Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash
This is the submission I wrote as part of my application to the Master of Arts – Learning and Technology program. Published here to mark my thoughts and ideas as I began my graduate journey.
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. it’s not just what it looks like and feels like. design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs (Walker, 2003, p. 80)
I have always fascinated by the way things worked. Not only the how, but also the why. Throughout my design education, curiosity led me beyond the visual composition of messages into Gestalt theory – the psychology of perception, and the process of making meaning – and into communication theory that helped me understand the designer’s role in the context of how messages are created, communicated, and received by audiences. The how and the why of visual communication.
Graduating from design school during the emergence of the web and the rise of the Internet from an academic curiosity into a mainstream communication medium was a fascinating time to be curious, and it led me from traditional print-based graphic design into user experience design and consulting. And I began to teach.
“Throughout my career, it is curiosity that has fuelled my creativity more than any other factor.”
I found myself modelling those who taught me, guiding students in a discipline that bridges both art and science, theoretical and practical, figuring out what worked and what didn’t, one semester at a time. I helped to develop courses that would pull the Design program forward into the 21st century, keeping the program relevant to evolving design, communication, and business needs. I often considered the how and the why of learning, and how contemporary teaching practices and environments seemed to lag behind the current understanding of how people actually learn.
In 2013, I began teaching in the Bachelor of Interaction Design program at Sheridan College, which gave me a taste of how a digital Learning Management System could be better integrated into course design, development, and delivery. Course materials such as project briefs and lecture notes were delivered digitally. Projects were submitted and graded online. New ways to engage with students and curriculum were becoming not only possible, but also encouraged.
As progressive as it was, delivery was still primarily in the classroom, and not all of it was extremely well integrated with the digital technologies we had access to. With incoming cohorts of students becoming increasingly “digital native,” increasingly mobile-first, and increasingly internationally diverse, traditional methods of teaching and engaging with students began to expose us to new challenges.
In 2018, a newly elected government in Ontario was pushing hard on online/remote learning as a key pillar of their primary and secondary public education strategy, and educators were pushing back. There were certainly issues of access and equity at stake, but I also felt there were opportunities to transform learning in meaningful ways in the 21stcentury. From my limited vantage point, it seemed few were talking about applying user experience design methodologies in creating learner-centred education and training. I began to wonder where the next generation of learning leadership might come from, particularly in the field of technology-enhanced learning, and whether I could be an agent of change in that space.
Then the pandemic happened. Educators at all levels around the world – in primary, secondary, post-secondary, and corporate learning environments – suddenly grappled with how to deliver learning online and remotely… synchronously, asynchronously, using a new platform called “Zoom,” figuring out Microsoft Teams, stretching our knowledge and our tools to their limits… we were thrown into the deep end of learning and technology, and it was time to learn how to swim.
“We are at a unique point in history, where education policy, technology, and pedagogy all seem aligned toward new possibilities.”
If the public policy initiatives were a log on the fire of learning transformation, COVID-19 was gasoline. The challenges I experienced in my own teaching, and those I heard of from friends and colleagues at all levels of education sparked my curiosity once more, and I felt there was an opportunity to discover the how and the why of transforming digital learning experiences.
My experiences over the last 20+ years as a designer and educator were brought into sharper focus, as my vision, purpose, and direction began to crystallize around this idea. Pursuing formal learning to build upon my design skills and learning experience toward leadership in digital learning is the area of focus I have been seeking for the next phase of my career.
Learning about the Master of Arts – Learning and Technology program at Royal Roads University felt like the missing piece of the puzzle falling into place. With an excellent blend of theoretical and applied knowledge, no other graduate program has sparked my excitement – and my curiosity – the way this one seems to.
Through the program, I hope to gain new knowledge and insight, learn new skills, and identify gaps and opportunities in the learning and technology space that will leverage my experience as both a designer and educator. I look forward to creating a new generation of engaging digital content, facilitation techniques, and outstanding learning experiences.
I hope to explore how user experience design processes can play a role in learner-centred education at all levels, where both learners and educators have encountered challenges and opportunities. I am motivated by three overarching goals:
- Become a better instructor: Learn best practices in evidence-based learning methodologies that take best advantage of a full range of available technologies in learner-centred environments. Explore content development, and modes of delivery, facilitation, and assessment that deliver engaging learning experiences and positive outcomes.
- Become a better instructional designer: Design and develop courses and learning materials from both pedagogical and experiential perspectives, with a focus on building outstanding digital-first learning tools and methods for blended and remote delivery.
- Become a thought leader in technology-enhanced learning: Consult with professors, teachers, administrators, and policy makers in education, government, and business sectors to assist in navigating an increasingly complex learning landscape to advise, design, and implement digital learning environments that deliver on learning objectives.
We are at a turning point where the very nature of our relationship with work and learning can shift to a more human-centred model.
“Where we experience challenges, there are opportunities.
This is exciting.”
Connecting with learners in remote and global communities, where learning opportunities previously did not exist, or time-shifting learning activities so that people can more easily pursue education while working to support their families, are just two of the many transformative outcomes we may be able to realize.
Although the social and cultural changes brought about by the covid-19 pandemic have been unpleasant and uncomfortable at times, there is little doubt in my mind that there are opportunities before us that have tremendous transformative potential. I am excited to bring that potential to light through the program and into practice.
The last two years have opened us up to remote learning on a scale we had not previously experienced and taught us that pivoting to modes of delivery beyond the classroom is not a simple process. Thoughtful planning and learner-centred design processes must be undertaken to meet learners where they are, to deliver high-quality learning experiences and outcomes. Bringing to the program my skills as a designer and my experience as an educator, in combination with the knowledge I will gain through the Master of Arts – Learning and Technology curriculum will position me well as a leader in the digital learning space.
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