@mike-taylor.org
Author | Passionate speaker & traveler with a love for lifelong learning, creative design, & tech innovation | Polyglot tool user | Learning Experience Strategist Newsletter: https://miketaylor.kit.com/ Book: https://trainlikeamarketer.com
Founder and investor Graham Weaver on being smart:
"The truest form of intelligence is designing the life you want to live."
"The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty."
AI is rewiring ADDIE in a good way
The real win isn’t faster quizzes; it’s better decisions.
Use AI in three modes:
1. Vibe for ideas
2. Automation for grunt work
3. Copilot for tough design calls.
Use the wrong mode, and strategy breaks.
David Hopkins argues that our learning designs must demand more:
Frame it: Give learners a specific question before they hit play
Debate it: Use video to drive disagreement and critique, not just silence
Go Deeper: Focus on judgment and nuance—the human skills AI can't replace yet
“The only thing you need to feel extremely smart is a lack of curiosity. The perpetually curious will always think they’re dumb.”
— Stuart McMillan
"The amateur does not know what to do.
The master knows what not to do."
The Secret History of the Manicule, the Little Hand that’s Everywhere
Ever wonder why your cursor turns into a pointing hand? 👉 That's a manicule -a 1000-year-old symbol that started as medieval margin doodles and became the universal "click here" icon. From monks to mouse cursors!
“Well begun is half done.” -Horace
How Becoming a Marketer Made Me a Better Instructional Designer
Is instructional design just marketing with a different job title?
We need to stop treating ID and marketing as separate disciplines.
“A shipped instructional design work is just a hypothesis.”
buff.ly/abObIqF
#TrainLikeAMarketer
"In an uncertain world, the learners will win."
- Amy Edmondson
"When things don't go well it's easy to wonder, "Why me?" It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to wallow in frustration or defeat.
But it is also easy to ask, "What is this teaching me?"
You can't remove frustrations from life, but you can always try to come out a little wiser on the other side."
“Sometimes doing nothing makes way for everything.”
Hiral Nagda
Hit the Curiosity Sweet Spot to Speed Up Learning
Curiosity isn’t decoration in learning—it’s a design lever. Start with a gap, a question, or a surprise, and learners lean in instead of tuning out.
buff.ly/7B00zGM
#TrainLikeAMarketer #InstructionaDesign #Attention
This video breaks down what it takes to become AI-native: breadcrumb your chats, use swipe files, plan tasks with AI in mind, and keep a tight prompt library.
This is worth a watch:
Beyond Infographics: How to Use Nano Banana to *Actually* Support Learning
When you pair AI tools like Google's Nano Banana with proven learning science, the result isn't just prettier content with fewer errors — it's better learning.
Top 100 Tools for Learning 2025 – Results of Jane Hart's 19th Annual Survey
For f*cks sake. This is a perfect example of the "Expertise Trap" with AI.
ChatGPT relies on popularity, not accuracy. Hence, the 🤬learning styles
If you don't know the subject matter well enough to spot the BS, AI is dangerous. It presents myths as features. Stop trusting the output blindly.
As Ira Glass explains in this brilliant visualization by Daniel Sax, that feeling of disappointment isn't a failure—it's actually proof you have the taste required to eventually be great.
Most people quit here. Don't.
Why Readability Is a Quiet Superpower in Learning – Train Like A Marketer
“The longer your memos, the less likely they are to be read by men who have the power to act on them.”
David Ogilvy
“Without an understanding of human cognitive architecture, instruction is blind.”
John Sweller
“The ignorance of how to use new knowledge stockpiles exponentially.” —Marshall McLuhan
Billy Markus on human behavior:
“People are not rational. They are rationalizing. Once you understand this simple fact, all the oddest human behavior will suddenly make way more sense.”
