I am a graduate student in the Learning, Design, and Technology program at UNC Charlotte, set to graduate in May 2024. Prior to joining the program as a full-time student, I was a first grade teacher for five years. My experience with teaching has helped me with transitioning to the Instructional Design field because many of the instructional strategies and theories I utilized in teaching are able to transfer over to Instructional Design.
Currently, I am a graduate assistant for the University Center for Academic Excellence (UCAE) at UNC Charlotte where I focus on supporting staff with training course design and development, as well as producing marketing materials for the Center.
Below are links to my LinkedIn profile, digital portfolio, and email address. I can be contacted by any of these platforms.
My Instructional Design Philosophy
As an Instructional Designer with teaching experience, I am a big advocate for education and creating life-long learners. I believe that even as adults, we never stop learning. Even if an individual is an expert in a field, they should be continually developing their expertise as new research and information is released. The best way to create life-long adult learners is by designing accessible, inclusive, and engaging learner-centered instructional solutions. I like to incorporate gamification techniques, such as badging, simulations, and roleplay scenarios, into trainings when suitable. Interactive elements like branching scenarios, matching, and click-to-reveal interactions are common, less complex elements that I tend to include in the trainings I have developed. These elements tend to engage learners more and make the instructional solutions more successful.