ePortfolio

Internship Reflective Journal

May 16, 2019

• Met with Dr. Futch.
• Discussed Storyboard project.
• Toured CDL.
• Attended weekly department meeting- discussed new features and issues with Canvas.
• Sat in on Quality Task Force meeting- learned about Florida’s online course quality standards plan. Quality Task Force works to promote a culture of quality in UCF.
• Reviewed Internship Proposal with Dr. Futch.

• Shadowed Alyssa Albrecht (Instructional Designer) on an IDL 6543 consultation with faculty. This was an introductory consultation in which we:
  • Went through the instructor’s current syllabus.
  • Explained that the teacher is the content expert, while the instructional designer is the course framework expert.
  • Reviewed the entire IDL 6543 semester, including online coursework, face-to-face meetings, and future one-on-one consultations between the instructional designer and instructor.
  • Discussed the instructor’s course; its overview and purpose.
  • Explained the structure of a course in Webcourses.
  • Explained the difference between the “Development course” and “real course.”
  • Assessed the instructor’s comfort with Webcourses.
  • Explained when to contact the Instructional Designer for help as opposed to contacting Webcourses support.
  • Went over IDL 6543 assignment 1: creating the course banner.
  • Showed the instructor the CDL@Graphics page which includes previously made graphics by the graphics team.
  • Double checked that the information the instructor input in the course survey was accurate.
  • Instructed them on how to contact the Instructional Designer.
• Attended a Canvas Webinar in which new features in Canvas LMS were discussed, as well as areas for future innovation.
• Met with Dr. Gunter to discuss resources she would like developed for her class EME 6417.

There was a lot of information to absorb in week 1. UCF’s Center for Distributed Learning consists of much more than just Instructional Designers- there is a graphics team, a video team, and multiple teams that focus primarily on different aspects of the technology we utilize. It really is a machine with many moving parts. Having the opportunity to shadow Alyssa while she consulted with an instructor from UCF’s Rosen Campus was extremely beneficial. It really gave me the opportunity to see one of the aspects of Instructional Design that I haven’t encountered much in my graduate education- Instructional Designers are people-facing consultants. A lot of what I had experienced in my classes prior to this dealt with instructional theory and technology. I have built eLearning content and courses in these classes based on my own interests and subjects I am knowledgeable in. The reality is the Instructional Designer isn’t always the subject matter expert (in fact, they often never are). This is truly a multidisciplinary field I am learning about, requiring soft skills, technical knowledge, and instructional knowledge.

May 21, 2019

• Given TA privileges for IDL 6543. Spent some time navigating the course content, familiarizing myself with the upcoming semester.
• Dr. Gunter also gave me access to Development Webcourse site for EME 6417 and EME 6458. Part of my assignment for her is to not only create a storyboard resource for her students but determine the appropriate placement of said resource. I spent some time navigating both courses to gather what information she currently has concerning storyboards and considered placement options.
• Attended a book meeting- A few people from CDL have been gathering weekly to discuss books that are meant to assist with excelling in the workplace. Currently they are making their way through Deep Work by Cal Newport.
• Shadowed Anchalee Ngampornchai (Instructional Designer) on an IDL 6543 consultation with faculty. This was another introductory consultation. We went over similar information as the consultation I shadowed last week. This instructor had more experience with online learning than the one from the previous consultation I shadowed, so there was more discussion of the resources CDL has to offer.
• Found a Lynda.com course about storyboarding. This was very much in line with the resource Dr. Gunter had requested, though far too long (1.5 hours). Determined this would be a good resource to help me in the development process of my own.

• Met with Ashley Sulter (Instructional Designer) and Candace Turner (Fellow intern). Ashley explained Florida’s Quality Matters initiative for online coursework and UCF’s Quality Reviews. Some notes:
  • UCF believes in giving academic freedom to teachers- in this context that means the school cannot impose quality standards, just encourage.
  • CDL provides Quality and High Quality reviews for instructors of online classes to participate in.
  • Quality and High Quality review processes are listed out in a Webcourse site accessible to Instructional Designers at CDL (we were also given access as interns).
  • Passing quality/high quality standards allows instructors to place a virtual badge in their course and eventually will give their course placement in a database of quality courses created by the state.
• After meeting with Ashley I researched Florida’s Quality Matters initiative online.
• Shadowed Dr. Futch in a meeting with university instructors from Brazil. They were looking into ways to improve their instructional process and were interested in how CDL at UCF operates.
• Attended a work luncheon that included a presentation on diversity in the workplace.

