Designing with Love
What does it take to design learning experiences that truly work? Join Jackie Pelegrin, award-winning instructional designer and Grand Canyon University (GCU) adjunct instructor, as she explores instructional design, e-learning, and AI integration. Expect actionable tips, real-world insights, and conversations with students, alumni, and industry leaders shaping the future of learning.
Episodes
103 episodes
Measure What Matters, Then Make It Human with David Sanchez
A frontline nurse turned founder changes how we think about “marketing” by treating it like care extended. David Sanchez, RN, shares how clinical empathy, clear language, and the right tools help healthcare organizations and educators reach the...
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Season 4
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Episode 102
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41:12
Networking Tips That Advance Your ID Career
What if networking could feel calm, kind, and effective—without the awkward pitch? We walk through five connection moves that help instructional designers and educators build real relationships: a mindset reframe, tiny weekly actions, breadcrum...
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Season 4
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Episode 101
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12:03
Teaching and Curriculum Design in the Age of AI with Hamza Sami
Want a smarter way to work with AI in the classroom without losing what makes learning human? Jackie had an engaging and insightful conversation with academic manager and curriculum designer Hamza Sami to unpack practical ways educators can har...
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Season 4
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Episode 100
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48:16
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your ID Portfolio
Hiring managers don’t want a gallery of artifacts; they want proof you can solve real performance problems. We walk through a clear, house-style blueprint for building an instructional design portfolio that highlights your judgment, shows measu...
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Season 4
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Episode 99
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11:39
Choose Love Over Fear to Guide Learning with Tommy Kilpatrick
What if the key to tomorrow’s lesson lives in what lit you up at age seven? We bring back Tommy Kilpatrick to turn that early spark into practical, compassionate teaching—linking identity, choice, and classroom design. Together, we unpack a sim...
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Season 4
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Episode 98
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36:50
Virtual Playgrounds: Bringing Learning to Life
What if your course felt less like a checklist and more like a world your learners return to, level up in, and prove real growth? We walk through a practical framework for building a virtual playground that mirrors the work, builds measurable s...
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Season 4
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Episode 97
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12:08
Why Starting With Where Changes Everything with Tommy Kilpatrick
What if the fastest route to clarity is the one we usually skip—where are you, when is it, and who are you—before asking what to do next? In this episode, Jackie sat down with Tommy Kilpatrick to explore his book, Human Occidental Owner’s M...
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Season 4
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Episode 96
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28:31
Personalization Unleashed: Adaptive Learning in Action
Ready to move beyond one-size-fits-all courses? We explore a practical path to adaptive learning that uses the content and tools you already have—no massive rebuilds, no mystery AI required. By focusing on three simple levers—sequence, pacing, ...
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Season 4
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Episode 95
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11:45
AI Made Practical for Teachers and Designers with Sairam Sundaresan
Think AI can do everything? We put that assumption under the microscope with AI engineering leader and author Sairam Sundaresan, and walk away with a playbook that’s practical, ethical, and built for real classrooms and design teams. We break d...
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Season 4
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Episode 94
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45:50
Guiding the Classroom with AI Copilots
AI can feel like a runaway train in classrooms and training programs—powerful, fast, and a little scary. We take the controls and show how to turn generative tools into true co-pilots: clear roles, simple guardrails, and small pilots that free ...
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Season 4
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Episode 93
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16:55
Paragraphs, Not Panic: Dyslexia-Smart Strategies with Russell Van Brocklen
What if a fifth grader could turn a pile of ideas into a clear, grounded paragraph—every time—without leaning on AI? We bring back dyslexia researcher Russell Van Brocklen for part three of our series to show exactly how: start with a hero, a u...
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Season 4
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Episode 92
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41:46
Navigating the New Realities: Unpacking VR, AR, and MR for Lasting Impact
Forget the headset hype: real learning impact starts with a clear problem, a focused outcome, and a modality that actually fits the job. We dig into how to choose between VR for safe practice, AR for in-the-flow guidance, and MR for complex 3D ...
