Because You Need to Know – Kelly Barrett
MicroLearning at the IRS: Creative knowledge for self-service with Kelly Barrett
This podcast is part of the Because You Need to Know series from Pioneer Knowledge Services.
Kelly Barrett has worked for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 23 years, starting as a Data Entry Transcriber and worked his way up to a Human Resources Education and Knowledge Management Specialist. Kelly has over 15 years of training project management experience with an expertise in eLearning course development and is a certified Instructional Designer (ISD) and Online Training Professional (COTP).
In 2014, Kelly began researching MicroLearning Videos and how they can increase retention of training. With his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting, he started a program called Self-Help Online Tutorials (SHOTs). He has since grown the program to an enterprise-wide initiative with nearly 700 SHOTs videos for all 84,000+ IRS employees to view, anytime they need to. Kelly designed these videos to be 3-minutes or less, which are narrated, and either demonstrate a specific process or action, or they provide information or overviews on a wide range of topics.
Kelly recently won the Training Officer Consortium’s Innovation Award for his SHOTs program, and he also personally won the Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) Pioneer Award for SHOTs.
Kelly met his wife while working in data entry at the IRS and now has two children. He also is the head volleyball coach for the local junior high school, and coaches his daughter’s club volleyball team. Kelly and his wife enjoy cooking and even published their own cookbook with over 190 recipes, and are currently working on their 2nd cookbook.