• Observed first (of four) IDL 6543 face-to-face meetings for the summer semester. This meeting provided an overview of the benefits of online and mixed education. It also gave participating instructors the opportunity to meet each other and some members of the CDL team.
• Assisted in the classroom breakdown process.

Having another opportunity to shadow an IDL 6543 consultation was beneficial. This client had a vastly different subject matter than the previous consultation, as well as different experience with online education. That said, what we provide at CDL is adaptable to cater to a vast array of educational needs. Learning theory isn’t necessarily changed depending on content. I also really appreciated learning more about the quality standards and initiatives. UCF seems to really be keeping at the forefront of online education and its future. The first face-to-face meeting of IDL 6543 also helped me understand better what a great resource this offering is for UCF faculty. I am impressed by how much effort goes into making our classes consistent and up-to-date with best practices from the online education world.

May 28, 2019

• Performed a practice quality review on NGR 7823. Quality and High Quality review standards are accessible via a Webcourses site I was given access to.
• Performed UDoIt on NGR 7823. UDoIt is an application provided for UCF faculty that will look through all online course content and make a list of potential accessibility issues.
• Spent more time on storyboard project- selecting media and considering how they might be incorporated.
• Attended book meeting. Closing discussions on Deep Work by Cal Newport.
• Had a one-on-one meeting with Charlotte Jones-Roberts in which she showed me the course she manages, ADL 5000. ADL 5000 is a faculty development course meant particularly for faculty who will be teaching an existing online course (as opposed to IDL 6543 which is more for building an online course from the ground up).
• Charlotte also showed me how she uses Webcourses@UCF (UCF’s LMS) to enroll faculty into the course.
• Began process of determining what information would be best included in the storyboard lesson and what would not be necessary for Dr. Gunter’s purposes.
• Attended a debrief meeting for the fist IDL 6543 face-to-face meeting (5/24). Meeting notes:
  • Discussed potential issues between Instructional Designers and participants.
  • Discussed survey feedback (survey was given at the end of the meeting). Many of the comments had the theme of participants desiring more time for the different activities.
  • No overly negative comments.
  • Discussed prep for next face-to-face meeting.

• Attended CDL team meeting. Meeting notes:
  • Susan the LMS Admin gave a led a demonstration and discussion of new LMS features.
  • Beth presented Lecture Capture/ using Panopto.
  • Amanda discussed TopKit.
  • Sue discussed Annual Evaluation Standards and Procedures (AESP).
• Met with Dr. Futch about storyboard project. Determined that a video might be a useful resource for Dr. Gunter. Discussed how we would go about making such a video utilizing CDL’s resources.
• Began outlining storyboard video in PowerPoint.

• Finished an outline draft of the storyboard video in PowerPoint as well as a sample .htm file that Dr. Gunter could integrate into EME 6417 that would introduce the storyboard video.
• Outline was emailed to Dr. Gunter following advisement from Dr. Futch.

This week really helped me understand the quality initiative in within CDL. In weeks prior I had sat in on a meeting with the Quality Task Force and last week Ashley had shown us the Webcourses site that contains information on the Quality and High Quality reviews, but actually being able to sit down and perform a review really helped me view firsthand all of the time and effort that has to be placed in these reviews and the importance this initiative truly must have to have to utilize so much of our resources.

Additionally, this is the week I really hunkered down on the storyboard project for Dr. Gunter. I gave myself the weekend as a deadline to have something to present to Dr. Gunter. This was a good chance to really pick Dr. Futch’s brain about what an Instructional Designer at CDL would do for a faculty member requesting resources. She explained to me more about the process of working with the Video@CDL team, thought the limited time I have on this internship may not allow for a fully finished video with footage and professional audio.

