Dzine2learn

  This week my graduate school instructor invited us in the Discussion Board to research and post findings about social media use worldwide. We're fortunate as an online program to have classmates from around the world with the majority of our international students residing in Asia. We have students from Europe, and military members stationed worldwide, as well. I love this about our program and it speaks to its reputation. The more I write this blog and will continue to grow it by linking it to my LinkedIn account, the more I will stay connected to my classmates in this program. I think there's a benefit of having these alumni relationships in addition to sharing our career development. Even though I only used LinkedIn as my sole social media account prior to this summer's graduate class in Web 2.0 learning, I'm already planning on being an active LinkedIn user and will share content and articles. I'm otherwise private about sharing on social media.  I visited Bei...

  Wrike.com Wrike is another project management tool designed for collaboration. It offers templates and workflows for many categories of teams such as software developers, creative developers, marketing, etc. I selected the free trial with the Creative Design Team workflow. I selected the KanBan board so that I could compare it with Trello. I created a quick sample of my informal online learning modules for my coaching clients. I have a class of four clients - parents with young kids - who are stressed and arguing about shared chores and how to split parenting tasks. I'm in the very early stages of creating this course so the sample below represents a sliver of what I'll use Wrike for to manage this project. What I appreciate about Wrike, Smartsheet and Trello is the free trial they offer. Additionally, I like that they have free products if you're working solo. This is a distinct possibility for me after I graduate. As much as I'd love to land the perfect Instructiona...

For years Microsoft Project dominated the market for project management software. It has a steep learning curve and is an expensive per seat cost. I was a technical writer for a small software company that used MS Project for the three project managers and myself. While I enjoyed learning about the science of project management from them in our meetings, I discovered that using the software was not that intuitive. I plugged in the tasks and timelines for several projects only to discover how challenging it was to have to refactor dates. It seemed to mess up the entire project such that I just stopped using it. It was more time consuming setting it up and refactoring it than just inputting status to show our progress. It looks like a better option is SmartSheet which is used by many major companies. You can sign up for a free trial to get familiar with it. The more you can learn about tools to manage instructional design projects, the more likely you are to be considered for the team. T...

 I mentioned in the last post that my classmate Amy recommended using Trello single user license with KanBan boards for personal organization. Thank you, Amy for this share! Not only is this a great idea for my personal life, but it familiarizes me with the concepts that I can be ready to use in the workplace if my team is using KanBan, Trello or both. Here's a great video explaining why Trello with a KanBan board is so much more powerful than trying to organize projects with lists or spreadsheets: https://youtu.be/oJ8lyZG-gy4              Here's an example of a shared Trello board with basic instructions. You can use if for your personal tasks and projects in order to learn how to use the app for instructional design.                Is it compatible with ADDIE? Yes. ADDIE directs the overarching process for the Instructional Design methodology. However, you will still want to use a task or project mana...

 This is one of the better YouTube videos I've found describing KanBan. It's a Japanese methodology and this video makes it super simple to understand. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with KanBan so that you have this awareness if it comes up in an interview. You may need to know the basics for your first job.  In addition, like one of my current classmates, you may find that it's a great organizational tool for your personal or academic life. She recommends using Trello and selecting the KanBan board to organize her tasks. Amy - thanks for the great suggestion!  I've started using it this way as well and I find that it really mimics how I think about the buckets of tasks I have on hand. Lists with priority numbers just don't work for me. Things move to quickly for a prioritized list to be relevant a few hours later. With the KanBan board you select the next task from a pool (with swim lanes) of sticky note tasks that you determine which one to work on by ...

 This week I'm sharing resources that you may encounter as an Instructional Designer in the corporate sector. The purpose is to introduce you to these concepts so that you can continue to investigate these over time. ADDIE, the most known and used model by Instructional Designers isn't going away. However, if you work in the technology sector you are more likely to encounter the Agile methodology for managing projects. Software developers such as my husband are on Agile teams that use this methodology to guide everything they do to design, develop and deliver projects on time. I've taken introductory courses in Agile and I'm fascinated by it. It just makes a lot of sense in breaking projects into smaller units called Sprints. The old approach of designing software was called the Waterfall Method in which the entire project plan was mapped out. The problem with this approach is that things would change or become known along the way that would make the plan no longer pert...

