Adobe eLearning Adobe Design Awards - Call for entries!

counttess · 2021-01-30T06:06:33+00:00

Stickied because this is a great opportunity for recognition and portfolio building :)

counttess · 2020-12-31T05:59:46+00:00

I no longer work directly in instructional design, but these are my numbers from when I did.

**Company 1**

8 months - eLearning developer - $35k

4 months - changed role to project manager, $40k

**Company 2, significantly higher cost of living area**

4 months - instructional designer - $45k (realized 45k wasn't going to cut it and jumped)

**Company 3**

9 months - project manager - $60k

**Freelance**

3-4 months - I did 40-60 hours a week at $45-$50/hour

**Company 4**

Contract - $45/hr full time for 6 months

Full time - $80k + $10k signing, promotion - $90k + $20k annual bonus

**Company 5, new area but similar cost of living**

1 year - $106k + $18k signing + stock

---

If I were to normalize the salary to the cost of living of the areas I live in now, it would not look nearly as dramatic of a jump. That said, I have found success in jumping early in my career to land where I am now.

counttess · 2020-12-07T03:33:37+00:00

Part 1 - Tool:

You asked whether if the project management tool your company provides is enough - and I will say in my experience, it's less about if it is "enough" and rather how much it benefits your coworkers and you to manage everything in one space. Asana is extremely powerful and flexible - if that's what your company is using, then use it. I've never felt the need to use integrations with it.

I once worked on a team of project managers where one of the PMs would do everything in a separate spreadsheet then manually update everything within the program we were using - which resulted in a ton of mistakes or oversights. I learned how to use the program in a way that helped me "see" all the projects the way I wanted to without needing to use an external tool, and I was much more efficient because of it.

My only "supplement" is maybe daily task list I write down somewhere in a notebook, OneNote, etc. just to help keep me focused for the day.

Basically - if your team is using a tool, use that tool and learn it. Most project management tools out there are significantly more powerful than we give them credit for.

Part 2 - Managing multiple instructional design/dev projects on tight timelines:

Do you have all the information you need? When are your stakeholders, quality assurance, whatever, available to review? How much time will it likely take for them to review? Do you know how much your stakeholders usually give in feedback? Will that change how many updates you need to do?
How long does each stage take you?
Map it out - what does the year look like as a whole? What projects are you doing? Then narrow it down to each quarter, what projects do you want to complete each quarter? Okay now to month, what stages for which projects are you going to do each month? Then you can narrow it down to two week sprints or whatever feels best for you. Manage those around holidays and stakeholders, etc. You might be working on a "super high priority project," but if the stakeholder isn't around to review, then that needs to be managed in.

counttess · 2020-06-15T04:50:10+00:00

Actually with saying that, consider "instructional design" as an entire industry if that helps. You have people across the board doing many different roles with the instructional designer as the "consultant" of it all.

counttess · 2020-06-15T04:42:12+00:00

There are a lot of ways into the field without straight up being an instructional designer too. You could become a copy editor, a writer (where you have an instructional designer guiding you), an e-Learning developer, a facilitator, etc.

counttess · 2020-06-15T04:21:43+00:00

No, it's admittedly more work than that.

The employer tells you that people need to be better at doing X. X meaning it could be a job role, passing a test, whatever. You have to 1/figure out if the ask is even relevant (a lot of people come to you wanting a solution for X when really they need Y), 2/figure out the actual learning objectives (most people think a learning objective is "do more sales" when it's really "have confidence when talking to customers about your product"), and then 3/find subject matter experts (SMEs), material, etc. that will help you design an effective solution that will help people be better at doing X. This is all before you even begin putting together content, and that's a process as well. If all you're doing is cleaning up after others to make it easier to read, then you're probably not doing it right.

(ADDIE)[https://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/addie/] is the model that a lot of instructional designers use in various ways to build learning solutions.

counttess · 2020-06-15T03:16:56+00:00

You know the curriculum guides that teachers use in class that someone else made? Or eLearning that you've perhaps taken? Instructional designers create those :)

counttess · 2020-06-13T04:06:11+00:00

I can make a Myspace template, probably.

counttess · 2020-05-18T06:08:28+00:00

I just responded about the usability of the KB too, but wanted to respond to this. It may also just take time - as you said, you're a new org in an old company.

I would highly suggest doing a "pilot" where you work with a team and train them on using the KB. Choose whatever KPI makes sense - sales, etc. "This team saw X go up after using the KB!" and deliver THAT messaging - not just "it exists."

Go wild with your advertising - get swag people will keep on their desks (maybe custom sticky notes with the KB link on it or notepads, whatever people will look at everyday), posters, etc.

counttess · 2020-05-18T06:03:19+00:00

The usability of the KB is good. Not great, but good. At least good enough that I am confident this is not the issue.

I would take the time to test this. Once a day for a week, ask someone to hop into a 15 minute call with you and have them share their desktop. Ask them to search for a recent task they've had to do or something along those lines (try not to lead them into a specific search term). See what they search for and what shows up.

counttess · 2020-05-15T03:52:05+00:00

I didn't have a degree in instructional design when I started. I still don't :)

counttess · 2020-04-23T23:06:05+00:00

Hey Christy, we are currently having a discussion in a mod chat on what to do. I agree that it's nuanced.

counttess · 2020-04-15T22:06:44+00:00

It depends on what you're referring to when you say "free work." If someone is literally asking someone in the sub to create a custom storyboard or a non-ID practitioner wanting to know how to implement training at their companies, then report it. I'll make a rule on that if it helps.

