From Special Educator to Learning Designer: Establishing a Brand of Inclusivity, Accessibility, and Opportunity

     Working in education has been my career and passion for the last two decades. I have taught all grades in the K-12 setting as a special education teacher. Additionally, I have also worked as an Education Program Coordinator at the Achievement & Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas. In that role I helped to develop online state assessments for Kansas and Alaska, while managing a group of graduate research assistants.  I am currently enrolled in the Learning Design and Technology (Graduate Certificate) Program at Arizona State University. Becoming a learning designer has been a natural progression for me. Throughout my career I have remained steadfast in my commitment to ensuring learning is accessible, inclusive, engaging, and ultimately meaningful for every student. I believe profoundly in the life-changing power of learning. Every human has a fundamental drive to grow through the attainment of understanding and application.  This passion has brought me to the field of Learning Design and Technology where I can broaden my impact with the use of technological tools and inclusive strategies that can be brought to scale beyond the current classroom I teach in.

    The ability of technology to effectively reach diverse learners is both exciting and promising for the future. Technology and design driven solutions will break down barriers of accessibility and widen the gates of opportunity even further as time progresses. Knowing that I can be a part of this broadening of educational opportunities not only excites me but also drives me to pursue a career as a learning designer.

Strengths and Perspectives

    My experience with inclusive instructional strategies is a strength that I bring to learning design. Throughout my teaching career I have designed lessons and materials with universal design principles in mind. I ensure that every student can access the material and be successful with it. I know how to assess instructional materials, adjust, and continually refine them to best meet the needs of students. In this way my work is an iterative process of improvement, and much like that of a learning designer.

    My unique perspective as a special education teacher translates well into learning design. I know how to create equitable and engaging experiences that remove barriers and open gates of understanding and application. My ability to break down complex content and assignments, using task analysis, will lend itself well to the materials and learning experiences I design.  While teaching I have mapped out curriculum, created assessments through backwards planning, and utilized engagement strategies in both online and in blended learning settings. I know how vital it is to prioritize learner needs, organizational goals, and measurable outcomes, so that effectiveness can be increased with each iteration of a lesson, unit, or module. I also know the importance of adapting new and emerging technologies to better meet the needs of learners. My inclusive mindset, along with my commitment to continuous improvement will guide me as I progress as a learning designer.

Career Goals

    My short-term goal as a learning designer is to find a role outside of the classroom in higher education or in the K-12 curriculum industry. In the long term I want my work to improve educational equity by utilizing technology and design solutions that work to close opportunity gaps for people of all ages. I became a teacher with Teach for America at the beginning of my career to work to close the achievement gap. Now as a learning designer I want to use technologies to produce learning experiences and environments that seek to close the opportunity gap.

    There are many core competencies for learning designers. Successful learning designers must understand learning theory and be effective communicators while managing projects and adapting their work across a variety of modalities and tools (Bozarth., 2019). As a teacher I have extensive experience with multi-tasking across a variety of settings while managing ongoing projects and communicating with students, parents, administrators, and other stakeholders. While teaching I have provided professional development to staff, advocated for my department and my students, and facilitated school wide activities and events. I also know how to build rapport with both students and staff by maintaining communication. Communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, organizational and soft skills are all foundational competencies that learning designers need to possess (Ritzhaupt et al., 2021). Over my career as a teacher, I have not only gained these foundational skills but have honed and refined them on a day-to-day basis.

Influences

    The work of Thomas J. Tobin, PhD, is inspiring. His emphasis on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in higher education is very important to me. The “plus-one” thinking of giving students one additional way to access learning is vital in breaking down barriers to learning and making education more inclusive through accessibility.  I have also been influenced by the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison et al., 1999). This framework provides a clear method to use when designing courses to be effective and engaging. The framework highlights the overlapping of the teaching, social, and cognitive presences to provide an effective learning experience that fosters deeper understanding, discourse, and connection among students and instructors. The work of Tobin and the Col framework both align with my mission of providing high quality learning experiences that are engaging, accessible, and inclusive.  

Areas of Interest

    On my journey as a learning designer, I am eager to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI), gamification of learning, and virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR). I believe these technologies will increase accessibility by individualizing educational experiences across various settings. AI has the potential to tutor students and guide them on their learning paths with adaptive lessons and experiences that academically meet students’ needs. AR and VR have the potential to allow students and instructors to connect in new ways that enhance understanding. Gamification of learning makes it possible to increase motivation by chunking information into smaller parts and rewarding persistence. I look forward to exploring these areas and implementing them as I progress as a learning designer.  

Contributing to the Learning Design Community

    My ultimate goal is to broaden my impact in education. I will do this by contributing to the designing and providing of equitable inclusive learning experiences that seek to close the opportunity gap. I will contribute to the learning design community by being cognizant of the impact I know I can make, documenting what I do, collaborating with others, learning from those around me, and dedicating my work to the greater good of education and society.

                                                        References

Bozarth, J. (2019, April 9). Nuts and Bolts: The ID (Job Description) Bucket Overfloweth.. eLearning Guild: Learning Solutions. https://www.LearningGuild.com/articles/nuts-and-bolts-the-id-job-description-bucket-overfloweth/Links to an external site.

Garrison, D. Randy., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87–105. https://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/handle/2149/739/?sequence=1

Ritzhaupt, A. D., Kumar, S., & Martin, F. (2021). The Competencies for Instructional Designers in Higher Education.. In  S. Conklin,  B.  Oyarzun,  R. M. Reese, &  J. E. Stefaniak (Eds.), A Practitioner's Guide to Instructional Design in Higher Education. EdTech Books. https://dx.doi.org/10.59668/164.4268Links to an external site.

Ideas and concepts explored in this post were brainstormed in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.