My Life-Long Learning Goals
My future learning goals focus more on the hard skills of my future career path. Since I transitioned from a K-12 classroom to corporate education, it has been vital for me to shift my skill set. To better understand the more technical side of Instructional Design and Corporate Education, I have set my goals around learning the technical side of web development. The three areas that I have chosen to focus on are Adobe Captivate Certification, Mimo application for Javascript, and Introduction to Instructional Design by the Harvard Extention School. For the majority of my Masters in Educational Technology, I was in a K-12 classroom which directed my learning towards what was most applicable to me at the time. Moving forward, I would like to explore the technical side of Instructional Design and its use of web development.
As I look at job requirements for Instructional Design positions, many want candidates to know Adobe Captivate. Adobe Captivate is a commonly used eLearning software for companies to create professional educational content. It is held up as being the industry standard software, with the ability to be a one stop shop for creating online curriculum. Some of the features include the ability to create interactive videos, multi-platform support, and fluid integration with outside software. Learning this software will give me the skills to be more qualified for the positions that interest me. The Adobe Captivate Certification is an online program with around 35 hours of educational content to learn how to use the software and a final exam to test your knowledge. The course costs around $500 and is self-paced. By completing this program, I can gain the skills and confidence needed for future positions.
The Harvard Extension School offers an accredited online introductory course for Instructional Design. While my master's program covered topics applicable to Instructional Design, it did not explicitly teach to the career path. The course focuses on a project-based model for developing skills in Instructional Design. The course costs around $1500 for noncredit, which is relatively expensive but would be a great addition to my resume. I would also keep this course in mind as a lifelong learning refresher in a few years to ensure that I stay updated on best practices. As with my current coursework, I have found that it makes me a better professional to continue my learning while working. It has been a significant advantage to tie my learning to current experiences in my professional context. Setting myself up to take the Introduction to Instructional Design course in the future would allow for a similar advantage to my recent course work.
Another essential part of being qualified for an Instructional Design career is the knowledge of web development programming languages. I have gained a working knowledge of HTML and CSS through the use of Mimo and other similar software. Mimo is a subscription-based application for mobile devices with short, digestible lessons for a multitude of programming languages. Using Mimo, I will learn JavaScript to round out the necessary knowledge for web development. Many job applications either require JavaScript expertise or is listed as a skill that is good to have. Gaining the knowledge of JavaScript would also allow me to round out my programming language knowledge that are most critical in web development. JavaScript would give me a significant leg up as I move forward with my current career trajectory.
I have learned so much as I near the end of the Masters in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. My time in the program over the past few years has instilled in me the importance of life-long learning. The exposure and reinforcement of educational best practices have allowed me to shift my career goals. Focusing on the technical skills for instructional design will let me continue on the career path I have started. Learning JavaScript, Adobe Captivate, and explicit instruction on Instructional Design will allow me to take the next step in my career.