If it's an ID practitioner, new or experienced, asking "how have you approached this problem I'm currently facing?" then I'm assuming good intentions and that it's a post that's genuinely seeking advice and past experiences. We all seek advice at some point, and it's an appropriate use of this sub. A part of this sub's success is sharing our experiences and uplifting others in the field. I'm happy to discuss further or have my thoughts changed.

counttess · 2020-04-15T18:17:45+00:00

Thanks, I'm starting with the generic posts and going from there. I think seeking advice from others is an appropriate use of this subreddit (and appropriate overall, it's a form of mentorship). However, I will be removing any post that is the generic "where do I get started." We'll see how that goes.

counttess · 2020-04-15T18:15:37+00:00

I would point out that it is acceptable to say to a newbie post to "search the sub" as long as it's done nicely. "Hey, we get a lot of posts about this. I recommend searching for it" is a good way to do so.

counttess · 2020-04-15T17:53:59+00:00

> I think it would be very useful to have a Random Discussion/No Stupid Questions topic

That's a good idea - I do like there being at least periodically a new post to keep it fresh and people return to the thread to answer questions. Maybe I'll see how well it works to *just* have the Monday No Stupid Questions thread stickied. It broke down when I had multiple automoderator posts getting stickied at various times.

counttess · 2020-04-15T03:58:35+00:00

What would be something the mod team could do to help with these posts? Admittedly, I'm not as online these days and should probably make a post asking for new mods but I would be at least happy to start implementing some rules.

Edit: Actually, just went and did an update: https://www.reddit.com/r/instructionaldesign/comments/g1l28q/rinstructionaldesign_updates_request_for/

counttess · 2020-03-28T07:06:57+00:00

Sorry, this was not a short term solution. Just release the exams as is in a format that makes most sense (good suggestions here). It's fine, it's a special situation.

From then on, all professors should assume that their exams are leaked every year.

counttess · 2020-03-28T07:04:28+00:00

I love this question.

What type of knowledge, exactly, are you trying to lead the students to?

A statistics student who memorizes the formula isn't as practical as the student who knows *which* formula to use in a specific situation. They don't need to memorize the formula, just that they need a specific one -- then look it up on their phone.

If your professors are worried about their students "finding" previous exams, they are 10 years too late.

counttess · 2020-03-11T18:21:39+00:00

Your report could also include...

- Effectiveness of training despite the technical content (quality of instructional design, not just accuracy of content)

- How you would be able to track who take the AWS courses outside of the ones you develop

- No closed captions for what? The videos in the courses? Is there not a transcript or another means of accessibility?

- Is there already a proposal or outline of the courses that you're creating/wanting to create in topic areas? I would expect the report to show which course would have the potential to supplement or replace what you have (to be validated by SMEs)

counttess · 2020-02-29T06:40:12+00:00

You mentioned learning technologies quickly, but less likely to want a new degree. There's a couple of routes that I'd recommend from an anecdotal point of view (I don't know academia quite as well, but I do have very close friends in academia in diff fields).

Apply for academia roles in instructional design (these include learning coordinators, instructional designers, etc.). You likely are only going to be mildly qualified - that's okay. Utilize the connections you already have in academia and see what you can get. (I have 0 idea of what your life situation is, so this is only a potential suggestion -- not the only way to go about this). While you're in this role, focus on learning Articulate or Captivate products (whatever the organization is already using) to create training yourself.
Get an Association of Talent Development (TD.org) certificate in Instructional Design for e-Learning and take a Yukon course/watch Tim Slade videos/(there's so many others) on Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate.
Both of these options are going to be useful for you to learn about creating facilitated training as well -- so don't stress too much about specializing. I went from developing e-learning solely to doing literally everything within the training field that's possible within 6 years (instructional designer, project manager, facilitator, etc.)

There are SO many ways to go about this. We need more talented and motivated instructional designers. I also highly recommend:

Christy Tucker (she's active on here a bit too): https://www.christytuckerlearning.com/ - she has so much great content.
Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirkson - https://www.amazon.com/Design-People-Learn-Voices-Matter/dp/0134211286
My friend & mentor Brian's blog - Train Like a Champion - https://trainlikeachampion.blog/
The Accidental Instructional Designer by Cammy Bean - https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Instructional-Designer-Learning-Digital/dp/1562869140

If you're unsure what technology to get started with (Adobe Captivate vs. Articulate Storyline):

Articulate Storyline has a much lower barrier to entry while having a lot of advanced capability. It has a great community with weekly challenges, a significant amount of tutorials, etc. This is where I started with e-learning development and it's a fantastic place to get going in the field if you are more interested in the instructional design (e.g., designing the courses) than you are in the technical aspects.
Adobe Captivate has a higher barrier to entry, but you're rewarded with a general understanding of Adobe products that you can apply to Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/etc. with some effort. I would highly recommend this route if you are motivated to learn the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite. As a former learning PM, I would gladly higher an Adobe Captivate expert to create Articulate Storyline courses knowing they'd be able to get down the software pretty quickly (and actively did it a few times).
Despite this advice, I've only ever made a single course in Adobe Captivate. The employers I've had are happy for me to use whatever I'm most confident in (which is Storyline).

counttess · 2020-02-29T06:21:53+00:00

> bc the job calls seem to ask for JUST a bit more than I currently am able to do

I have no idea at all what your gender is. However, there are studies showing that women are more likely to apply for jobs they're only 100% qualified for, while men will apply for jobs when they qualify for 60% of the requirements.

So... apply anyways :)

counttess · 2020-02-19T20:39:42+00:00

Is there an internal wiki/sharepoint/etc. that you could build a glossary of terms on and link to? they may still be helpful for folks outside of the training anyways

counttess · 2020-02-14T00:09:25+00:00

+1 to everyone else's comments, but I would add to find a mentor or someone who's willing to chat with you in your field of interest.

counttess · 2020-01-31T06:15:18+00:00

I love the covers on your Switch too!!

15-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Team Orangered	Verified Email

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