Fifty-One-Hund Update #3
Well oh well…we’ve come to the end of a long, and hopefully more painless than painful, journey for the Fall 2017 iteration of #INTE5100. Though the infancy of this course was undoubtedly felt, I was continuously reminded of it’s potential and importance in the ILT graduate program. We didn’t aim to build visually stunning products (though there were exceptions), but what we collectively (and intentionally) lacked in overt flash, we made up for in reinforced foundations and relationships. There was unquestionable growth, in myself and others, and if that’s not integral to education, I’m honestly not sure what is.
In a world saturated with a need for technical expertise, we can lose track of what makes us stable as professionals and humans. We will surely see an increasing need for data scientists, security analysts, and network administrators, but in my humble opinion, the students of this course should be in equal, if not greater, demand. They struggled through the realities of interpersonal collaboration. They empathetically analyzed problems and potential learners. They designed human-centered solutions directly aligned to the needs of learners. They became architects of information and visualizers of content flow. They developed plans to evaluate solutions and detach from preconceived notions. And finally, they became passionate advocates of important solutions, and in the process, themselves. Zucks, I know your metrics may not place instructional designers at the front of the Facebook employment line, but to me, that’s just a data-fueled oversight that will play out in time. To all of those graduating this semester, congratulations, and to those just beginning, know that you’ve built a stable foundation to stand on for years to come.
Thank you all for your dedication, candor and humility. May our paths cross again as we collectively plan and design the solutions that will positively shape our shared future.
To truly finish is to realize that you’ve only just begun.
