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Jann Iaco—Why I Became a CPLP

Jann Iaco, CPLP, is an e-learning instructional designer, videographer, and facilitator for Crate and Barrel. She has more than 15 years of experience in learning and development and earned her CPLP (Certified Professional of Learning and Performance) in 2013. Jann has served on the board of the Chicagoland Chapter of ATD for the past five years. She has been a speaker at the Chicago eLearning and Technology Showcase for the past two years and is on the faculty of the Workplace Learning and Performance Institute (WLPI) where she facilitates a session on instructional design. Jann continues to work in the Chicago Off-Loop theatre scene as an actor, director, and teacher. She has taught acting at the Victory Gardens Training Center, is a graduate of the Professional Training program at Second City, and received her MFA in directing from the University of Minnesota.

Jann Iaco

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One of the unique products to emerge in an increasingly crowded field of social tools is Pinterest, a fun combination of social bookmarking, images, commenting, and public sharing.  It’s a great place for connecting with and sharing resources for your own professional development.But that doesn’t mean everyone is ready—or knows how—to use Pinterest. Here is some help.Lead them to waterI’ve been dealing with introducing new techs and tools for a long time now.  The best way I’ve found of encouraging acceptance and use is introducing a tool at the moment it will solve someone’s problem. A lot there depends on serendipity and hearing opportunity when it knocks. And one of the easiest ways to teach people to use (and like) a tool is to give them something fun to do with it.I’ve tricked (er, I mean led) lots of people to Pinterest by asking them to share photos of their favorite holiday decorations (even better if they tell a short story with it).  We’ve even developed a few Pinterest traditions, including the fabulous annual collaborative Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide . I hadn’t intended to do it this year, but demand from people on Twitter I don’t even know prompted me to again host the Thanksgiving Gallery of Hand Turkeys. Some 42 people contributed, from age 5 up, individually and as families, and some from other countries where they don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving. Is it silly? Sure. But it builds connection and community, and it is fun. More important, it helps people understand and use the tool. And when I ask some of them later to find and share an image they’d include on a virtual tour of their workplace, well, they’ll already know how to do that. Now, here are some ideas for L&D practitioners looking for ways to incorporate Pinterest into practice. Collaborative bookmarkingCheck out this collaborative board from Tracy Parish. She invited industry friends to pin their suggestions for good books about instructional design. Most include a comment from the pinner about why they chose it, and link directly to Amazon so they can be purchased.  Note the number of comments, including some from authors of the books pinned. Building a narrative/backchannel learningI recently attended the pilot of Mike Rohde’s new Sketchnote Workshop.  While I tweeted it, as usual, I realized the visual nature of it might be better suited to Pinterest.I began documenting my day and uploading photos and comments as we switched activities or shared what we were doing. It built a nice narrative of the day and offered a place for quick conversation.  This also supported backchannel learning for colleagues who were unable to attend the workshop. A friend, intrigued by the tweets, visited the Pinterest board and ended up sketchnoting the meeting she was in that day. She’s now bringing Mike in to deliver the workshop for the Atlanta ASTD chapter (February 11: check back on the chapter’s event page for details coming soon).Board: My Day at Mike Rohde’s Pilot of His New Sketchnote WorkshopVirtual field trips Offer tours of facilities to new hires; tours of your training center to first-time visitors; tours of a conference site. You can use these for recruiting to show potential hires how the workplace looks, such as pictures of areas where defibrillators are installed. You might include pictures of company extras; a friend who’s worked at a local big company for years didn’t know there was a meditation garden until I posted a photo of it.Overview of topic or area of interest and handout replacementAlthough I’ve been offering it in webinar format for years, my “Tips for the Positive Deviant” session suddenly caught fire last May. There was so much interest in it I finally set up a Pinterest board with highlights and key points from the session, additional resources with links for easy access, and a link to the ASTD webinar recording. This also serves as a much more robust takeaway than a copy of my slides or other usual event handout.Prework or snapshot of planned conversationAs one of the moderators of the weekly Twitter-based #lrnchat sessions, I often see the problem of having a chat catch someone’s eye after it’s underway. They want to join in, but they are coming into the conversation late, sometimes to a topic that’s a bit esoteric. Or—and I’m guilty too—they didn’t read an article we suggested for prereading. So, we’ve started using a Pinterest board to support some of these chats. Participants can check in quickly and get an overview of the topic—just the gist of it, sometimes, but enough to help them participate more fully. Here’s one we created to support a #lrnchat conversation focused on our own beliefs and metaphors about learning and teaching, and what those beliefs mean to one’s practice.Course resources and supportAssistant Professor Steven Bickmore uses Pinterests boards to create reading lists for each of his courses.  They’re easy to update, more enticing than a list of typed titles, and available for the rest of us to peruse.Encouraging reflectionI’ve reused the “metaphor” board described above as a reflective activity for students in instructional design and train-the-trainer sessions. They are asked to review it and then provide a verbal or written description of their own metaphors and how they are borne out in their own practice.Job aidsWhile I prefer Snapguide for preparing job aids these days, you could easily build a guide in Pinterest. Be sure to add images in reverse order.  As comments can alter layout and size, you might want to number them, too.  Post pictures of equipment repairs and workarounds. And remember: You don’t have to be the one doing all the pinning.Collaborative class activitiesHere are some ideas:Invite pinners to share images of customer service issues (like stained carpets and water cooler with no cups). Have a conversation about corporate culture based on pinned images of company furnishings and signage. Post pictures of the different ways a classroom can be set up, and ask participants in a train-the-trainer course to describe how each setup might affect interaction and social activities.Have learners share images of final projects.Did you have groups discuss an issue and create a flip chart report?  Post pictures of the charts.Host a Pinterest Appy Hour: Invite pinners to share their favorite new app from the past year; their favorite productivity app; their favorite photography app, their favorite app for travel, and so on.Have learners create a class book recapping activities and takeaways.Reaching other learnersOne of my historical concerns about many social tools is that so many of them are heavily text-based: blogs, microblogs, text chats, and so forth. In my world this can marginalize those with low-literacy skills or those with English as a second language.  We’re in a world in which the vast majority of our workforces own some kind of mobile phone or device—most of them with cameras.  The potential for user-generated images to support and include these workers is tremendous.Logistical tips and advice for using PinterestHere’s how Pinterest works:Pinterest is free. It is available on desktop or via a free mobile app.Pinterest allows you to pin images from a website and, from other Pinterest boards. You can also pin by uploading images from your own computer or mobile device.Pinterest boards are public to view; anyone can see them without an account.In order to create boards and pin to them, you need your own account.At this time, Pinterest doesn’t allow for moving pins around a board. To build a chronology—like a story from start to finish—you need to upload in order you want them to be viewed.You can set up “secret” boards to work on until you are ready to publish them. At this time only the board owner can work with the secret boards; they can’t be shared with other pinners.You need to issue invitations to other pinners. While some complain that Pinterest doesn’t offer users public boards on which everyone can pin, it also means that spammers can’t just pin on any board. It makes it a bit safer for those concerned about material inappropriate for some audiences.Sometimes for the sake of speed or including people who for whatever reason don’t have or want a Pinterest account, I just ask people to send me images and I upload them myself.

