Wow! What a semester! I went from traveling all the time as a trainer at my company, so still traveling all the time as a trainer but also working as an instructional designer, wearing two hats so to speak. This class couldn't have come at a better time for me in my professional life as it has introduced me to many of the things I will need to be successful in my new career path. Some of the things that I will take with me from this class:
1. Focus on the learners. This seems fairly self explanatory but it seems to get lost in the thoughts of many Instructional Designers. No matter what the topic, we need to ensure that we, as Ids are setting the learner up for success after the training is over.
2. Technology is amazing! There are so many things available to the student to make the learning experience more robust. It is very easy to use technology to help all types of learners succeed. An ID can hit most of the multiple intelligences employing technology in training sessions.
3. Think outside of the box. Some of the things we did in class this semester weren't what I would consider "typical" training tools. Take this blog as an example. Before this semester, I thought blogs were for food porn or movie reviews, not a learning tool. Reading about how Google employs technology was inspiring and I will be looking to get more ideas from that outstanding organization in the future.
This has been an amazing experience working with all of you and I hope to take more exciting courses like this in the future!
