Looking back: One year ago, today, I was finishing seven hours of video production work, compiling several hours of Zoom training videos into one 30-minute Teaching with Zoom tutorial for our faculty members. I was not alone during this mid-week of March 2020; instructional designers like me from around the country had shifted into high gear to support instructors transitioning to fully-online teaching due to campus shutdowns under the Coronavirus pandemic. Even today, I join many across the globe who are reflecting back on the struggle of the past year’s COVID-19-induced educational crisis. But we can all acknowledge that e-learning has served us well. And even as we anticipate a safe return to campus life in the near future, it is also true that many will remain in their newly-established virtual learning communities.
Looking forward: One year later, I am looking forward to online education growing even stronger as a vibrant and effective learning environment. One year later, I am transitioning to a new instructional design position — for a new program. I move from the Educational Technology Department in Denver Seminary’s Master of Arts Programs to the role of Senior Instructional Designer for its new online PhD Program in Counselor Education and Supervision. It is a fresh opportunity to participate in the future of online teaching and learning.
In preparation for this new position, I completed a data synopsis as part of my final CU Denver graduate course: Research in Learning Design & Technology. It covers the research study by N. Chipere, “Developing Online Doctoral Programmes” (2015). In addition to a synopsis of the study’s objectives, data analysis, and conclusions, this paper presents strengths of Chipere’s study (2015), offers critiques, and suggests uses for the research results. The PDF is posted below.
For this and other Academic Projects: https://jackisoister.com/portfolio/academic-projects/