 The USDLA is the oldest organization for distance learning   https://usdla.org/   They conduct research and have weekly podcasts as well as local/state chapters. Are any of you members or planning on becoming a member? Higher Education is one of the specialties I'm considering, so I want to check out this organization. However, this organization is not limited to just Higher Education -- their members include corporations, healthcare, and government. This past week they held their annual conference. They also offer a certification for universities to demonstrate their adherence to the 91 standards of the organization. Maybe this is something you would propose to a future university team to consider. Here's their monthly podcast about the future of distance learning: https://inkandescentradio.com/series/distance-learning-roundtable/

  I recently came across this organization during a course project:  The Association for Educational Communications & Technology.  https://www.aect.org/ Do any of you know about this organization? I noticed that FSU is not a participating member organization, so I'm not sure if this organization's mission is in line with the ISLT program principles. One interesting thing about this organization is that they have a Special Interest Group for Educators in the Healthcare field. It's focused on instructional designers and trainers who can share resources and ideas for this specialty audience. Are any of you planning on entering this type of specialty? Another noteworthy aspect of this organization is that they have specialty groups for designers, educators and trainers in Asia including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and Japan. I have classmates from around the world including Asia and perhaps this would be a good networking opportunity.

  The ISPI is another organization recommended for IDers and especially for students completing the Human Performance Technology certificate https://ispi.org/? ISPI offers opportunities to network, achieve certification, and attend seminars/webinars. Their HPT certification requires three years' experience of completing the 10 standards. You'll complete a self-assessment describing your projects. The good thing is this is a mastery-based credential and it doesn't require an exam. I encourage you to make plans to pursue this if you land a job in the HPT field.

We're inundated as graduate students and may not have the bandwith to think about participating in professional organizations. However, the Association for Talent Development has tools and information that are useful during our grad studies. They also have a student membership. If you can't join while you're in school, consider becoming a member after you graduate.  I was a member during my first year of graduate studies but overlooked renewing  my membership. I'll likely renew at the start of the Fall semester. Here are some of the benefits of becoming a member:  

  Articulate and Adobe offer academic pricing for teachers and students. It's not as beneficial as it was when it was a permanent license. The product is offered by an annual subscription so you'll need to qualify for this each year you want to use it. Either way, if you sign up for the free trial while you complete a training package with a company like Ledet, you can subscribe the next month and refine your skills with it in order to create a portfolio. The academic pricing for Articulate is:   https://articulate.com/360/pricing/academic https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/buying-guide.html

  According to the American College of Education, teachers play a vital role in teaching digital citizenship to students. However, this can't be done without the partnership of parents and others in the lives of our kids. Commonsense.org, a non-profit, publishes information for schools, parents and other adults to teach digital citizenship skills. Take a look at these resources: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship What do you think? Will this approach make a difference in the bullying and hostile comments that appear in some pre-adolescent and adolescent posts? Will digital citizenship skills help increase our students ability to listen to other perspectives? Reference https://ace.edu/blog/digital-citizenship-what-it-means-how-to-teach-it-and-the-resources-you-need/#:~:text=Any%20teacher%20who%20uses%20technology,credibility%20and%20writing%20proper%20citations. https://www.coe.int/en/web/digital-citizenship-education/-/2022-edition-of-the-digital-citizenship-...

Here's another newer app that I just discovered. Maybe you already know about this one? Easygenerator sounds like its name. Like many apps it can convert PowerPoint slide decks to e-learning. https://www.easygenerator.com/en/features/powerpoint-import/ The thing with these content authoring apps is always the price. If you work on a team it's more likely your manager would approve of subscribing to some sort of app. It's not cheap, though. Take a look at the pricing below. Also, if you work independently either for a small business or as a contractor, the $1000 annual fee needs to be factored into the ROI of your projects. Do you think these prices are reasonable or a bit out of reach?

 I've been anticipating the arrival of new content authoring apps for about five years now. After using Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline 3 (now retired) for several years, I became a little bored with these. I think the learners were bored as well. I did a little digging to find an app I hadn't heard of: Evolve. Are you familiar with it? I'd like to hear your experiences with it. https://www.intellum.com/platform/evolve

  Prior to graduate school for a degree in Instructional Systems Learning Technology I had an 18-month contract as an e-learning instructional designer. I was excited to land this job which consisted of converting instructor-led training to e-learning micro modules, or microlearning. My manager and her assistant were traditional trainers with no background in using Adobe Captivate. They hired me to do this. My only experience was a boot camp that I had completed the month prior with Ledet Training. I also had seven years' experience as a technical writer designing training documents. Years earlier I had worked for small trade magazines where I designed page layout. Together, these skills were enough to get me started in the field. It was a big sacrifice to invest a lot of money on purchasing the Adobe Captivate student version, and the bootcamp training. I felt this was important because the job postings required experience in this app. Now, I think that just as many, if not more c...

