In the rapidly evolving field of instructional design, staying ahead of the curve requires leveraging the latest technological advancements. Have you ever wondered how much more efficient your design process could be with the help of generative AI? Generative AI (genAI) is emerging as an important new tool in our design toolkit, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance the instructional design process. We’ll go through each step in the ADDIE model—Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation, and discuss how genAI can assist in your goal of making effective and efficient instruction.

In August, I attended the Annual Conference of the American Society of Association Executives in Cleveland, and was particularly struck by keynote speaker Adam Kinzinger's remarks about his experience as a U.S. Congressman.

When he voted to impeach former President Trump and subsequently expressed ongoing concern to colleagues, Kinzinger was censured by the Republican National Committee and eventually resigned. Kinzinger talked about how difficult it was to be abandoned by his tribe, especially when eleven of his extended family members sent him a certified letter telling him he no longer was a part of their family. Kinzinger also spoke of his desire to be a good father and strong example for his young son, all while enduring death threats towards his family because he persisted in standing for what he believed was right. Whatever one's opinion might be about his stance, standing for his truth in the face of such personal rejection is certainly an act of courage.

As I've spent time recently in physical therapy and occupational therapy, partnerships have been on my mind. Kelly, my occupational therapist at Be Strong Therapy, has two partners. And she's talked about how a partnership is a lot like a marriage. If that's the case, I reasoned, then perhaps there are similar principles with marriage that can help or hinder a partnership. Ever the scholar, I went outside of personal experience, and back to a literature source to revisit this concept more deeply about informal vs formal partnerships.

Imagining and planning for the future is not always easy. Sometimes we just can't foresee obstacles until they are right in front of us. But then we must pivot, and quickly.

A busy first quarter of 2024 culminated in my near-death experience (due to medical negligence). This was followed by a long recovery, and new physical realities that have shifted my life, irrevocably. Cancer was essentially the one-punch; and being back in the Emergency Room in April with septic shock, fighting flesh-eating bacteria, was the uppercut. On the bright side, the extra rest provided some time for long-term introspection and decision making.

It also put the interplay between high-performing systems and people, front and center of my hospital bed. In Healthcare, the systems and people have to work well together or patients die. But that's the case in many industries.

The truth is, if you have touched Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon, Spotify, you have already been using AI and integrating it with your everyday life. The only difference is what type of AI you interacted with. Have you played chess on your computer or dialed a customer service line and went through a phone tree? Then you’ve interacted with reactive machines. Have you ever watched a movie Netflix suggested, sat in a self-driving car, accepted an autocorrect or used a spam filter? Then you’ve interacted with Limited Memory. If you’ve talked to Siri or Alexa, or played ChatGPT lately, you’ve interacted with Theory of Mind. If you know about the movie Her where Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with OS system, you have seen the Self-Aware machine played out.

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I've been really enjoying heading to the gym in the morning, greeting the sun and feeling those soothing rays on my face to match the warmth of my muscles when I workout. Periodically I reflect on how a little over a year ago, I couldn't really do this at all while soldiering through chemotherapy and radiation care. My transitions lenses block out a very different kind of bright light radiation from my eyes, as I head eastbound to exercise. And fortunately for all of us, Punxsutawney Phil didn't see my trailing shadow, or his own, so it's a sure thing that our short Winter has now come and gone. Let's hear it for leap years!