"We're lifelong learners and there is always more to learn, something to improve, and something new to master."

-Cammy Bean, The Accidental Instructional Designer, Learning Design for the Digital Age (2014)

 

My intuitive training style aims to personalize each learner's experience to foster a growth mindset and inspire intrinsic motivation. I am a combination facilitator and delegator, instructing through conversation while encouraging learners to form their own opinions and ideas. By empowering learners to provide their perspectives on the lesson and discuss why they think as they do, we, as trainers, acknowledge that they bring valuable insight and experience to the instruction. By keeping the material relevant and drawing from the trainee's past experiences, learners remain engaged and motivated because they feel respected and valued. Students who are excited to learn and grow retain knowledge better than those who are uninterested and forced to proceed. By designing fun and engaging lessons that encourage exploration and research, I encourage peer-to-peer discussion and learning through observation and, in turn, facilitate student-to-student teaching.

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"Graphics included in your eLearning course should be 508-compliant."

-Marina Arshavskiy, Instructional Design for ELearning (2013)

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Learning environments should be open safe spaces where students can discuss observations, perspectives, and lesson topics without judgment. Learning comes from communication and self-reflection, and learners must feel comfortable sharing to develop the critical thinking skills that lead to innovative ideologies.

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“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.” – Mahatma Gandhi (n.d.)

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Diverse environments create varied perspectives due to cultural differences and regional viewpoints (Biesta et al., 2022). Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are integral to learning because social-emotional skills are pillars of humanity. For students to understand their audience, they must first be willing to accept their fellow humans and open their hearts and minds to them in a way that encourages trust, communication, and compassion. By leading through example, I do my best to facilitate these interactions and create a learning space where learners thrive by celebrating differences and respecting individual practices.

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"Whenever you want to tell your learners something, first ask yourself if there's any way they can tell you, instead."

-Julie Dirken, Design For How People Learn (2012)

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Maya Angelou (Winfrey, 2014) said, "When you know better, you do better." This is a philosophy I live by and instill in my students. Education is about growing and changing; feedback is integral to that journey. I encourage my students to give, accept, and reflect on feedback, always striving to better themselves and the space around them. All lessons are connected to various aspects of life, and evaluating outcomes teaches instructors and students how to analyze problems and apply solutions that address the required needs. By reflecting on these connections, students feed their growth mindset and develop the ability to see new tasks on a larger scale, understanding the outcome and effects rather than only the task at hand.

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"Engagement is at the heart of all successful learning episodes."

-Ruth Colvin Clark & Robert Mayer, e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, Fourth Edition (2016)

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I firmly believe that the why of a problem or knowledge gap is the most integral because once learners understand the why, the what, and how will naturally manifest. Creativity is sparked through discussion and discovery, and by designing lessons that entail these, students step outside typical thought patterns and are motivated to dream of new ways to achieve desired outcomes. I accomplish this with gamified lessons where students play while solving problems and working towards achieving goals. This encourages learners to explore complex scenarios with curiosity and focused comprehension (Hansen et al., 2021).

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"One way to ensure reasonable chunking and logical progression of content is to apply research-based instructional methods and strategies."

-Torria Davis, Visual Design for Online Learning (2015)

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My passion is creating engaging, task-centered courses. I'm an instructor/trainer because knowledge is the first step in a growth mindset essential to building a better future. Leading by example, I do, we do, you do (Merrill, 2021) creates a safe and communicative learning environment. Once instructors activate past knowledge, they have a solid foundation to build retainable knowledge that students will integrate into future interactions and activities. I am proud to be a part of such an integral field.

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"I never teach my pupils, I only provide the conditions in which they can learn."

-Albert Einstein (n.d.)

 

 

References

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Biesta, G., Wainwright, E., & Aldridge, D. (2022). Editorial: A case for diversity in educational research and educational practice. British Educational Research Journal, 48(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3777

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Hansen, P. K., Mabogunje, A., Lund, M., & Nielsen, L. M. (2021, January 5). Play and transdisciplinary understanding[Paper presentation]. Blessing, L., Qureshi, A.J., Gericke, K. (eds) The Future of Transdisciplinary Design. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06382-9_7

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Merrill, M. D. (2021). First principles of instruction revisited. In (Ed.), International handbook of psychology learning and teaching (pp. 1–34). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26248-8_56-1

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Winfrey, O. (2014). What I know for sure (1st ed.). Flatiron Books.