June 4, 2019

• Took a walk with Roslyn in which we discussed working as an Instructional designer in a college setting.
• Went through CDL Internship module 3- covering the services CDL provides: Video@CDL, Graphics@CDL, Online@CDL, Learning Systems & Technology, Tech Rangers, Research Initiative for Teachers Effectiveness, and iDev. The Instructional Design Team is the “hub” at the center of these services and can act as the bridge between faculty and the services they require.
• CDL initiatives: Faculty development, OER/Textbook affordability, and Quality online courses.
• Went through CDL Internship module 4- covering the Instructional Designer as a consultant.
• The primary responsibility of the Instructional Designers at the CDL is to support faculty who are teaching online and/or preparing to teach online.
• Module 4 also provides facilitation tips for consultations and provides an overview of IDL 6543: Interactive Distributed Learning (the faculty development course I am shadowing while interning here).

• Attended CDL meeting. Meeting notes:
  • Interim Director Status- Dr. Futch will be retiring in 2 years and keep the Interim Director role until that time.
  • Discussion is open for tweaks in department structure in the future (currently a single director overseeing 20+ Instructional Designers).
  • The goals of the Instructional Design team may change in the upcoming years but as it evolves the core goal will always be aiding faculty.
  • End of fiscal year information (travel requests being denied).
  • Annual Evaluations- Instructional Designers write it up; Linda reviews & adjusts.
  • Overview of programs and committees as well as who is leading them.
• After the meeting I received the annual evaluation template from Dr. Futch to better understand what how they evaluate their Instructional designers.

This week exposed me to the “business end” of working in the CDL at UCF. My walk with Roslyn was a good start to my week in this regard. She explained some of her day-to-day work- attending meetings, setting up consultations, performing quality reviews. It was good to first gain understanding from an individual in the role. Modules 3 and 4 gave me a chance to dive into the services provided at CDL, as well as how the Instructional Designers present and facilitate these services to faculty through consultations and IDL 6543. This week’s team meeting was an important one with the announcement of Dr Futch’s retirement in 2 years as well as plenty of conversations regarding the department’s future goals and initiatives. Speaking with Dr. Futch afterwards about performance reviews brought this week around full circle between Roslyn's description of the Instructional Design role from the worker’s perspective and then seeing how they are evaluated and what a director would be looking for in an Instructional Designer.

June 11, 2019

• Attended a team book meeting- Discussed the introduction to Dare to Lead by Brene Brown.
• Attended a Quality meeting. Meeting notes:
  • "Quality Blend" initiative will review mixed-mode courses roughly comparable to online course quality reviews.
  • M (mixed- mode) and W (web/online only) courses should be treated as equally important methods as each other.
  • Questions being raised about what a good blended design looks like (it has to include more than just the online portion).
  • FL Quality Matters initiative only includes online courses- UCF is taking it a step further by including mixed-mode.
  • What will be the incentives for receiving a mixed-mode course quality review?
• Watched “How to create an Instructional Design Portfolio” video in preparation for the ePortfolio due at the end of this internship.

• Tina gave me a project: reviewing and updating links in IDL6543 Webcourses site. Some of the links in the course are dead or out of date.
• Began working on the IDL6543 link project beginning with module 4.
• Went through ID Internship Course module 5.

Sitting in on the quality meeting this week gave me the opportunity to see how this team continues to move forward and find new initiatives to improve the courses UCF provides. The whole Instructional Design team is already working hard at completing Quality Reviews for UCF’s Web based courses and now they are looking at how to incorporate blended (or mixed-mode) courses into those reviews.

I was happy to receive the IDL project from Tina. This project seems like a great way for me to contribute and give back to the Instructional Design team for all the mentoring they have been providing to me. It also is a good reminder as to the continual nature of this role. The work isn’t finished when the course is published. Courses need to be evaluated regularly and brought up to date. Web sites go down, links “die”, and new information comes to late causing old information to become out of date.

June 18, 2019

• Shadowed Tina (Instructional Designer) on a consultation:
  • Course being designed is not a traditional class for students but rather a resource for faculty.
  • Tina recommended minimal home page design- keep it from being too busy.
  • Reviewed structure and outline.
  • Reviewed assessment options (discussion was a good fit for this resource).
  • Recommendation to build the course skeleton using the module page and work off that.
  • Consultant was the only person in the meeting to touch the computer- Faculty is encouraged to be hands-on during these consultations. CDL Instructional Designers consult but they do not create the site for faculty.
  • Explanation of the Webcourses page edit and its similarities to a word processor.
  • Explanation of Webcourses Support- should be searched prior to contacting the Instructional Designer with tech related support questions.
  • CDL Instructional Designers are available to provide pedagogical support. Other support services exist for IT questions.
  • Making everything clear from the modules page is a benefit to the students. Activity and page titles should be clear.
  • Explained the UCF libraries tool.
  • Explained publishing in Webcourses- ensuring students see only what instructor wants them to see.
  • Explained copywrite information as it applies to online courses.
• IDL debrief- IDL6543 is on track. Every participant has completed consultation #1.

