Instructional Design Programs

After deciding to pursue a master's degree in instructional design, it was time to start doing homework to figure out which program would best suit my needs. There were a few things I was looking for:
1. It would have to be worthwhile. I would not be doing this just to get a degree, I would actually have to be developing my knowledge and skills.
2. It would have to be completed while working full-time at my career. This made online programs a lot more attractive.
3. It would have to be accredited, so it would be accepted by future employers and customers.
4. It would have to be affordable on my family's budget.
After completing a lot of research and speaking to other instructional designers, I focused on five different instructional design programs. These included Indiana University, Florida State University, Virginia Tech, Boise State University, and California State University at Fullerton.
These are all very good programs, but out-of-state tuition prices put many of these out of reach for me. I initially gravitated towards CSU Fullerton because it would be more affordable, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.
The Fullerton program is very well-regarded, and it is a Master's of Science in Instructional Design and Technology. This means that it focuses on the basics of instructional design, but also brings many elements of online learning into the mix, which is the way of the future. This program puts together small cohorts of 25 to 30 students that take the same courses at the same time over a period of 20 months (five 12-week sessions with a total of 10 courses). The program relies heavily on discussion boards and collaboration with others, both of which are extremely important things to practice for today's instructional design community.
And, the CSUF program only required two days on campus, with the rest of the work to be done online. If I got accepted to the program, I could start in August of 2014 and finish up in May of 2016. This looked like my best choice (not that there were any bad ones), so I figured out what was needed to apply and started the process.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I will talk about the application process.
Thank you!

Rex and Instructional Design

Hello, and welcome to my instructional design blog!
How did I get to this point? Well, I drifted through various technical jobs during my career in the automotive industry, but generally did not find a lot of personal satisfaction in what I was doing. The jobs were important as they involved fixing things and making customers happy, but it seemed like I was just doing the same tasks repeatedly and was not able to use creativity and innovation in my day-to-day tasks.
A little over ten years ago one of my friends asked me to apply for a job in my company's training department. He pestered me for few years, and over that time I was increasing unhappy with the work I was doing and eventually decided to make the move.
It was the best career decision I ever made.
I knew nothing about training, but my bosses supported me and made sure I got the education I needed to be able to do my job properly -- most notably, I had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Jim Cook. Dr. Cook introduced me to theories and processes that were mostly based on the work of Robert Mager, with a lot of real-world common sense thrown in. These processes worked well for me for ten years, and over that time I refined my approach and enjoyed using my creativity to develop courses that would help people do their jobs more effectively. At times there was frustration as I tried things that did not work, but overall it was a very satisfying endeavor.
Last year I attended a training development seminar that was moderated By Bill Heacock, at a time when I realized that I was not growing and I wanted to increase my knowledge so that perhaps some day I could help others improve their instructional design processes. I felt like I had learned as much as I was going to on my own, and asked for his guidance with what direction to take my development next. Bill gave me some very good ideas, and one solid recommendation: I needed to pursue an advanced degree in instructional design.
A masters degree in instructional design would immerse me in the theories behind what I had been doing for years, so that i would know WHY I do the things I do, as well as providing other options for how to do things better. Also, a program like this focuses on the entire development process, which includes project management and the important nuts and bolts on programming and hosting online learning which would help round out my skills.
After checking with my family, I decided to take the plunge and apply for a masters program in instructional design, but there were a lot of programs out there to choose from.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I will write about which program I picked, and why.
Thank you!