Learning Designer
2020
My career journey
My transition to becoming a learning designer as my profession started in 2003, when I was in graduate school majoring in instructional technology. My dissertation research focused on a comparative study of how culture influences online collaborative behaviors. After graduating in 2009, I taught face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses for two years. Then, I was hired by different universities in Chicagoland successively, where I was involved in technology integration, training and workshops, and online course and program development.
My inspiration
I view myself as a lifetime learner. My graduate program in instructional technology laid the foundation for my knowledge, applications, and skills and prepared me to be a change agent to flip the paradigm with technology integration in education. I witnessed how distance education in higher education was evolving and experienced how I, as a learning designer, focused on the learner-centered approach to collaborate with faculty members to create engaging, innovative, and accessible learning environments. I am motivated to follow the trends of educational technology, how it impacts higher education, and how learning designers can leverage technology to enhance teaching and learning experiences.
Where I’m from/Where I am at
I came from China and am currently living in the western suburb of Chicago
My interests outside of work
I am passionate about promoting China-U.S. cultural exchange and helping heritage learners study the Chinese language and culture. I taught Chinese in college and helped the Chinese school revise the curriculum, focusing on using effective learning strategies to motivate students and extend their curiosity about learning Chinese and Chinese culture.
Rewards of my job
The most rewarding aspect of my job is completing a project ahead of schedule while overcoming challenges together with my colleagues as a team. When I helped design the accelerated course for the first time, little information was provided to us about this new program. I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. With the help of my manager and my IT partner, we developed a high-quality hybrid course based on the flipped classroom model. We started the initiative and planned to continue improving the course design in the program to make it more consistent and standardized.