My Personal Statement, Part 2: Back to Basics
As I started taking the basic core courses in the program, I wondered how much I'd actually be learning. After all, I'd already done this for many years - and quite successfully. I had even used the first edition of Chuck Hodell's book, ISD from the Ground Up as a reference tool. But as I started learning from instructors, readings, live and online class discussions, and through application of what I was learning, I began to understand the difference between learning as a practitioner and learning as a student. When working and learning simultaneously on the job as I've done my whole career, there's only enough time to learn as deeply and broadly as needed to meet the next deadline. Working as a student, I found it almost a luxury to be able to dive a bit deeper, explore contradicting viewpoints and take more time to reflect and curate what I was learning. The design plans, lesson plans, learner materials and evaluation tools I've developed as course products and in my professional life are easier to organize and present and much richer in detail and effectiveness than what I'd developed in the past.
An Early Design Plan
In my initial course, EDUC 602: Instructional Design, my final project was a design plan for a course that my employer, Avilar Technologies, wanted to deliver to managers of organizations that purchased our competency development tool. Although I have not yet delivered the course, I did use much of the design plan to create a storyboard for an eLearning program I developed in a later class.
A Resource for Volunteer Tutors for Learners of English
When presented with an assignment to create a training resource that solves an organizational problem in EDUC 671: Principles of Training and Development taught by Stu Weinstein, I decided to focus on something I could use In one of my volunteer jobs. I'm an English tutor for a Vietnamese immigrant through Howard County Library Project Literacy (HCLPL). Like many of my fellow tutors, I have no formal instruction in teaching English to adult learners of the language, and have felt the need for more resources and training that the small paid staff can provide. Originally, of course, I thought that a wiki where tutors could share their experiences, tips and success stories would be helpful. But the program leadership felt a training manual would be more useful, so I set about to create one along with the program's leadership. Portions of the manual are now being used to train new tutors, and another edition, consistent with new program objectives, is underway. In creating this resource, I learned how important it is to fully understand the culture of the organization for which the instructional designer is working. Not only does the content need to match the learners' needs, the delivery mechanism must be something both the learners and the sponsoring organization is comfortable with. You can see the draft of the Volunteer Manual I created here, and also view the presentation I made to the class.