Week 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

This section of your textbook focuses on jobs in the profession of instructional design and technology: lessons and tips on how to get one and organizations that can support the job search and continued learning in the IDT field. Many of you already have a job in the field or in a related field; however, based on this week’s readings, you’ll reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to learn or do to get there.

Begin your post for this week with some background: what is your current job, what program are you enrolled in, what brings you to that program, and what do you expect when you graduate (change jobs? obtain a promotion?).

Currently, I am in my 6^th year of teaching 6^th grade Social Studies in Garland ISD. I love my job and enjoy working with my students every day. I am currently enrolled in the Educational Technology – Library Science program at TAMUC. I came to the program after being inspired by my mom (an elementary school librarian) to pursue a job in school libraries. When I graduate, I hope to stay within my current district and transfer to a position as a middle school or high school librarian.

Next, describe the kind of work that you want to do and the type of organization or institution in which you want to work. Use the WorkMatrixTM in the chapter titled “Getting a Job in Business and Industry” to help organize your thoughts. Do you most desire first, second, third, or fourth level service? Or would you rather design or develop instruction? What features of work are important to you? What economic sector do you want to work in?

I really do enjoy the public school setting and so I see myself continuing in that sort of organizational structure on the future. The WorkMatrix solidified my understanding of myself as a mostly-first level service provider. I feel there are some aspects of the third level that could apply to what I would like to do in my role as a school librarian. I think the job description of librarians will continue to change as technology becomes an increasingly essential aspect of education.

I believe that one of the features of work that are important to me is community. I would ultimately hope to find a position at a school where the role of the librarian both as a professional and as a technology facilitator is one that is respected. I feel like this would also help me to cultivate a school environment where teachers and librarians work as a team to design instruction and interactions with students that will help them grow as readers and learners in general.

I think I could easily see myself as a technology facilitator or a more traditional librarian at either a public or private school, so I hesitate to say that I would only consider working in the public sector. A private setting may pay less, but offer rewards in other ways.

Based on these intentions, explain what you need to learn. What skills and qualifications do you need? Will you obtain the skills you need in the required courses in your program? What electives might you need to take to help you develop skills specific to your aspirations?

While I feel fully qualified to operate as an educator in a school setting, I know there are other aspects of the job of librarian that I need to master.  For example, even modern librarians must know how to catalogue and build a collection that meets the needs of their particular institution.  I feel like the program at TAMUC fully addresses the expectations for librarians in the modern school setting. I feel confident that I will obtain all of these skills by the end of my graduate program. Since I would like to become a librarian that is not afraid of incorporating new technologies and platforms into my work, it would be great to take electives that focus on these aspects of the job.

Finally, what organizations would best support your continued learning after you graduate? Do you think you would benefit from joining those organizations before graduating? Explain why or why not?

Because I hope to be a technology-savvy library educator, I feel that organizations like ISTE and ITEA would be great options for me. I see no reason that these groups could no benefit me just as much before graduating as after. It is never to early or too late to surround ourselves with people and organizations that will encourage our growth and learning as educators and technology facilitators.

Section 5: Trends and Issues

Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry; military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3 of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

Section V offers a look into the various applications of IDT in contexts other than my own. I am currently teaching my 6^th year at a public middle school in Texas, so seeing how the issues of unrelated industries parallel my own or are different from those in my field has been interesting. I have chosen to focus on issues facing the fields of the Military, Health Care Education, and Post-Secondary Education.

Military

Many issues face today’s modern militaries. Many of these issues mirror those that we face in the education of children. In addressing the needs of our respective audiences, we can taoilor our designs to have the most impact.

One major issue facing military trainers is “recognizing that ineffective instruction can have catastrophic consequences.”

This issue struck me as being very relevant to a public school educator, but for a different reason than it might be for a military instructional designer. The results of poor military training are a literal matter of life and death. People can lose their lives if not properly trained in the newest technologies. While my job is not always a matter of life and death, it is extremely important for my students’ futures. If I am not an effective facilitator of modern technologies and methods of learning, my students are not as prepared for the global job market they will face upon graduation. In this way, I feel that addressing our role as “trainers” in either context is essential. We must constantly evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of our instructional design, always with the future of our trainees in mind.

Also important to military training is “ training that addresses needs of the military and individual interests.”

This issue in IDT for military purposes is really relevant to all areas of training, in all fields. Human are incredibly diverse in their interests. If we fail to seek out new ways to engage the particular interests of individuals, we lose a great opportunity to create instructional design that is truly effective.

In the field of public education, we are constantly told to differentiate our instruction to reach all levels of learners. In doing this, we must also juggle the challenge of reaching our students by appealing to their personal interests. This can be a really challenging task at times, but in the end creates the most dynamic and effective learning environment. When we do this through the use of instructional technology, the returns are enhanced, and our students are engaged as well as being more prepared for their future work lives.

Health Care Education

As the text points out, health care education is a very broad field, encompassing more than just doctors and nurses. It has seen an increased promotion of problem-based learning, where students are encouraged to deal with actual clinical scenarios to increase their medical expertise. The implementation of proper instructional design is crucial in this area, and like the military can often be a matter of life or death.

In particular, the “convergence” of different modalities (computers, internet, and telecommunications systems) have led to a boom in the amount of knowledge and ease of research that is available to health science trainees. This is very similar to what has happened in the field of public education. The advent of the internet has put a great amount of pressure on both teachers and students to obtain and synthesize information.

In the same way, medical students are expected to utilize the wealth of information that has been made accessible to them. The text discusses this in the context of “knowledge and research.” Convergence allows a greater capacity for collaboration among colleagues and students in both the medical field and public education. We can, for example, use Skype and its screen share feature simultaneously to work with educators and students in another country in real time if we so desire. This places a great deal of importance on how we design instruction around technology. In both the medical education field and the public education field, it is important the make sure that students are not just using the technology, but really reaping all the benefits that such ease of access to information can bring. It also continues to place pressure on both students and educators to really utilize this access to continually grow in our knowledge and methods of research in our respective fields.

Post Secondary Education

In this section of the text, the focus shifts from describing issues in particular fields to more of a “vignette” look at specific anecdotes. What I gleaned from this section is that college level educators, and instructional technology designers in particular, are expected to focus more on effective delivery of e-learning rather than specific pedagogy. This is a very different approach than that of k-12 teachers. Our focus is usually pedagogy first, technology second. I think in the long run, this makes more sense. At the post-secondary level, students should be expected to take the lead in their own learning.

The issues facing post secondary instructional designers are similar to those facing designers in the military and K-12 education. Modern ideas about learning demand that we not only evaluate learning delivery for its effectiveness in conveying information, but also address the interests and learning styles of the students.

Conclusion

Overall, it is not difficult to identify similar issues and trends present in all of these fields. Ultimately, each is concerned with addressing the ultimate goals of the industry while promoting student learning and cultivating a trainee pool that will successfully carry out the “mission” of each field.