• Continued to go through IDL 6543 links, ensuring they are working and relevant.
• Went through ID Internship Course module 6.

• Attended IDL 6543 Face-to-face meeting #2
• participants were led to different “parlors” in which they met teams from CDL internal support. This included:
  • Graphics@CDL
  • Video@CDL
  • Learning Systems and Technology
  • Custom Tools
• These CDL support services are available to all faculty and can enhance online and mixed-mode courses.

This week really showcased for me how much UCF provides faculty to provide the best educational product possible. Having another opportunity to shadow an Instructional Designer was a great way to begin this week. These shadows have enlightened me to the role of an Instructional Designer as a consultant. There is an emphasis on letting the faculty take the lead and be hands-on with their classes, with the Instructional Designer informing them what they can do and giving tips to make their courses engaging.

Face-to-face meeting #2 was very impressive. Seeing all the support services provided by CDL was eye-opening not just for the participants enrolled but for myself as well. These services provide engaging visual elements and interactivity that ultimately benefit the students. Learning Systems & Technology develops Materia- interactive games and study tools they call widgets. An instructor can go to them with an idea for an educational game, LS&T will create it and make it available to all faculty. The graphics and video teams are also invaluable as they can help an instructor create engaging content rather than having to deal with content from the internet that may have copywrite barriers.

June 25, 2019

• Assisted Roslyn (Instructional Designer) with Quality Review:
  • Went through an online course (Popular Culture in Society) and determined what aspects fulfilled requirements for what UCF considers a Quality course and left commentary on aspects that did not meet those standards.
  • Afterwards Debriefed with Roslyn about my comments and what coincided with her own.
• Attended IDL debrief meeting. Meeting notes:
  • Thanks were given to parlor guides.
  • 22 consultations have been completed so far.
  • Week 7 was muted and needs to be redesigned.

• Worked more on IDL 6543 link updates.
• Shadowed Sue (Instructional Designer) on a consultation:
  • Course being designed is already a face-to-face class that is moving to online.
  • A lot of what the faculty needs to accomplish is converting face-to-face material to an accessible web-based presentation.
  • Sue was very organized in her consultation, already preparing beforehand what points would be addressed. The consultation was painless and moved at a good pace due to this organization.
• Attended an analytics meeting. Meeting notes and observations:
  • Committee holding meeting sent out surveys to all faculty and departments, including CDL, questioning what aspects work or don’t seem to work in our online courses.
  • The goal of these surveys is to see where we can improve methods and reduce the burden on CDL.

This week I worked on a Quality review first hand. Quality and High Quality reviews are a huge push currently for CDL Instructional designers. These are UCF’s way to not only keep up with Florida’s Quality Matters standards for online courses, but to exceed expectations. It was very useful to see for myself what UCF values and deems as “quality” when it comes to online classes.

Shadowing another Instructional Designer was a great opportunity for me this week. I have sat in on a few different consultations now. I have seen how different members of this teem approach the service we provide to faculty. Everyone is unique and has different styles, but it is clear they all strive toward the same goals.

July 2, 2019

• Shadowed Roslyn and Jim (Instructional Designers) on a consultation with faculty:
  • Instructor is utilizing Personalized Adaptive Learning (PAL) in a future mixed-mode class. Jim specializes in PAL.
  • Much of the consultation involved troubleshooting small challenges with Realizeit (PAL software) as it was new to the instructor- Particularly moving content from Canvas to Realizeit in the most effective way.
• Shadowed Roslyn (Instructional Designer) on a consultation with faculty:
  • Instructor was having trouble losing content in his Webcourses site.
  • Roslyn utilized a large, wall mounted computer monitor onto which she pointed to elements on the screen as the instructor worked on the course himself.
  • Roslyn helped the instructor figure out that he was treating modules as individual pages. It was explained that modules are more like buckets to store content including pages.
  • Instructor is enrolled in IDL 6543; this week’s assignments were discussed.
  • It was recommended that instructor backs up all content in case he runs into difficulty in the future in which content doesn’t seem to be saving.
  • Consultation concluded by setting up the next consultation.

