I was first introduced to GMU’s Instructional Design (ID) and Technology programs (eLearning and MEd) while I worked for the American Geosciences Institute, a non-profit organization that provides free teaching materials to K-12 students. The initial draw for me was learning how to use technology to leverage students’ understanding of abstract science concepts, which lead me to start on this academic path. At first, I did not have the intention continue on to pursue a masters degree, but found this field to be very challenging, dynamic, and rewarding. I was amazed by the implications in geoscience education and workforce training that I had not considered before.
Just recently, I had the opportunity to start a career in the ID field working on projects related to the geosciences. As a new instructional designer, I have found that my experiences at GMU have been directly translatable in the field. I am looking forward to gain more experiences and fulfilling my niche in this field, while still utilizing my science background.
This course with Dr. Karen Gardner, paved the groundwork for my understanding of the underlying principles for various learning theories as it applies to adult learning. I gained great insight from rich class discussions that helped me tie different theories that we discussed in the course to real world instructional design applications. I was able reinforce the discussions and class readings through writing weekly reflections. A deliverable for this class was to develop a one-stop-shop instructor guide that implemented behavior modeling. Scripting and lesson sequencing was a key takeaway. This course helped me identify and connect instructional applications strategies to the learning theory.
As my first class in the program with Dr. Shahron van Rooij, I was introduced to the fundamentals of instructional design process and the ADDIE model. During each week of the course, I learned about the purpose and the approach to completing each phase of the ID process. I had the opportunity to work with a diverse team with varying work and learning styles to produce a design document deliverable completed with: an instructional problem definition, learner and context analysis, task analysis, instructional objectives, instructional approach, instructional materials, and formative and summative evaluation components. Timely and open communication about individual expectations played an important factor in completing this project efficiently. The other component of the team deliverable was to produce a rudimentary prototype using an electronic media like PowerPoint, Camtasia, Dreamweaver, or Articulate. Unfortunately, I was only familiar withPowerPoint when I began the program. This course made me realize the significance of keeping up with technological trends in the field.
Dr. Nada Dabbagh’s class went further into depth of the ID development process and theoretical applications. The focus was on grounded design, which differed from EDIT 704’s systematic process like the ADDIE model. The course examined various epistemological approaches to learning and cognition. Much of the time spent on the course was exploring constructivist pedagogical models including Cognitive Apprenticeship, Communities of Practice (COP), Situated Learning, Cognitive Flexible Hypertext (CFH), Simulations, Virtual Worlds, and Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILES). For this course’s deliverable, I submitted a project proposal to design a highly contextualized and engaging learning environment to promote scientific inquiry based on the Problem Based Learning model. I became fully immersed in the problem solving process and incorporate contemporary instructional technology processes to produce potential solutions for the learner.
The following tools courses exposed me to various programs used to manage, develop, and deliver ID projects. I took the time to explore various features of the tools assigned in each course and was able to immediately apply what I learned to other projects, within the graduate program and at work. These courses gave me the opportunity to exercise my creativity with content presentation and finding diverse ways to engage the audience. I learned the significance of good visual design practices to effectively communicate content to the learner. As an instructional designer, it is valuable to know the range of capabilities of design tools when developing a project.
This brief course with Dr. Nicholas Langlie took a “fail forward” approach in exploring virtual communication and collaborating using Blackboard Collaborate in two weeks. While working with a small team, we produced and hosted a webinar to share best ID practices that our group learned in the program.
This course with Dr. Shahron van Rooij focused on project management processes and knowledge areas and their relation to ID processes. While working in a pair, our group produced a project plan based on an instructional problem scenario. We utilized MS Office to develop a project schedule and a resource plan. We also identified potentials risks and risk strategies associated with the project.
Dr. Heather K. Tillberg-Webb’s course on the Adobe eLearning Suite gave me an overview on Dreamweaver, Captivate, and Photoshop programs. The course explored each program individually to help build my technical skillset. At the end of this course, I was able to manipulate tool features to produce an online multimedia ID project. The skillset that I've gained from this course proved to be the most useful of the tools courses. At my current job, Captivate is the primary learning tool we use at work to develop online training. I have used Captivate to create demonstrations, simulations, and webcasts.
Professor Kara Zirkle’s class emphasized Section 508 Accessibility standards and the concept of universal design for print and web projects. From the course exercies, I became familiarized with good practices in HTML/CSS coding that I used to create an accessible website. Accessibility is something that I try to implement at work during the development process. From contributing to projects for various federal clients, I found it interesting different agencies have different sets of accessibility compliance guidance than others.
Dr. Younghui Chen’s course on Articulate gave a superficial overview on the program’s functions. I worked in a team to produce an online tutorial that included multimedia and utilized diverse engagement strategies from Articulate to keep the learned focused on the content. Due to the time constraints of the Articulate tiral used for this course, my team identified each person's strong points and delegated tasks accordingly. We were all fortunate that each member was able to bring a different skill to the table.