When I began the Instructional Design Certificate program at UW – Stout, I was really looking forward to the Computer Based Training (CBT) course. I knew this course would be the one that would establish me on the road to becoming an Instructional Designer. I chose to use the Adobe Captivate software to build my Reusable Learning Object (RLO) because of my prior experience with the Adobe Creative Suite. I thought Captivate would mesh well with all my experience. Every job opening for Instructional Designers includes showing competency in Adobe Captivate, Articulate, or Storyline. As students, we researched different expectations for Instructional Designers in the Trends and Issues course. The earlier research on the technology expectations for Instructional Designers was helpful in this course. In addition, exposure to Learning theories in the precious two classes made working on the RLO much more enjoyable.

My project for this class was a continuation from the Instructional Strategies and Assessment class. Through both the classes and in my current role, I focused on Malcolm Knowles theory of andragogy. The participants this course was designed for are all high-achieving learners, “Fundamental to all good instructional design is understanding the nature of the intended target population” ( 439 Alessi). It’s important to show these learners the direct application to their jobs, “Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life” (https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles). Furthermore, I was trying to institute encoding by the repetition of the concepts involved with learning about Waste. Therefore, I chose to include a case study video on an organization. I wanted the learners to see the lean principles applied and not just conceptualized.

I chose to test the participant’s knowledge retention by giving them a quiz at the end of the module. The participant’s have to pass the quiz in order to complete the module. I felt that this would be the right choice because the participants in my company’s classes can be high achieving and competitive. I gave the learners the option to re-visit and review the educational sections before taking the quiz.

An important decision was the visual layout of the slides. I attempted to use JWA’s corporate branding but there was a snag with the image permissions that I couldn’t get to work correctly. As a result, I used the same color scheme of green, blue and grey and the use of the Arial font to show brand consistency. I chose images of from a hospital because most of our adult learners are doctors and nurses in hospital systems. I chose to include verbal examples pertaining to healthcare, so the learners would have possible scenarios and examples to focus on.

I was going incorporate the accessibility component by captioning all the slides. I planned to use the screen/text reader for all of the slide text, but I ran out of time. I recorded the audio with my own voice and did not include the captions. I know that having my RLO be ADA compliant would have been the ideal, but it is something to strive for when making my next RLO and CBT course. Another area for improvement was in my usability test. I wasn’t exactly sure of the expectations of that portion of the assignment. I had problems publishing my RLO and the person who was assessing my RLO didn’t take full advantage of giving me very critical feedback. Therefore, I went through my RLO with a very critical eye. I made modifications to slides that I felt were over-loaded with information. I used animations to give slides and information more impact. I also changed the colors of some of the graphics and fixed many of the sound problems. I even chose to add background music to the entire project to give some continuity from slide to slide.

All in all, I feel that I learned so much in this course. Many of the lessons that I have learned are going to benefit me in the near future. I am moving on in my career to a new position at a new company where I will be producing RLOs and CBTs on a regular basis. I was able to educatedly speak in my interviews about the concepts of instructional design, which I have learned in my classes. I know there is much more to learn about CBT, the different software systems, Learning Management Systems, and instructional theories. I also know I have only just begun to scratch the surface of instructional design. I have a sharp learning curve ahead of me. This class has truly prepared me for this next step in the process.