instructional design

Letter of Introduction Details From my ID Career Graphic Design Teaching Resume Writing Resume Coaching Resume Web 1.0: A Chronology of the First 15 Years

I'm a thinker and also a futures-based planner, so I try to keep up with the current technologies and emerging trends as soon as I hear about them (See list). I also try to maintain a current resume with instructional design, e-learning graphic samples and a project management inventory list available to retrace the sorts of experiences I've encountered. Read below to understand more about my e-learning approach and industry perspective.

 

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To Whom It May Concern:

Learning isn’t just sitting and listening to a presentation. Learning isn’t just comparing a new idea to something else in a person’s life. Learning and knowledge acquisition occurs when students and participants can experience change… when they can take that new idea and put it into use in their own workplace or life experience.

 

How I Relate to People & Instructional Design...

With over ten years of instructional and training experience, I feel I have developed a pretty good cognitive sense of what works and what does not, when it comes to instructional design. Over the years, I have developed many forms of training and curriculum approaches for many different types of clients and learners. I have also created many supplemental, job aid-type materials for self-study, web-based e-learning and leader-led trainings. Each situation calls for one form over another and sometimes multiples of each. I have also worked with numerous programming languages including XML, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP programming, as well as Adobe and Microsoft software products. Combined with my audio, journalism and design background, I think I have a very well-rounded approach to the IT Training field.

But its not just knowing how to operate the software or program the application that will develop effective training. One of the most important facets is thoughtfulness analysis and precise planning, right from the very beginning.

When designing any new instructional model or curricula, I try to be as conscientious as possible, keeping in mind the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model, as well as other behaviorist, information processing, and constructivist philosophies. I always try to maintain the highest return on investment for my clients, thus placing an importance on evaluation, even at the time of rapid prototypical stages and approaching deadlines.

I currently work as a technical writer at Yahoo! Inc. I have been writing content for the Internal IT and Support Department to help internal Yahoo employees learn what technologies are available to them and explain or instructions on how to use them. My time at Yahoo has made me reconsider my approach to writing... to be able to write from a business perspective but also change that, when necessary, to a more informal tone that a greater number of people can understand. As our documentation is often translated into many languages, this concept cannot stressed highly enough, particularly when working for one of the pioneers of the internet. I also create content for newsletters, brochures, and edit important memorandum-type emails. I am currently organizing a redesign of site architecture for the internal support site, while keeping cross-platform futures in mind.

And yet, this experience in a position of simply producing content has made me yearn for something more, where I can be a bigger contributor to the team in an area where I am fortunate to have some skills. And that's when I look to a position with your company. Though I have a wide breadth of experience in many different areas, it is my skills and talents as a leader, drawing from so many different areas and helping to minimize conflict while still making goals and deadlines, that makes people want to work for me. I will first explain some of these experiences before concluding with the management responsibilities and leadership roles which I have held that have made a difference in the future of the company.

My experience as a writer was very different from the more formal work as a Developer at AT&T. In this role, I regularly managed multiple instructional design projects, including such responsibilities as conducting needs assessments, writing and evaluating training plans and providing quality assurance feedback for fellow designers and myself. My colleagues knew that I can also be counted on to find solutions to problems and bugs encountered within the design process. I also created job aids, leader led materials and other forms of group and self-directed e-learning.

Prior to my work at AT&T, I was employed by a company that helps improve web visibility and public information dissemination for government and non-profit companies. Creating web tools to help these companies publish online information helped them better organize their content, without having to learn HTML or some other more complex sort of web programming or software program. Wearing many hats, I found myself helping dabbling in a little of everything including project management, organizing schedules and meetings to meet project deadlines by the deadlines. I also monitored the Update Desk, which included making constant updates and changes to websites. I also ran the invoices and scheduled an inner-office, recurrent billing system.

I was really lucky to be working for a company with such a pleasant office atmosphere and an encouraging team, one that was always anxious to try out new ideas and methods, from a programmer and user interface-based perspective.

Just like my experience at this company, I often find myself gravitating to leadership roles without it necessarily being my intention. This is due in part to my inquisitive nature and my natural problem solving approach to completing projects. In a recent experience, I noticed a compatibility issue between older methods of Flash Action Scripting competing with the new Action Script 3.0. Every time one of our old templates is used, it is upconverted to the new system, thus debilitating the file acquisition within the shell of include files. I am currently trying to work out a method of changing the script or adding different coding to make the files operate without having to make major changes. This conversion process has also been inhibiting some of the programmers working to convert from the old learning management system to the upgraded SCORM-compliant SAP system. It was fun to be a part of the debugging and Quality Assurance team helping to create solutions and propose ideas for this project.

