Back to School: Why I’m Studying e-Learning Instructional Design

I am a school nerd. I have always loved to learn. I look back fondly on graduate school (even though it was hard!) and miss the days of hunkering down in the library or local coffee shop to work on my assignments.

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As a consultant, I’m always thinking about professional development and where to focus my time and resources. Over the past few years, I have niched down my work to focus largely on e-Learning. This has come in two forms:

While I love working as a SME, creating my own online course got me really interested in the instructional design side of things. I want to be able to create fantastic courses for my business and also offer clients additional support regarding design. I’ve been considering this step and researching possibilities for quite a while (a few years!) and finally settled on a program that I started this fall.

I am currently enrolled in the University of Washington, Certificate in e-Learning Instructional Design. My program runs October 2020 to June 2021 with a series of four courses:

  • Designing e-Learning Environments

  • Developing & Managing e-Learning

  • E-learning Assessment & Evaluation

  • E-learning Practicum

There are lots of e-Learning and instructional design programs out there; here is why I chose this program:

  • Since I already have a master of public health (MPH) degree, I didn’t think a second master’s was necessary. From my research and conversations with colleagues, it seemed like e-learning/instructional design experience and an impressive portfolio would be most important for work in this area. So that helped me decide that a certificate program would be the best fit for me to gain formal academic preparation in this area (and more budget friendly than a second master’s!)

  • Some programs I researched seemed disorganized with respect to the class schedule- you didn’t know when required courses would be offered because the schedules were always changing. I liked that the University of Washington had the whole schedule planned out for my entire program.

  • The courses are asynchronous with an instructor. So this provides tons of flexibility (i.e., no live classes), while also including lots of different learning strategies and interaction with fellow students and feedback from the instructors (e.g., discussion board assignments, case studies, reading/quizzes, practicum project, etc.)

  • My program is cohort style and I really liked the idea of going through the program with the same peers/students. This provides a great opportunity to build relationships.

  • My program has a dedicated course on assessment & evaluation (because really when you work in public health, you are all about assessment & evaluation).

  • My program wraps up with a practicum, and I wanted to finish a program with a real example of work.

By the time this post goes live, I will be in the final weeks of my first course (Designing e-Learning Environments). So far, I have been very impressed with the quality of instruction and student discussion. It’s been neat to go back to school as an adult learner and join a cohort of people who come to this certificate program from all different backgrounds (e.g., education, nursing, IT, public health, human resources, social science research, etc.)

Even from the first course, I have learned so much that I’m applying to my consulting work. It’s definitely a challenge to add school to an already busy schedule that includes work and homeschool (without childcare!), but I’m proud of myself for pushing forward.

Ironically, I started considering e-Learning programs pre-COVID, having no idea that everything would go online! Now, many organizations are finding themselves with a great need for expertise regarding how to deliver engaging and effective online courses and other learning experiences. I look forward to meeting this need through my client work and the future courses I release through my business.

I’d love to hear from you!

I know I share an interest in e-Learning with many of you:

  • Please leave any questions you have here and I’ll do my best to answer.

  • Also feel free to leave some of your favorite e-Learning resources in the comments as well, I’m always looking for more!