Learning to Create Learning Experiences: Reflections on My First Instructional Technology and Design Course

As I reflect on my first Instructional Technology and Design (ITD) course, I can see how my level of knowledge for designing courses has gone from “Storyline – Oh, is that similar to a plot” to “Yes, I know a few things about how to use Articulate Rise 360 and I’m learning Storyline. I’d love to have a conversation about it!”. To say my confidence has increased does not adequately describe my experience. Yes, my confidence has increased, but my curiosity, excitement, and willingness to keep trying to learn to effectively use technology tools to create engaging learning experiences has given me a new perspective on the importance of using technology to teach and how learning is designed and delivered. Before entering ITD 602 (Instructional Technology and Design Tools), the thought of building digital learning resources felt completely out of reach. Today, I am walking away with tangible skills and a newfound excitement for educational technology.

Building this new skillset began much like the construction of a new building. We started with laying the foundation of what instructional designers (ID) actually do, and we learned the different sectors in which IDs are employed. I knew IDs are key partners in educational settings, but I did not expect to find opportunities for ID in the corporate world, including human resources, banking institutions, and any other organization that offers continuing education and employee training.  Learning about these diverse opportunities helped me see instructional design as an educational role and also as a versatile career with possibilities in so many areas industries.

Identification of the role of IDs in learning was important before moving to the next phase of understanding how people learn. Just like how my first discipline of social work uses theories to explain human behaviors and social problems, instructional design and learning is a science grounded in theories to make sense of how learners learn. Learning about theories was the most comfortable component of the course for me. Specifically, the SECTION Model (Bates, 2015) and Richard Mayer's (2017) multimedia learning principles provided practical frameworks that made so much sense for selecting and evaluating technologies and designing instruction that supports meaningful learning rather than simply presenting information.

Beyond learning new skillsets and understanding theoretical principles of ITD, the course provided value in many other aspects. The curriculum provided a treasure-trove of useful resources I have returned to and will continue to revisit to learn more about Open Educational Resources (OER) and other topics that I would have loved to spend more time studying and exploring. I am now subscribed to and following many of the YouTube content creators. The videos and podcasts from the creators offer hours of listening and learning about ID that enhances my insight of the profession and the future of the field. Furthermore, Dr. Smart, the instructor, left valuable feedback and suggestions, as well as the safety and encouragement I needed to take risks, modify my work, and grow.

Growth rarely happens without some friction and moving outside of a comfortable zone. Learning to create a website and to use Articulate Rise was difficult and unfamiliar to me. I spent several hours wrestling with various tools and functions just to figure out how to perform some of the basic tasks. Even though learning to build websites and interactive lessons was frustrating at times and I felt inadequate and “behind”, I found myself staying up late, glued to my screen, and refusing to walk away until I felt comfortable submitting the projects, feeling a sense of greater accomplishment with each sequential project.

In conclusion, as I considered what I would change if I were teaching the course, I thought it may be a good idea to spend more time focusing on tools that are sought after, like Articulate suite tools. However, I don’t believe I would change anything. One reason I would not focus on a specific technology tool is because of the rapid and ever-changing nature of tech tools. I believe having a foundational understanding of what an ID’s role is, how learners learn, and resource lists of available tools is the most important part. What is most useful to me may not be useful to someone in a different ID role. Overall, the course gave me the confidence to start to critically analyze how I am developing my courses with the different types of learners in mind and the motivation to keep building on the foundational skills I have developed.

Many thanks to the Instructional Designers for developing this learning experience!

References

Bates, A. W. (2015).  Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS model. In Teaching in a Digital Age. (8.1 - 8.10).

University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences. (2017, October 13). Designing multimedia instruction to maximize learning - Dr. Richard E. Mayer lecture [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/p5i3f9E53Og