ACADEMY ABOUT COURSES HIRE AN IDOL℠ IDOL℠ PORTFOLIOS BOOK RESOURCES BLOG LEAVING THE CLASSROOM BECOME AN IDOL PODCAST COMMUNITY APPAREL CONTACT US PRESS IDOL℠ World Projects ACADEMY ENROLLMENT Login

Do I Really Need a Portfolio?

 Do you really need a portfolio to land an instructional design job? My answer is yes. There may be some different opinions on this topic. In our digital world, you need to have a digital presence. Today I joined Cath Ellis and friends in her Monthly eLearning Hangout meetup, we were talking portfolios, and she agrees a portfolio is helpful and recommends having one. Cath said she had her portfolio before she was a freelancer, and because of this, she was able to transition to freelance. People were reaching out to her do complete projects, and she has not had to look for work since moving to freelance. Hanging out with Cath and I was Mohd Mudassir Nagaria. He stated he was inspired by Cath during The Show to develop a portfolio and highlight his skills.  

 

Here are my reasons why I think you should invest the time to build your instructional design portfolio:

 

  1. Career Transitioning.

If you are...

Continue Reading...

Changing Perspectives: Creative Detours

 I’m tired. I crawl home from my 8 to 5 hour day, eat a brief dinner, and then open my laptop to work on my portfolio, LinkedIn profile, or resume for the final hours of the evening. The constant revision and construction of a sample with an optimistic hope that it would satisfy a recruiter or potential employer. Weeks go by with the occasional interest that leads nowhere. Eventually, the tiredness leads to exhaustion before the creativity runs dry leaving a blank screen and the looming question: “Should I tap out?”

While I am sure and hope I am not the only one who feels this way, I also know persistence is needed for success. However, I feel that I have hit a roadblock. Initially, I felt roadblocks were negative and something I needed to overcome. Then, I shifted my perspective: Roadblocks force us to detour and lead us down a new path. When finding a solution in the corporate world, these detours lead to innovation. But, where does one find inspiration...

Continue Reading...

Teaching Nearly Killed Me; Instructional Design Saved Me

 I was a middle school teacher for almost 10 years and loved almost every second of it. My favorite parts about teaching were building fun and engaging lessons (ones that I just knew the kids were going to love), bringing the lessons to life and connecting with my students. My classroom was fun. My reputation and my team's reputation preceded me within the school district. I was asked many times over to help with one initiative after another, especially when it came to technology in the classroom. I would also present to my colleagues at workshops and district conferences. I used to think to myself, I found my calling. I was quite content and had no plans to be anything else except a teacher until I couldn't do it anymore. It wasn't until year eight of my career that I began to notice it; the tightness in my chest, rapid heartbeat, and frequent headaches. The symptoms came on more frequently this particular year as the group of students was more difficult to manage than...

Continue Reading...

Teachers in Need of a New Career Path: Think Instructional Design

 

Teachers in Need of a New Career Path:  Think Instructional Design

Are you a teacher that seeks a new career?  Are you unsure where your skill set will be valued? Have you considered Instructional Design? If you haven’t, I encourage you to do so for many reasons. 

 

Hi there! I am Melissa. I am a learning designer and educator. I have been teaching for approximately 14 years but found I needed a new venture. I reflected on my teaching experience and discovered there were tasks I performed in my role as a teacher that I really enjoyed such as design and content development. 

When I started researching careers for teachers outside of the classroom, I discovered the instructional design field and fell in love with it. Now I want to teach you what I have learned in this journey.

 

Why Instructional Design is a Good Fit

Instructional design is a good career path for teachers because teachers possess many transferable skills. Furthermore, the...

Continue Reading...

Become an IDOL 15: Teaching Teachers Instructional Design with Bejanae Kareem

Published: November 5, 2019

Episode: 15

Teaching teachers instructional design with Bejanae Kareem

Guest: Bejanae Kareem, Owner of BK International Education Consultancy

In this episode of Become an IDOL, I’ll be chatting with Bejanae Kareem, Executive Director and Owner of BK Consultancy, about her experience creating and launching BK to transitioning from secondary education to instructional design and eLearning development. We’ll be sharing tips for how educators can incorporate instructional design STEM-based classes into the classroom, tips to overcome common challenges, as well as tips for teachers experiencing burn-out.

If you are a new listener to Become an IDOL, we would love to hear from you.  Please visit our Contact Page and let us know how we can help you today!

In this episode we discuss:

  • The best way to break into the instructional design field as a secondary school teacher
  • Fellowship:  Fellows receive on-the-job training in instructional...
Continue Reading...
Close

50% Complete

Enter your email below to get instructional design tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox.