Future Plans
I began my graduate coursework with an educational background in psychology, and a professional background predominantly in public health training, assessment, and evaluation. My decision to further my education in training and development stemmed from two factors. One was an interest in helping people learn. The other was an observation that workplace training and performance improvement solutions were often not effective. Through earning my Master’s of Education (M.Ed.) in Training and Development at North Carolina State University I have gained advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities in instructional design, organizational development, and adult learning. During the time I worked on this degree, I was employed by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first as a training specialist in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and then as an assessment coordinator in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Consequently, I was able to apply concepts learned in my graduate coursework immediately, by putting them into practice in the workplace.
Moving forward, I will continue to assist organizations and their people in developing effective learning and performance improvement solutions, and building a culture of learning, systems thinking, and ethical and social responsibility. Over the next five to ten years, I plan to gain additional work experience as an instructional designer or learning and development professional. I want to build on my existing experience assessing training and performance improvement needs in organizations; developing, designing, and implementing instructional and training strategies and programs; and evaluating the effectiveness of learning solutions by measuring transfer of learning to the workplace. I want to work for an organization whose mission is to help improve people’s lives; where I would have the opportunity to work on different projects, with different clients and subject matter experts; and, where I would work with and learn from other training and development professionals in a community of practice.
It is important to me to remain connected to other professionals in the field, and stay informed of current literature, best practices, and emerging trends. Professional organizations, social technologies, and continuing education opportunities will assist me in reaching these goals. Throughout my master’s program, I have been a member of ASTD (American Society for Training & Development), an association dedicated to workplace learning and development professionals. I will continue my ASTD membership at both national and local levels. One benefit of this membership is a subscription to T+D magazine, a publication that highlights organizations, people, ideas, and practices relevant to training and development professionals. In the future, I hope to have the financial resources to join additional professional organizations, such as the International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Society for Applied Learning Technology (SALT).
LinkedIn and Twitter, social networking and microblogging tools, are great resources for career development and continued education. With LinkedIn, I have established connections with my NCSU professors and peers, former and current colleagues, and friends and acquaintances who work in fields with a connection to workplace training and development. I have joined several LinkedIn groups, including professional organizations such as ASTD and the American Evaluation Association, as well as LinkedIn-specific groups such as Learning, Education and Training Professionals. Members of these groups share resources, post job announcements, generate discussions, and distribute polls on topics of interest. With Twitter, I follow over a dozen training and development organizations and publications to stay up to date on the latest stories, opinions, and news in the training and development field. Examples include Learning Solutions Magazine, E-Learning Council, MERLOT, and Harvard Business Review. In the future, I plan to integrate Twitter into instructional design and performance improvement projects to share resources and create communities of practice.
In terms of continuing education, I have two main areas of interest: 1) using multimedia technologies in instructional design and performance improvement solutions, and 2) studying the connections between cognitive psychology, learning, and instruction. Web programming and multimedia design are skills often requested of instructional designers, and my expertise in this area is limited to e-learning software. I plan to learn about HTML and CSS coding, audio, video, and interaction design through books, online on-demand trainings (e.g., http://www.lynda.com), massive open online courses (MOOCs), or continuing education courses at colleges or universities. My interest in cognitive psychology began with a required course for my undergraduate degree. I find it fascinating to learn about how people think, speak, perceive, remember, and solve problems. In earning a master’s of education and learning about best practices in instructional design, I developed an interest in the educational applications of cognitive psychology. In the short-term, I plan to learn more about this through existing research and evidence-based practices. In the long-term, I plan to influence learning in the workplace by incorporating cognitive strategies into instructional practices.
Moving forward, I will continue to assist organizations and their people in developing effective learning and performance improvement solutions, and building a culture of learning, systems thinking, and ethical and social responsibility. Over the next five to ten years, I plan to gain additional work experience as an instructional designer or learning and development professional. I want to build on my existing experience assessing training and performance improvement needs in organizations; developing, designing, and implementing instructional and training strategies and programs; and evaluating the effectiveness of learning solutions by measuring transfer of learning to the workplace. I want to work for an organization whose mission is to help improve people’s lives; where I would have the opportunity to work on different projects, with different clients and subject matter experts; and, where I would work with and learn from other training and development professionals in a community of practice.
It is important to me to remain connected to other professionals in the field, and stay informed of current literature, best practices, and emerging trends. Professional organizations, social technologies, and continuing education opportunities will assist me in reaching these goals. Throughout my master’s program, I have been a member of ASTD (American Society for Training & Development), an association dedicated to workplace learning and development professionals. I will continue my ASTD membership at both national and local levels. One benefit of this membership is a subscription to T+D magazine, a publication that highlights organizations, people, ideas, and practices relevant to training and development professionals. In the future, I hope to have the financial resources to join additional professional organizations, such as the International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Society for Applied Learning Technology (SALT).
LinkedIn and Twitter, social networking and microblogging tools, are great resources for career development and continued education. With LinkedIn, I have established connections with my NCSU professors and peers, former and current colleagues, and friends and acquaintances who work in fields with a connection to workplace training and development. I have joined several LinkedIn groups, including professional organizations such as ASTD and the American Evaluation Association, as well as LinkedIn-specific groups such as Learning, Education and Training Professionals. Members of these groups share resources, post job announcements, generate discussions, and distribute polls on topics of interest. With Twitter, I follow over a dozen training and development organizations and publications to stay up to date on the latest stories, opinions, and news in the training and development field. Examples include Learning Solutions Magazine, E-Learning Council, MERLOT, and Harvard Business Review. In the future, I plan to integrate Twitter into instructional design and performance improvement projects to share resources and create communities of practice.
In terms of continuing education, I have two main areas of interest: 1) using multimedia technologies in instructional design and performance improvement solutions, and 2) studying the connections between cognitive psychology, learning, and instruction. Web programming and multimedia design are skills often requested of instructional designers, and my expertise in this area is limited to e-learning software. I plan to learn about HTML and CSS coding, audio, video, and interaction design through books, online on-demand trainings (e.g., http://www.lynda.com), massive open online courses (MOOCs), or continuing education courses at colleges or universities. My interest in cognitive psychology began with a required course for my undergraduate degree. I find it fascinating to learn about how people think, speak, perceive, remember, and solve problems. In earning a master’s of education and learning about best practices in instructional design, I developed an interest in the educational applications of cognitive psychology. In the short-term, I plan to learn more about this through existing research and evidence-based practices. In the long-term, I plan to influence learning in the workplace by incorporating cognitive strategies into instructional practices.
