The L&D
Word Project

According to Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in a field. This has since been debunked.

A model created by Bob Mosher and Conrad Gottfredson, the five moments of learning need are (1) when you learn something for the first time, (2) when you want to learn more, (3) when you try to apply and / or remember, (4) when something goes wrong, and (5) when things change.

Originally introduced by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the 1980s, the 70-20-10 model states that leaders learn and grow from 3 types of experience, following a ratio of 70% challenging experiences and assignments, 20% developmental relationships, 10% coursework and training.

Published in 2001 by Heinich, Molenda, Russell, and Smaldino, the ABCD Learning Objectives model defines four key elements to create clear and effective objectives: 1. Audience, 2. Behavior, 3. Condition, and 4. Degree.

The ADDIE framework consists of the following steps: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, and these steps are reflected in many modern instructional design models.

ADKAR is a change management model created by Prosci founder Jeff Hiatt. It is an acronym for the five outcomes an individual needs to achieve for a change to be successful: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the way machines and software (as opposed to living beings) learn from experiences and input and how they complete tasks based on that learning.

AICC was the original technical standard for training technology and the first used to communicate between a learning management system (LMS) and course content. It is sometimes still used for legacy reasons, but it is largely retired.

API is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other.

Augmented reality changes the real-world environment by adding computer-generated content (images, sounds, etc.) so that you can see a combined view of the content and the real-world through a device.

The ARCs Model was originally created by Keller in 1984 as a method for improving the motivational appeal of instructional materials. It has three distinct features: It contains four conceptual categories that include characteristics of human motivation: attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. It includes sets of strategies for each category – to use to enhance the motivational appeal of instruction. It incorporates a systematic design process called motivational design that consists of the steps: define, design, develop, and evaluate. It is grounded in expectancy-value theory (derived from the work of Tolman and Lewin in the 1930s), which assumes that people are motivated to engage in an activity if they expect it will satisfy personal needs or result in success. Keller created it because there were no theories or models at the time that addressed the question of how to create instruction that makes people want to learn.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a computer software program that collects resumes and assists with the hiring process for organizations.

An academy is a place of study or training in a special field.

Accessibility refers to designing products, websites, services, tools, experiences, and environments in way that makes them usable by people with temporary and permanent disabilities.

Active learning is any approach to teaching or instruction where the learners are engaged in activities, such as discussing, creating, demonstrating, and more.

Active listening refers to going beyond just the words people say and being engaged and fully attentive, looking for context, tone, and other verbal and non-verbal clues.

Active voice is a grammatical voice where the subject of the sentence is completing the action described by the verb of the sentence.

Adaptive learning uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to interact with learners, and based on communication, provides them with custom resources and activities to meet their needs.

In the context of user interface and user experience, an affordance is feature that helps users know what to do without using pictures, labels, or instructions. For example, a phone icon on a business website gives you the hint that if you select it, you will be calling the business.

Agile refers to the ability to adapt and respond to change. In software development, it refers to incremental steps and an iterative development process that allows for changes and flexibility, which has been adopted by the learning and development community to develop learning experiences iteratively.

In AI, an algorithm is a sequence of rules given to an AI machine to perform a task or solve a problem. In social media, it refers to a set of rules, signals, and data that controls how a social media platform operates. Algorithms determine which content is recommended, filtered, ranked, and selected for users.

Analytics refers to the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data.

A term popularized by Malcolm Knowles, andragogy refers to the theories and principles related to how self-directed, independent adults learn.

Asynchronous learning is where learners do not need to participate in the learning experience at the same time, allowing learners the flexibility to access material on their own schedule.

In the field of human resources, attrition refers to the departure of employees from their organization for any reason, voluntary or involuntary, including resignation, termination, and retirement.

An authoring tool is a computer software program specifically designed to create digital course content, or eLearning, by combining multimedia elements.

An autodidact is a person who is self-taught.

Often used to describe the future of business, where climate and global systemic change are prevalent, BANI stands for brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible.

Business as usual (BAU) refers to standard and ongoing tasks and functional operations that are required to keep the business running.

Bring your own device (BYOD) refers to companies allowing employees to use their own personal devices (most commonly mobile phones and computers) for work purposes, rather than having to have multiple devices for work and personal purposes. It is also sometimes used specifically in learning contexts to describe learning experiences where learners are expected to bring their own device to participate.

