IDPT Masters Degree at Franklin University

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was recently asked by the Dean of my college to serve as the Interim Chair of the Instructional Design and Performance Technology (IDPT) program at Franklin University. I thought I would share a little bit about Franklin and about the program. First, here is a video introduction:

http://video.franklin.edu/Franklin/idpt/IntroductiontoIDPT.htm


IDPT Program
Our instructional design program is unique because it provides a balance between both instructional design and performance technology. My masters degree was almost purely instructional design with one performance technology course, and I believe the addition of the performance competencies really gives program graduates a unique perspective and provides them with useful knowledge and skills.

The faculty of this program consist of 10 Doctorate-qualified instructional designers who work full-time for Franklin as well as several adjunct faculty members working as professionals in the field of instructional design and performance technology. Each faculty member brings unique perspective to the field.

Franklin has what we call a Centralized Curriculum, which means that course outcomes and activities are standardized so that every course has the same core. Course instructors then bring their own unique experiences and expertise and mentor our students new higher levels of learning. Our course development follows a strong instructional design process by a full instructional design team, including:

• Faculty Members
• Instructional Design Faculty
• Content Contributors
•  Course Editors
• A Multimedia Development Team

If you are interested in developing your knowledge and skills and in earning a Masters degree, I recommend taking a look at the IDPT Program at Franklin University!

About Franklin University
Franklin University is a mid-size private, non-profit university located in Columbus, Ohio. It offers several bachelors and masters degrees and has been a pillar in the educational community in Central Ohio since 1902.

The Tendency to Jump to Conclusions

We live in an increasingly complex world, one that is competitive and sometimes harsh. A poor decision now can mean many negative consequences in the future.

What constantly surprises me is that in all of the organizations I've worked in, people (including myself) have the tendency to jump to a response before they consider the problem. Why do people tend to do this? There are probably many reasons- it is easy, we think we know the right answer, we are conceited or overly-confident, etc. When we jump to a response, we might sometimes be right, but we can very often be very wrong.

The Importance of Analysis
To make good decisions in business, in instructional design, and in our lives, we need to analyze what is happening before we jump to our responses. The capacity to consider a problem from different perspectives, to gather data on the nature of the problem, and to critically analyze that data are absolutely vital, and if we do not analyze the problem, we might end up making these common mistakes:

• fail to articulate the actual problem and work to solve a pseudo-problem.
• fail to articulate our goal.
• overlook crucially important data that could help us solve the problem or fill the need.

Instead of jumping to conclusions, we should ask the following questions and gather data and research deeply to answer them:

• what really is the problem? What is the root cause of the problem?
• what do we want to happen? what is our goal?
• what data are there to help us answer these questions correctly?

By truly analyzing a problem and articulating what we want to have happen, we will be much more likely to respond in an effective way. So, what do you think? Is there something I am missing? Why do we tend to jump to conclusions without thinking through all of the issues clearly?

ADDIE Process - Implementation Phase

This post is part 4 in a 5-part series on the Phases of the ADDIE Process of Instructional Design. 
< Previous post: Development    |    Next post: Evaluation >
 

After you have developed your unit of e-learning, you are prepared to implement your instruction. This can take place in a traditional classroom, in a Learning Management System, etc. Depending on the environment, the implementation is different. Here are some things to consider when you are ready to implement your unit of instruction:

1. Pilot test. If you can conduct a pilot test of the instruction and make revisions based on how the pilot went, you will have a much higher quality piece of instruction. This is discussed in greater detail in the upcoming post on evaluation.
2. Notify all stakeholders that the course is ready to run. This includes managers, administration, facilitators, and learners.
3. Select and train facilitator. Make sure they are confident in their ability to facilitate the training.
4. Gather print materials. Make sure any student workbooks or job aids are prepared.
5. Secure needed technology. This includes projectors, laptops, ipads, or any other needed technology.
6. secure training space. Make sure the space provides all needed resources.
7. Create schedule of training or instruction.

There are likely dozens of other considerations, but the above list should get you started. For a nice explanation of the Implementation Phase, watch the video below:

How to Set and Reach Career Goals

Several years ago in my Masters degree program I created a goal-setting booklet for setting and reaching career goals. If you use this booklet, you will do the following:

1. Identify and write down your goal
2. Plan and write down the steps to reach that goal
3. Do the plan by following the steps outlined
4. Evaluate and adjust your plan based on how it went

 I followed a solid instructional design process for creating the booklet, and I feel pretty good about the content and the strategies used. It was a really fun project and I think the booklet is useful for those who want to reach their career goals. I thought it would be worth sharing the finished product- feel free to use it or share it as desired! Here is the Career Goal-Setting Booklet.

A Promotion at Franklin - Interim Program Chair

I was recently asked by the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Technology at Franklin University to serve as the Interim Chair for the Masters of Science program in Instructional Design and Performance Technology (IDPT). This came as quite a surprise, and the exiting program chair will certainly be missed.

This new opportunity has caused me to reflect on my professional experiences over the last 10 years or so. I have been blessed with excellent opportunities to develop myself, to excel, and to move forward in my career. I feel greatly blessed to have this exciting opportunity.

IDPT is an excellent program- my predecessor Dr. Dawn Snyder dedicated herself to quality in the curriculum and in the courses that have been developed so far. I work for a university that is growing and expanding, and I have support from my peers and from my administration.

I feel somewhat overwhelmed- I am replacing a woman who has extensive experience in teaching, designing and consulting in the field, and I am a relatively young academic in the field. This new position will require quite a shift in my mindset because I will be performing administrative duties, along with the curriculum and course development of a new program.

An assumption of instructional design is that learners should learn within their "zone of proximal development" - that certain knowledge and skills must be learned before more complex knowledge and skills can be learned. I am definitely being pushed to my limits here and feel as if I am at the brink of my own zone of proximal development, but I welcome the experience and the knowledge and abilities that will come through this experience and am confident that success will be the outcome.

I will definitely write about my experiences as they unfold....