Welcome to Tipsqueak, the Next Chapter in Practical E-Learning Advice

Many of you know me through the The Rapid E-Learning Blog. It had a good run. At one point, it had over 200,000 subscribers. Now it’s time for something new, but the goal is the same: help you build better online training.

Back in 2007, the elearning landscape was pretty sparse. If you were a subject matter expert who had somehow found yourself responsible for building online courses, you were mostly on your own. You knew your content. You might have been a trainer at some point. But now you were expected to handle instructional design, graphics, and whatever authoring tool your company had just purchased. Nobody handed you a manual for all of that.

So the blog became that manual. Small steps forward. Practical tips. Nothing too heavy. I always focused on keeping things simple.

A lot has changed, but the basics still matter

The tools are different now. Authoring software has improved a lot. And with AI, you can get answers to almost anything in seconds. The barriers that tripped up beginners in 2007 just aren’t as steep.

But here’s the thing. The tools being easier doesn’t mean the courses got better. People still build click-through courses with a quiz at the end and call it training. The fundamentals of good elearning design still get ignored. That’s worth talking about.

That’s why a lot of the original posts still hold up. The ideas behind them are as relevant as ever. What I’ve done is dust them off, update the perspective where it makes sense, and pull the ones that still have real value for someone learning this craft.

What you’ll find here

Tipsqueak isn’t starting from scratch. Think of it as the blog with a fresh coat of paint and a tighter focus.

You’ll find posts on instructional design basics, things like how to write useful objectives, how to build scenarios, how to stop turning slide decks into courses. You’ll find posts on working with SMEs and clients, which is where a lot of elearning projects go sideways. And you’ll find posts on visual design, because what a course looks like does matter, even if it isn’t everything.

There’s also an evergrowing collection of free stuff. Free graphics, free templates, and free downloads you can drop into your own projects. No attribution required. Use them however you want. If you feel like giving some credit, that’s always appreciated, but it’s not the price of admission.

If you’re new to elearning, the posts on getting started are a good place to begin. They’ll walk you through the core ideas without overwhelming you with theory. If you’ve been at this a while, there’s plenty here to remind you of principles that are easy to let slide when you’re moving fast.

What to do next

Browse around and see what catches your eye. Start with the getting started posts if you’re newer to this. Grab a free template if you need one. If you read something useful, share it with someone who could use it too.

And if you ever see me at a conference, say hi. I’d love to hear how things are going.