 10-question review game from the course content. I checked the code, dropped it into Articulate Rise, and the facilitator did a quiz style review before lunch.

Same-day instructional design. Real learners. Real results. No hours of development time.

That’s the kind of thing AI makes possible for instructional designers: faster knowledge checks, quicker iteration, and more time for the coaching and facilitation that only a human can do.

I’m starting a series on how I use AI in my actual workday as an instructional designer, so follow along. 👇

What’s one way you’ve used AI in your L&D work lately? Tell me in the comments!

#InstructionalDesign #InstructionalDesigner #AIinLearning #AIforInstructionalDesigners #LearningAndDevelopment by @zenithperformancesolutions

Every activity in this series lives in a Canva template inside the #IgniteLearning membership, assets included. Take it, modify it, and add your own activities.

Here's why I think this matters right now. Teams are doing more work with fewer resources, and people are tired. A little non-work fun brings people back together and reminds us why we do this work. It also gives facilitators and learners real practice in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.

Join us.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #Canva by @zenithperformancesolutions

Here's the story. Your whole team is trapped inside a cursed eLearning course, and the next button won't work until they break three locks.

Put three to four people in each breakout room, drop the three locks in chat, and give them seven minutes. The first room back in the main room with the correct code word wins. Collaboration, problem solving, and a little friendly competition, all in one activity.

Try it with your team.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #eLearning #VirtualTeamBuilding by @zenithperformancesolutions

Show a piece of Halloween candy and ask what drink pairs with it. Wine, beer, or non-alcoholic all work, so everyone can play.

Then run it as a chat waterfall. Ask everyone to type their answer in chat but not hit enter. When you say boo, everyone hits enter at once and the answers pour in together. It's a simple facilitation move you can use in any session, Halloween or not.

Try a chat waterfall.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #VirtualTraining by @zenithperformancesolutions

Trivia is one of the easiest games for a virtual Halloween party, and you can play individually or in teams.

Head to JeopardyLabs.com and build a Jeopardy board with categories like traditions, candy, horror movies, monsters, and costumes. Write your clues as answers so players respond in the form of a question.

Build your board today.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #VirtualTeamBuilding by @zenithperformancesolutions

A few days before the session, email your team a prompt: your childhood fear, your favorite childhood Halloween costume, or your favorite scary movie. Put the answers on slides and have everyone guess who said what.

For the record, mine was a purple crayon. It gets people interacting and connecting, and it invites a little reflection on what made the holiday fun in the first place.

Try it this week.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #VirtualTeamBuilding by @zenithperformancesolutions

This one isn't on a slide, but it matters. Send your team a little Halloween care package or treat to enjoy during the party.

If you lead a hybrid team, here's my tip. When you bring cupcakes, cookies, or candy for the people in the room, send something to your virtual people too. It's the right thing to do, and it tells everyone they're part of the team, no matter where they sit.

Remember your virtual people.

#IgniteLearning #HybridTeams #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #InclusiveLeadership by @zenithperformancesolutions

Every one of us zones out in meetings. This game turns that into a mindfulness moment.

Reveal a list of things people do on autopilot, one at a time. Forgot your lunch at home. Misplaced your glasses. Left your coffee in the microwave until the next morning. Everyone tallies their own, and whoever has the most is crowned the biggest zombie. An award is optional but encouraged.

Tally yours in the comments.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #VirtualTeamBuilding by @zenithperformancesolutions

Things no one tells you about using AI with SME content: the sort is the easy part. The calls are yours.

I use Claude or Copilot for one big document. NotebookLM or Copilot in OneNote when it's a pile from five different people.

The ask is simple. Give it the learning goal and have it sort everything into three groups:

1. What do learners need to do on the job?
2. What's helpful reference?
3. What doesn't support the goal?

Then ask it to explain each choice.

Here's what it can't know.

That one policy changes in January.
That experienced staff skip step four in real life.
That learners already covered half of this in orientation.

That context lives with you. It's where your expertise shows up.

One more thing: use the tool your organization approves. Confidential SME content matters more than which tool is "best."

Which AI tool does your organization actually let you use?

#InstructionalDesign #AIinLearning #LAndD #eLearningDevelopment by @zenithperformancesolutions

This is an improv activity, so know your audience. Each person acts out a distinct Halloween persona trait, and everyone else guesses the quirk.

If improv would send your team over the edge, skip it. We want this to be fun. Or try the asynchronous version: assign personas at the start of the week, let people play them all week, and guess together on Friday.

Know your audience first.

#IgniteLearning #VirtualFacilitation #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #VirtualTeamBuilding by @zenithperformancesolutions