The 2012 ISPI Conference - Ideas and Experiences

As you may have read in my earlier posts, I recently attended the ISPI Performance Improvement Conference in Toronto, Canada. I had an outstanding experience and blogged some of what I learned throughout the week. If you missed the conference, these links share my experiences.

Before the Conference
Here are a few posts before the conference and during the trip to Canada.

• Preview to the conference
• My irritations when flying
• The hotel that looked like an IKEA display

Principles and Practices of HPT Workshop
In Toronto, I first attended the Principles and Practices of HPT Workshop, which was outstanding. My notes and thoughts from this workshop:

• Photos from the HPT Workshop
• Day 1 What is Human Performance Technology?
• Day 2 Tools for analyzing performance problems
• Day 3 Conversing with others about human performance issues

Podcast:
While I was at the conference, I had a few minutes to talk with my brother about some of the things I had learned and describe some of the basic concepts of the field of Human Performance Technology.

• Podcast: ISPI Conference Ideas and Experience

ISPI Performance Improvement Conference
After the workshop, I attended the ISPI Performance Improvement Conference. The ideas and the knowledge presented were astonishingly powerful. Here are my reactions from the conference.

• Day 1 Evidence-based practice and Return on Investment
• Day 2 Debunking common HPT myths
• Day 3 The HPT Model and Conference Themes

The Upcoming ISPI 2012 Conference

This post is part of a multiple part Series on the 2012 Performance Improvement Conference.
#ISPI2012

This week I am attending the 2012 Performance Improvement Conference, which is presented by the International Society for Performance Improvement. Since I am fairly new to the field of performance improvement (though I have had some practical experience and related knowledge), I plan to post every day or two about what I learn at this conference, including my reflections on how it is important and how it might be applied.

As is apparent from my previous blog posts, my education, my research, and my career has been focused on instructional design strategies and effectiveness. However, as I have adapted to my new role here at Franklin, it is apparent that I need to build my knowledge and capacity in the important field of Performance Technology. To this end, my administration has graciously funded my attendance at this conference, including a three day workshop entitled Principles and Practices of Performance Improvement.

I look forward to the learning experience and hope to be able to share help insights as the week progresses.

IDPT Masters Degree at Franklin University

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was recently asked by the Dean of my college to serve as the Interim Chair of the Instructional Design and Performance Technology (IDPT) program at Franklin University. I thought I would share a little bit about Franklin and about the program. First, here is a video introduction:

http://video.franklin.edu/Franklin/idpt/IntroductiontoIDPT.htm


IDPT Program
Our instructional design program is unique because it provides a balance between both instructional design and performance technology. My masters degree was almost purely instructional design with one performance technology course, and I believe the addition of the performance competencies really gives program graduates a unique perspective and provides them with useful knowledge and skills.

The faculty of this program consist of 10 Doctorate-qualified instructional designers who work full-time for Franklin as well as several adjunct faculty members working as professionals in the field of instructional design and performance technology. Each faculty member brings unique perspective to the field.

Franklin has what we call a Centralized Curriculum, which means that course outcomes and activities are standardized so that every course has the same core. Course instructors then bring their own unique experiences and expertise and mentor our students new higher levels of learning. Our course development follows a strong instructional design process by a full instructional design team, including:

• Faculty Members
• Instructional Design Faculty
• Content Contributors
•  Course Editors
• A Multimedia Development Team

If you are interested in developing your knowledge and skills and in earning a Masters degree, I recommend taking a look at the IDPT Program at Franklin University!

About Franklin University
Franklin University is a mid-size private, non-profit university located in Columbus, Ohio. It offers several bachelors and masters degrees and has been a pillar in the educational community in Central Ohio since 1902.

A Promotion at Franklin - Interim Program Chair

I was recently asked by the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Technology at Franklin University to serve as the Interim Chair for the Masters of Science program in Instructional Design and Performance Technology (IDPT). This came as quite a surprise, and the exiting program chair will certainly be missed.

This new opportunity has caused me to reflect on my professional experiences over the last 10 years or so. I have been blessed with excellent opportunities to develop myself, to excel, and to move forward in my career. I feel greatly blessed to have this exciting opportunity.

IDPT is an excellent program- my predecessor Dr. Dawn Snyder dedicated herself to quality in the curriculum and in the courses that have been developed so far. I work for a university that is growing and expanding, and I have support from my peers and from my administration.

I feel somewhat overwhelmed- I am replacing a woman who has extensive experience in teaching, designing and consulting in the field, and I am a relatively young academic in the field. This new position will require quite a shift in my mindset because I will be performing administrative duties, along with the curriculum and course development of a new program.

An assumption of instructional design is that learners should learn within their "zone of proximal development" - that certain knowledge and skills must be learned before more complex knowledge and skills can be learned. I am definitely being pushed to my limits here and feel as if I am at the brink of my own zone of proximal development, but I welcome the experience and the knowledge and abilities that will come through this experience and am confident that success will be the outcome.

I will definitely write about my experiences as they unfold....