Does the idea of storyboarding launch your imposter syndrome into manic mode? This comprehensive guide will empower you to slay the imposter monster and storyboard successfully in LXD.

Punching The Panic Button

Now don’t quit on this blog post yet, you’ve barely even started.

I know. I can already hear your imposter syndrome alarm blaring:

“I can’t draw!”

”I’m not a graphic designer!”

“My stick figures look like blobs!”

Deep breath.

The purpose of storyboarding for eLearning is not to expose you as an imposter. One storyboard will not end your ID career. And no one is going to laugh at your drawings—I promise.

This guide will give your storyboarding abilities the confidence boost they deserve. We’ll answer six questions about storyboarding for learning experience design and supply you with 9 simple, actionable tips that you can apply straight away to your next eLearning storyboard.

We’ll...

On the ride home, I had an epiphany about one of my Storyline assets. I began working as soon as I got there. I don’t even know if I ate or how long I was working. I just remember I eventually hit a roadblock and reached out to my mentor. 

And she didn’t respond. 

Individuals in trauma experience time differently because they’re in constant fight or flight. Additionally, as a neurodivergent individual, I struggle with abrupt stops like this, which explains why I spiraled into a panic attack. My vision narrowed. My...

Career transitions can be scary. Sometimes you just need someone to guide you who’s been there, done that. I’ve made the career transition. I transitioned from teaching into instructional design. I can still remember all the feelings associated with a huge professional change - both good and bad. That’s why I can really speak to the importance of having someone in your corner to guide and support you while you walk down a new unfamiliar professional path. That’s where a mentor comes in.

In the IDOL courses Academy, the IDOL Mentor has a unique and vital role in the growth of the mentees in their group. IDOL Mentors are IDOL courses Academy Alumni who have achieved their IDOL goals and are now giving back by mentoring a group of aspiring Instructional Designers. Once a new cohort begins, mentees choose which IDOL Mentor is the right fit for them. They are encouraged to attend that mentor’s sessions throughout the cohort. 

IDOL...

Trying to take a drink from a fire hose. 

That is how I felt when I first joined the IDOL courses Academy. 

The content was coming at me so fast and furious, it was hard to keep up. But if there is one thing I have learned over the last three cohorts of being an IDOL, the only way to learn is to dig in just like learning anything else. 

After spending years in public education, I find myself having to practice what I preached. I used to encourage the #doitmessy way before I knew it as a hashtag. When I coached student reporters on how to write journalistically, I would encourage them to write down whatever was going through their minds and accept that it would be their worst version. Because the beauty of learning isn’t in the first draft, it is in all the editing and iterations that follow.

FEEDBACK FEELS LIKE AN F-WORD

Although I have experience encouraging learners through their worst versions of their work, it doesn’t stop my...

My goal is to share the lessons I learned and how I managed my time while working a full-time job along with several side jobs and a family.  It’s not a one size fits all approach by any means.  

• Prioritize your time and figure out your WHY.

I knew when I signed up for the IDOL courses Academy, the time would fly by quickly.  But I didn’t realize how much I needed to prioritize my time in the Academy. My schedule was already jammed packed before I started the cohort, and trying to figure out how to fit it all in was a challenge.

I needed to focus on WHY I joined the IDOL courses Academy. For me,...

Video informs and entertains people, and, good or bad, today most people prefer to watch a video rather than read a page of text. ~ Lisa Lubin

We know what Youtube is and we know how popular it is. But how can we IDOLs leverage the power of this awesome video-sharing platform? To some degree, it is necessary to use Youtube to advance ourselves professionally. 

Personally, I love YouTube in and outside of my work as an IDOL. In fact, I wouldn’t be an IDOL without it. It’s free, easy to use, and accessible; plus, you can reach a lot of people if used properly. I am confident that other professionals relied too on YouTube to view, create, learn, sell, and sometimes entertain themselves with the video content provided on there. 

Let me share some mind-blowing statistics on how powerful YouTube is.

• Videos are a consumers’ favorite type of content from a brand on...

 Have you ever gone through a long interview process, then been turned down for the job?

I have. And honestly, it felt like a bad breakup.

Job searching sucks. But with the right mindset and tools, you can find yourself in a winning relationship with the perfect match for you!

I think looking for a job is a lot like dating life. 

Each job is like a relationship. Depending on the length of the relationship, you can feel a variety of emotions when it is over. The end of a long, committed relationship may leave you feeling devastated like you don’t know what your next steps will be. Leaving a toxic relationship can make you feel relieved, yet undeserving of anything better. 

Then you are thrown back into the dating pool (the job search) to seek out something new and hopefully better. 

I have found that the rules of dating apply to the interview process.

1. Be Confident

If you are unsure of yourself, it will translate in the interview and...

See this post by Roshon Goode: "Degrees Don't Get You an IDOL Job, Experience Does."  To prove you have the experience, you need a portfolio. And to create a portfolio, you have to be working as an ID.

Or do you?

Building a portfolio is something I never had to think about in my 15 years as a classroom teacher. It isn't easy to know where to start! But the IDOL courses Academy takes you through each step of the process. When building a portfolio, most people use their past experience and past projects. But since I was coming from K-12 and wanted to move into corporate, none of my previous work samples would do.

Here are my suggestions and experience with building real portfolio pieces without having an ID job.

1. Reach out

Once I began my journey to becoming an ID, I told my...

 Many aspiring instructional designers know and understand the concept of instructional design, but aren't quite sure of the software tools needed to achieve the results. There are several software tools I use on the job daily as an ID. In this blog, I will talk about the ones I feel every instructional designer should learn based on my personal experiences.

1. Articulate 360 is a one-stop collaboration tool for you to design, collaborate, and review eLearning courses. It includes two of the most popular course creation apps, Storyline and Rise 360. It also consists of the Review 360 app, which allows you to collaborate with others on projects. I particularly use Review 360 daily as a way for...