profile

The eLearning Coach Newsletter

How to Stay Motivated as a Learning Professional

Published over 1 year ago • 2 min read

The eLearning Coach Newsletter

For Learning Professionals

Greetings Reader,

Do you find that you're not as motivated at work as you used to be? Are you in the doldrums? It happens. The first article in this newsletter offers some tips for how learning professionals can rise above these feelings. Click Reply and let me know how you're doing. I love hearing from you.

Next are ten ways to provide support after training that can reinforce and advance learning. Third is a little instructional science tutorial on attention, a fundamental requirement for effective learning.

Bluesky: If you like following your interests online, connecting with others, and learning through social media, I recently signed up for Bluesky. Right now, it's like a breath of fresh air. Clean and friendly. You can connect with me here @elearningcoach.bsky.social and let me know you get this newsletter so I can follow you back.

​Motivating the Instructional Designer​

We spend a lot of time theorizing and thinking about how to motivate learners. But how can we stay motivated?

​10 Ways to Support Learning After Training​

We know that one learning intervention is rarely enough to develop competent skills. What can we do about it?

​The Things You Should Know About Attention​

Attention is a limited resource. The better we understand the importance of attention to learning, the greater our ability to support learning.

Now on to the goodies below.

GOOD FINDS

Before downloading files, please be sure to check that they are virus and spam-free. Note that freebies often require some form of registration.

FEED YOUR MIND

MULTIMEDIA

  • ​Napkin.ai: Finally! An AI image generator that creates diagrams. Free version available.
  • ​Streamline: Giant collection of icons, illustrations, and more.
  • ​Adobe Capture: A mobile app that turns the colors of a photo into a color palette. Available with a free account.

COOL TOOLS

MY COMMUNITY AND COURSES

​MASTERING INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN​

Since 2019, I've been helping people like you grow and expand their instructional and visual design skills in my learning community. We have self-paced courses, monthly speakers with industry leaders, member calls, and a discussion forum. All courses are open to all members.

​BREAKING INTO INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN​

My free 12-lesson email course about transitioning to a career in instructional design. The course explains the variety of instructional design careers, tasks of the profession, places to network, salary ranges and more. You'll get two email lessons a week for six weeks. Or receive all lessons at once by purchasing the eBook.
Would a colleague like this newsletter? They can sign up here: The eLearning Coach Newsletter.

See you on Bluesky @elearningcoach.bsky.social and Instructional Design Newbies on Facebook!

Cheers,
Connie Malamed

PO Box 1623, Frederick, MD 21702
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

The eLearning Coach Newsletter

Connie Malamed

I help learning professionals build skills and visibility to advance their careers. Join 15,000 readers who enjoy articles on learning design, visual design, and cognitive psychology every month.. Subscribe for practical guidance, resources, and freebies.

Read more from The eLearning Coach Newsletter
""

The eLearning Coach Newsletter For Nerdy Fun August 2, 2026 Greetings Reader,Learning designers are often frustrated that decision-makers think training is the solution to every problem. Then, when it turns out that the problem persists even after training, it can make you or our field look less than stellar. Have you experienced this? The first article is a way out. If you have enough credibility in your organization or with your clients, you can propose a root cause analysis to discover the...

4 days ago • 3 min read
Email

The eLearning Coach Newsletter For Nerdy Fun July 7, 2026 Greetings Reader, What's been on your mind lately? Have you been wondering how you can use AI to become better at what you do, not just faster? That's great because that's what Phillipa Hardman, PhD, discusses in my latest podcast episode (link below). Or have you been thinking about the cognitive characteristics of experts? I knew it! You'll enjoy the second article below. The cognitive differences between experts and novices are...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read

The eLearning Coach Newsletter Stay Inspired and Up-to-Date May 5, 2026 Greetings Reader, I recently read an article that described a job interview where the candidate couldn’t answer multiple questions about the work in his portfolio. The interviewer concluded that the work was done by AI. She wrote that the interviewee had no connection or responsibility to the work he was showing, known as cognitive ownership. I find this disturbing and perhaps you do too. The first article in this edition...

3 months ago • 2 min read