Career Flip

I decided to flip flop and post about week 12b first since Dr. James Klein was our first guest speaker.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Klein's interview and discussion covering topics of the history of Ed Tech, how his views have evolved, and where the future of ID is headed. Dr. Klein's background reminded me a lot of my own, elementary school teacher wanting to teach future teachers the right way to teach. Almost fate that he was able to chat with Bob Reiser when he was looking for his next step. I found his response to my question about his current thoughts on the long-ago definition from Dr. Reiser regarding the field of ID to be a merger of education, psychology, and communications to be really enlightening and great example of how he has grown as a researcher and educator. I think the explanation of ID being impacted by systems theory, communication theory, learning theory, and curriculum and instruction theory is exactly what we have been reading about throughout this course. Then to further elaborate on the four areas in which ID has contributed being media design, performance improvement, conditions-based theory, and constructivist-based theory/philosophy describes this ever-changing and growing field's purpose and impact.

It was interesting to learn how Dr. Klein came about co-writing the chapter, Getting Involved in Instructional Design and Technology (2018). The tips Klein and Rushby (2018) suggested are the detailed versions of what Dr. Klein spoke about in the interview. I think it's really wise for every student and professional to get involved, learn what you can, and most importantly-make those connections! Plus, now's the time while we're students and it's cheaper ;) I appreciated Dr. Bonk's advice about taking a picture with a scholar or expert and then later emailing it to them, thanking them, opening the door for communication...and maybe collaboration!

While reading Kumar & Ritzhaupt's (2017) article on ID professional in higher and what it is they do exactly, I was struck by what type and how many universities actually have instructional designers on faculty? And are they more common in specific programs? I'm wondering if Teaching & Learning/Curriculum & Instruction departments would be less likely to hire instructional designers since their staff are supposed to know how to design instruction, hmm. While I did appreciate reading about ID professional's roles, who they service, what their [non]typical day looks like, and so forth, I truly appreciate Dr. Klein's answer to my question about one of the most unexpected positions held by a student with an ID background- Consultant for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for NY Health Dept.

Klein, J. D., & Rushby, N. (2018). Getting involved in instructional design and technology: Recommendations for Professional Development. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4thed.) (pp. 219-228). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Kumar, S. & Ritzhaupt, A. D. (2017). What do instructional designers in higher education really do? International Journal of E-Learning, 16(4), 371-393.