Where Did I Start?
My journey in education began as an intern tasked with a corporate HR intranet re-design at FedEx Express’s Latin American & Caribbean Division. After launching the site, I found my enthusiasm continued with training colleagues who would assume my duties at the end of the internship. Where I expected to show people how to maintain the site, I was more motivated to help them combine my research with their experiences to maintain or grow or improve the site with their perspective. I found that training was as rewarding as designing and included elements of both. From there I sought out a career in training and instructional design. The feeling of that first experience drives every project I have worked on since then.
Where Have I Been?
I began my career as a curriculum writer and trainer in geospatial technology with Digital Quest, who partners with researchers to develop authentic simulations, programs, and prototypes for the present and future workforce. I’ve worked with small and large government agencies, rural schools and universities, and industry partners including esri, Hexagon (Leica), and more. I’ve developed over 20 courses, from large multiyear instructional programs to iterative video projects on topics from healthcare to economic development. In my time with Digital Quest, I have risen to Lead Instructional Designer, gaining varied experience from writing and training, to marketing and sales. I don't believe I’d be the designer I am today without the many mentors and learners I encountered in those roles that allowed me to see my own work from a different perspective.
I have also served as Lead Writer for the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), a 16-state consortium led by the governors of those states. In my role as a Lead Writer, I led teams from both Arkansas and Kentucky to create project-based programs for the Advanced Career Projects initiative with national, state, and industry leaders. In this role, the challenge was to create an authentic, blended learning experience to strengthen mathematics, science, and literacy performance through applied research on many disparate topics. This experience sharpened my people management skills as the SREB team members and senior managers were spread across multiple states with varying skillsets and topics of expertise, from literacy to robotics.
Where Am I Going?
I am always seeking a balance between passion and experience. Where passion drives me to seek out new technology and methods, experience helps me understand when the time is right for implementing emerging trends. I am interested in two trends currently. First, VR/AR technologies are being taken more seriously as instructional aids tools, as capability and costs are lowering. I think VR/AR will change both the way we learn and how we prioritize learning. Some topics that require first-person experiences will be available to everyone with VR. I look forward to working with this technology in my career. This was a driver in my decision to go to grad school at this point in my career, as I feel the capabilities of real-time learning will change how we use collective learning experiences.
Second, while video has played a large role in education for sometime, I see learners becoming increasingly receptive to screen-based learning. Video is now seen as a distinct tool and not just an animated substitute for print resources. As more mobile devices are deployed globally and consistent WIFI access spreads, we see a larger appetite for microlearning, personalized learning, interactive video apps, and a balanced print-video experience. Please see the Learner-Facing Tools and the Instructor-Facing Tools sections for samples on how I have been deploying screen resources.