This has been a very eye-opening semester with regards to learning about Instructional Design and Technology. I feel like I have done a lot of my learning through the readings and more importantly, by doing the class assignments. Each activity has pushed me to go back and revisit class lecture notes, powerpoints, resources, and assigned readings from articles and the textbook, Real World Instructional Design: An Iterative Approach to Designing Learning Experiences by Katherine Cennamo and Debby Kalk. This has really allowed me to build more of an understanding of the contents taught in this course and allowed me to put them into practical use. 

One of the areas of growth that has really stood out to me has been the jargon used in instructional design. I initially felt as though the jargon used in teaching would transfer over seamlessly. Now, please do not get me wrong, a lot of the jargon does transfer over, but then there is some jargon that goes way deeper than I ever thought possible. For example, when learning about assessments and evaluations, at my level of teaching, those words mean essentially the same thing. However, in the context of instructional design, I now see that they have very different meanings. It has taken going back to lectures, notes, and very often the text book to remind myself the difference and how each applies differently to what I am trying to do for the class. 

The final project has been another great demonstration of growth for me. Never in a million years would I have anticipated how much work goes into developing a training course. Not only that, but I have been impressed by how much learning has happened for me while working on this project. Though I am in the middle of this experience, I can see how much understanding I have gained simply through working on the final project. I have been able to learn my gaps in knowledge and, as mentioned earlier, continue to use the resources available to me to develop these areas more. I find that my textbook has become my best friend this semester. I imagine that while I continue pursuing my Master’s Degree in Instructional Design and Technology, I will refer back to it often.

Though the process of retraining myself to view learning, and the design aspects necessary for learning has been, at times, frustrating. Nevertheless, I would not trade this experience for anything. It has provided me with the opportunity to grow by forcing me to use the resources available to discover and rediscover content knowledge and deepen my understanding.