Backward design is the process of identifying the goals and outcomes of a learning experience before choosing the instructional methods or assessment.

Behavior refers to the way a person acts in response to a particular situation.

Popularized by B.F. Skinner in the learning space, behaviorism refers to the learning theory where the belief is that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning processes, often represented by a stimuli and a response.

Belonging is the feeling of security and acceptance someone has when they are included as part of a group or community.

The Big 5 is a personality test adopted by modern personality psychologists that looks at five traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Big data refers to extremely large data sets that can be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and association, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.

Blended learning combines online learning and face-to-face instruction, often in a way that aims to maximize the benefits of each.

Named for Benjamin Bloom (an educational psychologist), Bloom's Taxonomy are three sets of hierarchical models used to create educational learning objectives in three domains: the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. The cognitive domain is the most well-known, containing the levels remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create.

A bootcamp is a short and intense group training program.

A branching scenario is an interactive learning experience where the learner is taken through the content based on decisions they make when presented with scenarios and questions.

A brief is a short, written document that outlines objectives and plans to communicate ideas and strategies with stakeholders and gain their support.

A business case is the justification for beginning a project or task. It can be presented formally or informally and should include the benefits, cost, any risks associated with completing the project (as well as risks if the project is not completed), and why the selected solution was chosen.

Business partners work for the organization but act as internal consultants to leaders or managers in specific business units, providing strategic advice and support, depending on the needs of the business unit.

Buy-in is a term used in business to describe support and participation in suggestions or ideas.

Cohort-based courses are structured learning experiences where the learners go through the material at the same time, beginning and ending the course together. They are typically led by a facilitator or mentor who guides the group through the course.

Computer-based training is any instructional course that is delivered through computer.

A Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) is the top-level executive of an organization in charge of human resources policies and operations.

A Chief Learning Officer (CLO) is the top-level executive of an organization in charge of learning and development policies and operations.

A content management system is software that allows users who don't have technical knowledge of web development to create, edit, and organize content for users.

Customer relationship management refers to technology used to communicate with potential and existing customers and to analyze customer data.

Borrowing from marketing, a learning campaign is when learning experiences are sent to learners over a period of time for the purposes of increasing retention and changing habits over that period of time.

Capability is the ability to do something. In learning, capability models are often created so that people can be measured against them to identify skill gaps for improvement.

A career path is the series of job positions and titles you have that help you to achieve your short-term and long-term professional goals. The positions could represent different levels in the same position or different positions.

A case study is an in-depth description of a real-world situation used to help people understand complex issues or problems.

Certification is when a learner is provided with a formal document that represents a specific achievement or passing of an assessment.

Change management involves the processes, tools, and communication that are used to guide employees through transition in their organization.

A channel is a system or method of communicating with people.

A chatbot is a software program that simulates human conversation through text or voice interactions.

Co-design is a design process where stakeholders (including clients and participants) are involved in the design and development process to ensure the learning experience meets the intended goals.

Originally coined by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, Community of Practice is defined as a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

Coaching is where an experienced person, called a coach, provides training, advice, resources, and other guidance to clients to help them achieve a specific goal.

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence, embracing philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. Its intellectual origins are in the mid-1950s when researchers in several fields began to develop theories of mind based on complex representations and computational procedures. Its organizational origins are in the mid-1970s when the Cognitive Science Society was formed and the journal Cognitive Science began. Since then, more than one hundred universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia have established cognitive science programs, and many others have instituted courses in cognitive science.

Cognitive bias is an error in thinking or a misinterpretation of information caused by the human brain's tendency to simplify information based on our experiences, which may be misremembered or limited.

Cognitive load refers to the amount of working memory resources the brain is using. In learning and development, we should be aiming to reduce cognitive load for our users.

Cognitivism is a learning theory that states that learning happens through cognitive processes, where the learner takes in, organizes and interprets, and stores and retrieves information.

A competency is something you can do successfully and efficiently.

A competency model is a group of competencies that make up successful performance of a specific job function, role, or work setting.

Completion is the process of finishing something.

Compliance training is the process of making sure employees understand the laws, regulations, and processes that apply to their roles and govern their organization.

Constructivism is a learning theory that states that learning is based on previous experience and on one's interactions with the world and with others. It centers the learner as an active participant in the learning process, rather than a passive recipient of information.

Consulting is where an expert provides advice on something, typically business matters, to a third party in exchange for payment.