Even while working on QA LMS conversion project, I spend a lot of time researching different solutions, but when it comes down to participating in meetings and planning time in which many already-busy people are involved, I try to be as concise as possible. When it seems that some are detracting from the goal, I try to synthesize and bring the back to the point; I don't like to waste anyone's time during meetings, particularly, when they could be discussing the finite details with individuals, at a later time.

My experience as a high school business and journalism teacher and my graduate work in Instructional Design at San Francisco State University have played a big influence in my development.

As an Instructional Designer, I have also worked on and managed many different sorts of projects, such as a Lyphedema Prevention and Intervention project for the Berkeley Women’s Cancer Resource Center, for which I helped write the proposal form, interviewed, filmed and designed a preventative care DVD for post-surgery mastectomy, lumpectomy and radiation treated breast cancer patients. I have also helped prepare materials for subject matter experts to present to internal and external programmers of educational children’s learning tools in the fields of audio file size limitations and basic cartridge programming. I also helped analyze and create more effective training methods for LeapFrog proprietary products. While working on my undergraduate degree in Education: English and Communications, at Pacific Lutheran University, I also have many skills as an interviewer (see interview sample) and I constructed and led a Journalism Course on Newspaper Editing, Layout and Design, combining multiple approaches, both instructor-led and self-guided online training methods, simultaneously.

As a result, I've fallen into many leadership roles in the past, including English Department Head, Finnish Lodge Delegate, Faculty School Site Council Representative, Advanced Sales Representative, Employee-of-the-Month, Church Call Committee Representative, Journalism Features Writing Judge, Diversity Committee to Adopt Novels For the 21st Century, and working on an assessment of a nationally renown study known for evaluating the rigor of each state in the United States’ high school exit exam. My own personal leadership has also led me to develop my own company and solicit consultations from my own clients to generate new projects.

I think that many people appreciate my style of leadership because I am thoughtful about group dynamics and promote from within the existing group. I build leadership, internally, by promoting the best in the existing individuals. Oftentimes, other tasks have perhaps made them forgetful of possible contributions of each other and it may just take a different perspective to realize how to better work together. Teambuilding exercises can also be very useful, but I try to be innovative because I don't want to hear that groan from those less encouraged to get chummy with some of their coworkers when they realize an icebreaker activity is planned. Thus, I try to plan activities in a relevant and purposeful way that might best be recounted, later, when the real learning and value of creative group management and leadership shows.

I can also be very humble, one of the first to admit my own mistakes and I will be the first to tell others that my idea my not be the best idea. I think this open communication style is important because there are many approaches to learning and design and sometimes it takes open-mindedness, collaboration and much creativity to reach the best solution.

This curiosity and willingness to change perspectives derives from my own unquenchable thirst for knowledge, as my father calls it. I have always found the acquisition of new material interesting and exciting for me. It keeps me current in the IT Industry and also makes me the ideal person for the job because I have a genuine interest in understanding how things work and relate to one another.

I have experience as an advisor, editor, project manager, team leader, coach, department chair, master teacher, content developer and tech writer, project manager, lab manager, trainer and teacher. I am comfortable on both Mac and PC platforms and am fluent in many software and programming languages. I am a quick learner of any program or task I don’t already know and I continue to take classes and other forms of Ongoing Education to stay up to date.

I would be an asset to your team because I am a person with a positive attitude, thoughtful judgment and an excellent work ethic. Anyone who knows me can testify that I am extremely well organized and direct. I am successful in working both independently and in a group, and am good at bringing teams together and creating a more collaborative atmosphere. I am a pro-active positive-thinker. I work well under pressure, am good at multi-tasking, and meeting deadlines. I also have a great sense of professionalism that is evident in my verbal and written communication. I take pride in a job well done and in working hard for the success of my company.

All of these things and more make me an ideal candidate for a position at your company. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please call 510.220.3293 or consult my online portfolio at http://www.ginahansenonline.com. I look forward to the possibility of working with you.

Sincerely,
Gina Hansen