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Season 4
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Episode 91
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18:57
Designing Learning, Not Just E‑Learning with Connie Malamed
Want to design learning that actually sticks—and gets you hired? Jackie sits down with Connie Malamed, publisher of The eLearning Coach website and podcast, author of Visual Design Solutions and Visual Language for Designers, ...
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Season 4
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Episode 90
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48:09
From SME Pathways to Stakeholder Highways
Projects stall when one expert carries the content, decisions, and approvals. We flip that script with a clear, usable playbook for building a stakeholder highway—bringing sponsors, learners, frontline leaders, operations, tech, and compliance ...
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Season 4
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Episode 89
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10:28
From Haiti to Edge AI: Building Privacy-First Learning Tools with Sebastien Fenelon
What if your classroom could adapt to each learner without handing their data to the cloud? That’s the promise we dig into with technologist and founder Sebastien Fenelon, whose journey from scarce resources in Haiti to building privacy-first, ...
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Season 4
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Episode 88
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38:38
Beyond The Basics: A Practical Blueprint for Microlearning
Short doesn’t automatically mean effective. We dig into the craft of microlearning that actually changes behavior on the job, moving past buzzwords to a clear blueprint you can use this week. You’ll hear the green‑yellow‑red fit test, a tight s...
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Season 4
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Episode 87
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10:47
Alpha Minds, Real Tools with Queen Michele
Thunder cracked over San Cristóbal as Queen Michele told us how a retired teacher, armed with a suitcase and a stubborn sense of purpose, found her soul in Mexico and a mission for the most connected generation on earth. What followed is a stor...
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Season 4
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Episode 86
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57:04
Gamification Strategies to Improve Learner Engagement
Want learners to finish training, remember it, and use it on the job? We walk through a no-fluff approach to gamification that starts with clear outcomes and ends with measurable behavior change. Instead of throwing points at problems, we show ...
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Season 4
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Episode 85
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11:51
People First, Tools Second with James Gilchrist
Most training fails not because the storyboard is weak, but because the learning lands in an environment full of competing priorities and fuzzy signals. That’s the tough-love truth James Gilchrist brings to our mic as we unpack how people-first...
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Season 4
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Episode 84
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51:43
Mobile Learning Design: How to Create Courses for Any Device
Ever try to squeeze a desktop course onto a phone and wonder why learners bounce? We reframe the challenge and share five essentials that make mobile learning fast, clear, and genuinely useful in the moments people actually have. From finding m...
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Season 4
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Episode 83
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13:44
Rediscovering Creativity: A Conversation with Patrick Williams
What if your greatest creative potential isn't something you need to find, but something you simply need to remember? As a creativity expert, Patrick Williams joined me to reveal how we've all been born with incredible creative abilities that o...
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Season 4
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Episode 82
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46:59
Stay Ahead: The Learning Designer’s Playbook
Want a smarter way to stay current without spinning your wheels? In this episode, Jackie walks through a practical playbook that helps instructional designers and learning leaders filter hype, design for real performance, and ship small wins th...
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Season 4
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Episode 81
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8:29
The Unstoppable Leader: Victoria Pelletier's Journey Through Corporate Transformation
Victoria Pelletier never planned to become a C-suite executive. With childhood dreams of practicing law, her path took an unexpected turn when a temporary banking job led to rapid promotions and a cross-country relocation. That detour became a ...
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Season 4
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Episode 80
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35:32
Top Emerging Technologies Shaping Instructional Design
Five new tools are reshaping how we design for real skill: spatial computing, generative AI co‑pilots, learning analytics with xAPI, adaptive learning, and immersive simulations. In this episode, Jackie walks through practical use cases, tiny s...
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Season 4
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Episode 79
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15:24
Rewiring Dyslexic Brains: The Writing-First Approach with Russell Van Brocklen
What if everything we've been taught about teaching dyslexic students to read and write is backward? In this eye-opening second installment of my conversation with Russell, we discover how the dyslexic brain's unique wiring demands a completely...
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Season 4
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Episode 78
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51:52
