For the past 17 years, I have been a public-school teacher, and I loved teaching and working with students; however, I found my real passion in creating learning experiences for my class and learning new ways to engage and challenge my students. These interests led me to try new technology in my classroom and work with district partners to pilot new technologies with my students. While having this opportunity, I was also able to train and support other staff members who wanted to incorporate more technology into their lesson planning. After experiencing these teaching and learning experiences, I realized my passion was not only in exploring innovative teaching practices and technologies in my classroom but also in supporting others in my field and exploring these modern teaching methods collaboratively. These teaching and learning opportunities eventually led me to the realization that designing instruction, creatively working with technology, and supporting adult learners was my dream job. I am so excited to begin putting my professional goals into action!
Through the following year, I plan to build my technology skills as a learning designer while growing my understanding of the design process to meet the needs of the learners and institutions I will serve. My short-term goal is to gain more experience working with Articulate360, Adobe Creative, and Canva. As I learn how to utilize these design tools, I plan to experiment with the design process by creating examples of visual templates and navigational structures for learning platforms. This goal is important to me, because it will allow me to develop a portfolio of work samples to showcase to potential employers. To help me meet this goal, I will continue to build my network online through LinkedIn instructional design groups and by reading books that teach techniques with the tools I will be working with, and that will further my understanding of the field. For example, I am currently reading Design for How People Learn by: Julie Dirksen. By practicing with new design tools, reaching out to other designers through LinkedIn, and reading books about the profession, I will build my confidence utilizing new technological tools, and I will be able to practice and grow my skills in content creation.
A goal I aim to achieve when I reach the midpoint of my time in the Learning Design and Technologies program is to create a training presentation for a non-profit organization that I previously worked for. This training presentation will be used for the organization's teen outreach program, which educates students in grades seventh through twelfth grade about important social issues. I will send my training presentation to my previous supervisor for review and feedback. I will use Articulate360 or Adobe Creative to create the interactive presentation. It’s important to me to practice fundamental job skills with the technology tools that will be relevant in my career as a learning designer. My short-term goal supports this goal because it will indicate my progress and confidence in sharing my creation skills with a professional organization. Receiving feedback from the organization will help me understand where I need to improve and build the foundation for my long-term goal of having a comprehensive portfolio of my work to help me land a position as a learning designer once I complete this program. Sharing my presentation with ASU professors in this program and professional learning designers through various professional networks, like LinkedIn, will also provide me the needed support and feedback to improve my content creation skills and find ways to create quality content that engages my audience.
By the final portion of this program, I aim to begin interviewing for learning design positions within higher education. In particular, it is my ultimate goal to work for ASU as a learning designer. It has been a long-time goal of mine to work for ASU. I received my undergraduate degree in education and my master’s in curriculum and instruction from the university. I have always been interested in working in higher education. After pivoting from my public-school teaching career to the world of learning design, I feel I am getting closer to realizing my goal. I want to work as a learning designer for any of the colleges at the university. I want to help design course content, maintain online course materials for professors, and create training materials for teachers and students. If I could pick the college I would like to work for, it would be Mary Lou Fulton’s College of Education; however, working at ASU as an instructional designer at any of its colleges would be a dream come true. To help me meet this goal I have been connecting with the career services department on campus and keeping my eyes open for future opportunities. Connecting with my professors and peers will also help me learn more about learning design positions at ASU and open doors to future opportunities. Outside of networking with professionals in the field and keeping up with career opportunities at the university and in other higher education institutions, I aim to have a comprehensive and completed portfolio to showcase what I can contribute to an instructional design team. Once I have met my long-term career goals, I look forward to giving back to the instructional design community and advancing my skills. If allowed to work for a higher education institution, I would like to continue my education by exploring a doctoral program in educational technology to support my career development in learning design.
My dedication, hard work, passion for learning, collaboration skills, and background in education have prepared me to participate in the Learning and Technologies program at ASU. This program was the catalyst I needed to help me make the dream I had four years ago a reality. My dedication, hard work, collaboration skills, and background in education have prepared me to participate in the Learning and Technologies program at ASU. This program is the catalyst I needed to help me make the dream I had four years ago a reality. After completing LDT 501: Foundations of Learning Design and Technologies, I learned about the importance of applying and understanding various learning theories, which excited me because, as an educator, the theory of how people learn is a foundational piece of how I would plan my instruction and being able to apply my previous knowledge of teaching and learning to the learning design field was comforting and excited me because this was a new way to use that knowledge. Researching and learning more about the various learning theories reminded me why I loved teaching and learning. I also learned the importance of taking risks and teaching myself how to use technology, which I had yet to gain much experience with. My anxiety was calmed after learning that one can take many professional paths in learning design. By homing in on my passion for course creation and teaching and learning in the learning and development field, I can expand my skills while looking forward to new challenges because this field requires its professionals to be lifelong learners. That belief system confirmed that I chose the right career path. I am excited to continue challenging myself to grow, learn, and explore future opportunities in this exciting field. I am excited to continue challenging myself to grow, learn, and explore future opportunities in this exciting field. I am excited to continue challenging myself to grow, learn, and explore future opportunities in this exciting field.
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