Content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest, with the intention of adding value through the process of selecting, organizing, maintaining, and deploying items to learners.

A content library refers to the digital assets your organization owns and has stored for use. Content libraries can consist in different departments within the organization too, including sales, marketing, and learning and development.

Continuous improvement is a process that involves repeatedly analyzing performance, identifying opportunities, and making consistent, small changes to products, processes, and personnel.

Continuous learning refers to constantly expanding knowledge and skillsets to meet personal or professional goals.

A contractor is someone who is considered self-employed but performs a project for an organization or business, under terms of a contract, for a specific sum of money or pre-defined rate.

A course is a unit of learning.

Cross skilling refers to developing knowledge and skills from other functions or job roles to improve collaboration and versatility.

Cross-functional refers to people from different areas of the organization (different departments, teams, etc) working together on something.

The current state is the present reality of a business or part of a business. It is common to define the current state during analysis in order to understand the gap between it and the desired future state.

A curriculum is made up of the subjects and the sequence of those subjects that, when combined, create a course or learning program.

Custom content refers to unique learning experiences created for a specific customer.

Customer education refers to the learning experiences that attract potential customers and onboard and upskill current customers.

DAOs are member-owned communities or corporations without centralized leadership. They are run based on rules in a similar way to a computer program.

A digital adoption platform (DAP) is a software that is layered on top of another software product, app, or website that helps guide users through tasks and provides them with information and resources as they navigate the product, app, or website they're using.

Daily active users (DAU) are the total number of users that engage in some way with a web or mobile product on a given day. In learning and development, we see this most commonly used in discussion of EdTech products, such as an LMS.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion refers to initiatives (many times training initiatives) that are designed to encourage knowledge and appreciation of differences among employees in the workplace.

Dale's Cone of Experience was an attempt by Edgar Dale to organize audiovisual learning experiences from the most concrete to the most abstract, starting with direct, purposeful experiences and ending with verbal symbols.

Data literacy the ability to read, understand, create, and communicate data in different ways and in context.

Data visualization is using a chart, diagram, or picture as a visual representation of information.

In human resources, Day Zero refers to the time between when a job offer is accepted by a candidate and when they begin their first day on the job. It could be days or weeks long, but it is considered important because it lays the foundation for the new employee's experience. Common events that occur during Day Zero are filling out new hire paperwork, sending important information about what to expect on the first day, welcoming the employee from their team or with welcome gifts or "swag," and possibly assigning a "buddy" or mentor to help the new employee when they begin.

Deep learning is a function of AI that imitates the human brain by learning from how it structures and processes information to make decisions. Instead of relying on an algorithm that can only perform one specific task, this subset of machine learning can learn from unstructured data without supervision.

Deliberate practice involves setting a specific learning or development goal and practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill one is aiming to improve and exactly how to improve them.

The deliverable is the thing one produces after development.

The Interaction Design Foundation refers to design thinking as the non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and create innovative solutions to prototype and test.

Desirable difficulty is a term that was introduced by Robert Bjork in his 1994 study “Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings” to refer to a theory of learning in which challenge is seen as the key to long-term learning. The foundational principle of this theory is that adding an aspect of challenge to learning activities will result in better long-term retention of information. In his 1994 study and in subsequent writings, Bjork draws a distinction between performance learning, such as cramming for a test and performing well in the short term, and true learning where the knowledge can be recalled and used in different contexts. Desirable difficulty incorporates strategies in which students are exposed to material repeatedly over the course of the class to improve recall, and thereby, retention. This may mean sacrificing short-term performance to achieve long-term results.

Deutero-learning is a concept where, at the same time you are learning something you need to know, you are also learning something about the world and something about how things occur.

In the ADDIE framework, development refers to creating and assembling learning assets that were planned in the design phase. Development can also refer to professional development, which is the continuous upskilling and training of employees so that they can be successful in their roles or achieve promotions within their organization.

Based on the 1928 DISC emotional and behavioral theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston, the DiSC personality test places people into one of four categories: dominance, influence, conscientiousness, and steadiness.

The Dick and Carey Model for Instructional Design takes a systems approach, including the steps identifying instructional goals, conducting instructional analysis, analyzing learners and contexts, writing performance objectives, developing assessment instrument, developing instructional strategy, developing and selecting instructional materials, designing and conducting formative evaluation, designing and conducting summative evaluation, and revising instruction.