After 15 years living and working abroad, I decided to pivot careers from international teaching in visual design to trainining, learning and development. Obtaining an MA in Ed Tech from MSU let me to increase technology use in my visual design curriculum. The possibilities that technology gave my learners were significant: it provided introverts a safe way to share their artistic journeys with others online; online learner communities were established where peer feedback was exchanged to fuel creativity and improvement.  

When the pandemic unfolded in 2020, I found myself joining thousands of other educators as we trekked into the terra incognita of online instruction: to my surprise - I loved it! I decided that full-time online instruction and development was the path for me and I became a full-time instructional designer.  Instructional Design provides the perfect playground for me: I'm able to learn and utilize the newest technology; freely exchange ideas with people to discover and brainstorm with them: learn about what they do and what skills they're lacking. In short, I'm able to apply my background in teaching and learning as well as my skills in visual and graphic design.

I enjoy everything about instructional design: from the Needs Analysis phase where I get to research, interview learners and stakeholders and define success criteria  - to the next stage of the iterative creation process of building a prototype, launching the beta version to get learner feedback and refine the protype.  Creating interactive and engaging learning experiences is incredibly satisfying to me. Through the development of scalable L&D content, I can impact the lives of literally thousands of people - and that feels really great!