I have been fortunate throughout the years to gain instructional design experience in a variety of instructional contexts. I am currently a course design specialist for the University of Idaho. During my time at Indiana University I helped to design and manage the university’s first makerspace, assisted with a MOOC viewed by hundreds of learners around the globe, consulted with dozens of faculty members as an instructional consultant, and I taught multiple courses related to computers in education as an Associate Instructor. In corporate settings, I have years of experience as a corporate trainer and I have developed self-guided learning modules to be used by hundreds of medical professionals.
Sample Work
Planning, Designing, and Managing a Makerspace
During my time as a graduate student at Indiana University I worked with faculty members, graduate students, administrators, architects, contractors and many others to plan, design and then manage the I.U. School of Education MILL (Make. Innovate. Learn. Lab.). While not a typical instructional design project, I utilized many of the skills and knowledge of a designer as I played a large role beginning with conducting a needs analysis, moving on to designing and providing insight for the renovation or the space, and finally oversee the implementation of the space throughout its first year of existence. The MILL is a hands-on makerspace (learning lab) that was designed to be used by students, faculty and staff in the School of Education to implement and explore innovative ways to instruct and learn. The space makes use of high-tech technologies such as 3D printers and a lasercutter, as well as re-imagining the use of low-tech tools, such as traditional craft materials.
Through the use of rapid prototyping I created paper prototypes to discuss possible configurations for furniture, as well as a 3D foam-board prototype to help visualize the space for university architects and contractors.
Being in a School of Education, the space was intentionally designed to be used for instruction and learning. I consulted with faculty members to bring classes for tours of the space, as well as regular class and research group meetings in the space. The space was also heavily used for individual consultation and training on not only the use of the equipment, but also the instructional value of projects that could be created in the space.
The continual development and evaluation of the space throughout the first year was remarkable and was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time in graduate school. It has helped me gain experience with large scale projects, but also helped me to gain perspective of looking at problems in different ways. Having a space to create, innovate and even fail has been a transformative part of my growth as an instructional designer.
Course Design Specialist
As a course design specialist for the University of Idaho, I have had the opportunity to assist in the development of a new online Fire Safety Certificate program. My responsibilities include integrating material developed by an external consultant, managing and creating Bb Learn course sites, providing feedback to instructors, and improving the overall student experience with the program.
Some of the ways that I have worked to improve student experience are to create a program course site in Bb Learn, make narrated lectures more interactive using Articulate Presenter, and developing a midterm course student survey to gauge feedback on the courses.
Professional Blogging and Video Work
During my time as the Distance Education Specialist for the Office of Instructional Consulting in the School of Education, I wrote numerous blog posts and created many podcast entries ranging from QuickTips, to more in-depth interviews with faculty members about online instruction. One post highlighted some of the features of Canvas, the new Learning Management System (LMS) now being used by Indiana University.
Video and Multimedia Projects
This collaborative project was completed to present a visual and unique view of the history of the field of Instructional Systems Technology. It was completed along with a class mate and included the use of Flash animations, photo editing, video editing, audio editing, a timeline creation program, as well as screen capturing. While I had no prior knowledge of the Flash application prior to this project, I enrolled in a multi-day workshop at Indiana University. This class gave me the basic knowledge which I was then able to apply for the final exam project for the class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRsSbjn0oMU
Another example of my video production work was in the final project for a course on how web technologies are opening new and creative paths to learning. This video includes interviews, video recordings produced as part of a weekly reflection YouTube Channel and numerous screen captures that encapsulated the entire course in about 8 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVYRnQ77I4
Online and WebConferencing
As part of the IST Conference, a student-organized research conference held annually by the department of Instructional Systems Technology, I gained valuable technical experience as first the Technical Services Manager in 2010, and subsequently a Co-chairperson for 2011 and 2012. As Technical Services Manager in 2010, I oversaw a group of volunteers working to ensure live-streaming of nearly all presentations and sessions. A particular challenge came because the organizers of the conference wanted to have a Key Panel discussion of several participants, instead of just a singe participant. However, one of the desired participants was not going to be in town during the conference. As a solution to this, I was able to successfully test and implement a Skype system where a laptop, a web camera, and flat screen TV were used in order to have the participant engage with the others and present from a distance. This was an example where I analyzed the problem, tested out a solution, and implemented a successful delivery where others may have not gone to such extremes just to have one more participant. Comments were made by IST department leadership that these conferences had been among the best ever, in part because of my leadership and involvement of others.
Development for Corporate Learning
I have also had many opportunities to gain and use instructional design skills in a variety of corporate settings. As an Infusion Program intern during the summers of 2009 and 2010, I worked with the Clinical Learning & Development group for Humana, Inc. I also developed a self-guided online learning module to educate nurses and other medical professionals about the impact of recent government changes and the implications and opportunities for potential government bonus contracts for Humana. This completed module was subsequently delivered to hundreds of working professionals throughout the company. I also created a training dashboard that could pull real-time training events and activities to give a more accurate picture for management of the impact and amount of time spent in training.
InformaLearn 