Pinterest for L&D

Most LMS administrators don’t expect their learning platform to help create training content. And that’s the problem.While video has become the dominant format for delivering training, from onboarding to compliance to customer education, most learning teams are still stitching together external tools to get content uploaded, formatted, and assigned. The ongoing challenges? Wasted time, frustrated admins and content creators, and a disjointed learner experience.In 2025 and beyond, it’s time for a better way.Built-in video authoring tools are no longer a “nice to have.” They’re essential for streamlining workflows, reducing tool sprawl, and giving training teams the centralized control and functionality they need to move faster and deliver better results.Why Video-First Training Isn’t Optional AnymoreTraining has shifted dramatically in recent years. According to the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), demand for asynchronous, flexible learning has grown by more than 60 percent since 2020. Today’s learners expect training to be:Self-paced Video-based Accessible on demand And it’s not just what learners want; numerous studies demonstrate that video training works. A 2023 survey by Synthesia found that 97 percent of L&D professionals believe video is more effective than text-based documents for training purposes.Video brings training to life, especially in environments and industries where visual context matters most including:Manufacturing: Demonstrate machinery use, safety protocols, or PPE requirements. Construction: Standardize equipment handling and jobsite procedures across teams. Continuing education: Break down certification topics in fields including healthcare or real estate through high-quality video modules. The Hidden Cost of a Disconnected Training Ecosystem Here’s the workflow that many LMS admins are up against:Build content in a separate tool. Export and package it (often in SCORM). Upload it to the LMS. Test it to make sure it works. Fix any issues and re-upload if needed. This process repeats every time you update a course. Every time a slide changes. Every time a video needs a new voiceover.And that’s just the admin side. Learners often deal with mismatched layouts, buffering videos, and inconsistent UI experiences depending on where the content came from.This lack of continuity and complexity drains time and energy from teams that are already stretched thin.Built-In Video Authoring = Faster Workflows, Better ResultsWhen your LMS has native video tools, everything changes.No more jumping between platforms No more downloading, uploading, and re-uploading No more tech support tickets to fix broken SCORM files With some LMSs, you can record, edit, caption, and launch video training directly inside the LMS. Whether you’re creating an onboarding module, a safety briefing, or a product demo, the workflow is seamless and owned entirely by the training team.Built-in tools allow you to:Create both asynchronous (on-demand) and synchronous (live-recorded) content. Add chapters, closed captions, and learner checkpoints. Customize views based on role, department, or location. Update content instantly, without redoing entire courses. Use Cases That Benefit MostAdmins in high-complexity environments feel this pain the most and benefit the most from simplification:Manufacturing: Video-based SOPs and safety training can be created and updated as equipment evolves. Construction: Toolbox talks, project walkthroughs and site-specific instructions can be standardized across crews. Continuing education: Instructors can record certification lessons directly in the LMS and update them regularly to meet changing regulations and compliance standards. In all three industries and many others, having video tools built into the LMS drastically reduces turnaround time, enabling learning teams to operate with more agility.On-Demand, Multi-Format Learning Without the HassleA modern LMS should let you serve learners on their terms whether they’re on a factory floor, at a jobsite, or completing CE credits at home.With video-first LMS tools, you can:Record updates and deploy them instantly. Reuse live sessions as on-demand modules. Offer training that’s mobile-ready and always accessible. Eliminate the silos and software sprawl that slow down delivery. This leads to faster launches, lower training costs, and broader learner reach without the need to bounce between tools.Rethink What Your LMS Should Do to Support Your Video Training RequirementsYour LMS shouldn’t just be where training lives. It should be where training comes to life.If you’re tired of patching together systems, chasing down SCORM errors, or waiting on content updates to go live, look for a platform that does more than host videos. Choose one that helps you create, customize, and deliver training the way your learners expect it: seamless, self-paced, and easy to access.When your tools work together, you gain more time to focus on learner success.

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