• Assisted Aimee (Instructional Designer) with a project:
  • UCF has created OER through a grant that may be utilized by English and Anthropology departments.
  • I assisted in finding contact information regarding the chairs of said departments where possible in all state colleges and universities in Florida.
• Met with Dr. Gunter’s intern Crystal over the phone concerning the Storyboard project:
  • I delivered Crystal the storyboard content I had created for Dr. Gunter's class.
  • Crystal taking lead from here, implementing my contribution into the course itself.
  • Crystal will continue to contact me for consultation.

In these final weeks of my internship I am starting to feel confidence in my understanding of the Instructional Design role. In my consultation shadows with Roslyn this week I once again saw how the Instructional Designers at CDL aren’t here to build courses for faculty, they are here to provide guidance and expertise. This model makes sense to me. Promoting these course-building skills in the faculty themselves empowers them to create quality content as the subject matter experts rather than needing a constant back-and-forth with someone else building the course for them. Additionally, it brings more faculty on the same page concerning UCF’s expectations for quality online courses. This also gives the Instructional Design team the liberty to pursue other projects for the university, such as the OER grant I helped Aimee with this week. It really surprises me how this Instructional Design model is unique to UCF among other institutions.

It was also nice to shadow Roselyn and Jim as they spoke with their consultee about PAL. Adaptive Learning seems to be a growing trend in the Instructional Design sphere. I have taken some classes utilizing Realizit already and it makes sense to adapt the learning to suit the student, trimming out anything they already are proficient in.

My meeting with Crystal this week had me sit in the role as Instructional Designer consultant. She is working with Dr. Gunter on enhancements to her courses. I discussed the work I had been doing prior (Storyboarding project) and she is going to find the best placement for it in Dr. Gunter’s Webcourses, as well as make edits where appropriate.

July 8, 2019

• Received an email from Crystal concerning the Storyboard project. She was hoping to add more content to the presentation. I looked through Daniel Brigham’s Storyboarding course on Lynda.com to see if there were key points we were missing. I realized my initial contribution sorely lacked content about evaluation and feedback and responded with content in that light.

• Compiled notes and projects from internship.
• Searched through projects from all graduate coursework.
• Began organizing notes and projects for final portfolio.

• Attended IDL6543 Face-to-Face meeting #3
• This meeting began with a presentation by Techrangers concerning the importance of making courses accessible.
• Common accessibility issues that occur are when courses fail to address dyslexia and visual impairment.
• Following Techrangers was a presentation about UCF RITE services.
• Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE) is dedicated to assessing the impact of instructional technologies on the learning climate of UCF. They have been monitoring and assisting in the growth of online learning since 1996.
• Data shows that the size of live classes at UCF generally remains the same each semester while online and mixed-mode classes are expanding rapidly.
• Participants in IDL6543 split up into groups and shared the work they have been doing this semester with each other. This was a good opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other.

It’s interesting that one of my last weeks of interning included the RITE presentation that took place during the IDL6543 meeting. It was a nice reminder that online learning is growing and has so much room to grow. Instructional Design and Technology will be an extremely valuable skillset in the future in both education and corporate training.

July 15, 2019

• Met with Dr. Futch:
  • Reviewed experiences and accomplishments interning with CDL.
  • Reviewed ePortfolio contents.
  • Discussed future opportunities as an Instructional Designer (both within UCF and outside of UCF).
• Compiled experiences and accomplishments from internship for the sake of inclusion in ePortfolio.
• Worked on ePortfolio.

It is bittersweet ending my time at CDL. I have learned so much from Dr. Futch and the instructional design team. Every person I interacted with during my time here works hard, has a strong passion for what they do, and brings a unique personality to their team. Working here has helped me understand that there is no uniform look, attitude, or historical experience that defines Instructional Designers. During my exit meeting with Dr. Futch she went through the vast differences in background that encompass the members of her team. Some come from education, some from the corporate sector (and those fields are broad and far reaching in definition; for instance, education can range anywhere from preschool to collegiate level). It has been an empowering experience, gaining the knowledge that I will have a unique perspective to add to the Instructional Design community.