  As an Instructional Designer in Higher Education your tasks will range along the ADDIE model: Source: https://hortmonvera.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/addie-instructional-model/ A peer in my graduate ISLT program also works for the University. Her tasks in instructional design are determined by the department she works for. This is her second assignment as an instructional design assistant. Some of her tasks include testing links to multimedia content, checking library references, and proofreading and editing content. She graduated from the program recently and was promoted to Instructional Designer 2. In this role she uses apps like PowerPoint to create the videos and recordings that accompany these. She also uses Camtasia by Tech Smith to make similar content. However, this tool takes some skill to use, which impacts the Design and Development stages. Are you working in Higher Education or planning to as an Instructional Designer? Which apps are you currently using and which o...

University Librarians using Twitter Using Twitter to connect members of a learning community is an interesting idea. In my graduate class we read this article about librarians using Twitter to promote articles and activities in university libraries.  Several 'before-and-after' examples were shared with librarians making statement posts, as compared to those making marketing-like posts to promote an idea. For example, a statement post lists the link to the library's music source files. There's no additional information for students who may be unfamiliar with this. In contrast, the librarian posted what the journal article authors describe as 'interesting and personality-rich' Twitter posts targeted to the new graduating class. It addresses them as "alums" and let's them know that they're always welcome to use the library. I do agree that this post personalizes the librarian and the services offered to these new graduates. The librarians at this ...

https://www.aura.com/learn/social-media-privacy-risks This week in my graduate course we discussed social media tools - Web 2.0 - that are useful in learning environments. My disclosure is that I typically don't use social media for personal use, and this makes it a bigger jump to think about using it for learning purposes. The irony is that I enrolled in this elective class because I am intrigued about using social media for learning environments.  The points I vacillate on are data security and time commitment. With data security I would need to ensure that learners' data, user profiles, etc. are protected. This isn't the same thing if it's higher education and the university is using an LMS. FERPA and a contract protect student data and how it's used. With free social media apps there's more risk to a learner's content. I'm still exploring these tools to determine if there are settings to protects our learner's identities and content. One thing th...

 This is an interesting read. Fellow grad students, instructional designers -- do you agree with this author's perspective?  https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/education-time-corona/hottest-job-higher-education-instructional-designer The author makes a point about the average professor not having training in course design or assessment. This has always be interesting to me that college professors don't need the preparation that K-12 teachers obtain as undergraduates. This includes curriculum design, learning objectives, differentiating material based on learner needs, assessment, and much more. My sense is that the average professor doesn't take courses in this.  Read the article and comment below. I'm interested in hearing what you think.

 This article presents an interesting perspective on working in Higher Ed as an Instructional Designer. The author, Todd Taylor shares what his 18 months of experience in the field have been like. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-perspectives-instructional-design-higher-education-todd-taylor He makes the point that many IDers are used for two main functions in Higher Ed: 1) To review course material and ensure its accuracy 2) To develop graphical content such as PowerPoints, videos, etc. He proposes that our main function is that we should be doing design thinking. This includes working backward by reviewing assessments and evaluations in order to determine learning gaps and learner needs. In fact, this is what instructional design curriculum is all about for graduate students. What he is saying is that we need to be prepared to advocate for ourselves in order to define our roles. If we don't we can end up performing a lot of tasks that aren't the greatest use of our educat...

 I'm thinking that instructional designers were first employed at universities before they worked in the corporate sector and military. Do you happen to know if this is accurate? During my graduate studies in Instructional Design I've met peers who work for the University as an ID assistant. What a great opportunity to bring relevant, real-world design work into their studies.  What is it like to work with staff and faculty at the university level? What kinds of projects are there?

  As a graduate student of Instructional Design I'm taking a class in using Web 2.0 social media tools. My first thought was "how am I going to fit one more thing into my weekly to-do list?" I'm juggling graduate school, fulltime work, a side gig (though only about 8-10 hours per week), and wanting to add a fitness routine to my schedule (I haven't been successful -- yet. Tomorrow is another day!). However, the idea of using social media tools in a learning environment is something that motivates me to learn more about. Although I'm taking it slow in adopting all of the tools shared in my graduate class, I am getting used to blogging. It occurred to me tonight as I work on homework: the key is being consistent. When I realized that I only need to commit about 15 minutes per week (minimum) to blogging I recognized that this is something I can manage. This helped me de-stress and see that blogging isn't distracting me from my other tasks but its giving me an...