ETEC 561 Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

This section of your textbook focuses on jobs in the profession of instructional design and technology: lessons and tips on how to get one and organizations that can support the job search and continued learning in the IDT field. Many of you already have a job in the field or in a related field; however, based on this week’s readings, you’ll reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to learn or do to get there.

Begin your post for this week with some background: what is your current job, what program are you enrolled in, what brings you to that program, and what do you expect when you graduate (change jobs? obtain a promotion?).

This year will mark my fourth year as a middle school social studies teacher. In my short time as an educator I have done several things at my campus. I started out teaching seventh grade Texas History and coaching girls volleyball and soccer. After two years of this I made the change to eighth grade American history and took over the Vex Robotics team. This year I also became the social studies department chair.  Taking over the department and my robotics coaching role has driven me to pursue my Masters of Education Technology-Leadership. My goal is finish my degree program by August 2014. I plan to use my degree to become an educational technologist in the field of Education. However, I may also test the waters of the corporate world again. I chose this program partly because of its versatility. Either way that I ultimately decide to go it will mean a raise in salary and allow me I be involved in education without being in the classroom all the time.

Next, describe the kind of work that you want to do and the type of organization or institution in which you want to work. Use the WorkMatrix^TM in the chapter titled “Getting a Job in Business and Industry” to help organize your thoughts. Do you most desire first, second, third, or fourth level service? Or would you rather design or develop instruction? What features of work are important to you? What economic sector do you want to work in?

After using the WorkMatrix^TM  tool, I narrowed my desired Level of Service to Service Level 1 or Service Level 2. The reason I list both would be because I am somewhat undecided as to what I want to do once I finish my degree. I enjoy working in secondary education and would continue with the field if I could become an instructional technologist for a district. I would love to help teachers become better users of technology to influence their students learning.
I see this as more Service Level 2 as you are training the teachers (trainers) how to be more effective. However, if I went to the corporate side of instructional design I would want to be more involved in Service Level 1, the design and delivering of training. Either way, being able to assess and deliver a product to a group is my desire. When I work I like a high level of autonomy and purpose in my work. I like to make an impact with my organization. As far as the features of work from the matrix, I would say that location is most important. I am willing to take a lower salary to stay near my family. Opportunity for promotion would be next, followed by income growth. At this moment at time I would not want to travel much as I have a young family however, in time that might change. Starting salary would be my least concern, but I would expect a fair salary for the position and location. As I said before the plan would be to work in Education however, I may be open to other options like the knowledge industry or even manufacturing.

Based on these intentions, explain what you need to learn. What skills and qualifications do you need? Will you obtain the skills you need in the required courses in your program? What electives might you need to take to help you develop skills specific to your aspirations?

The plan, as it stands at the moment, is to stay in education. I believe that through this program and other trainings that I have pursued I will have a good grasp on educational design and technology. I have supervisory and management experience and feel I could make a move in education to management. I do need more experience on designing to fix large scale culture issues that are part of education. I believe that through education, training, and just on the job experience I could become successful. I might consider taking a business management class before I finish the program.

Finally, what organizations would best support your continued learning after you graduate? Do you think you would benefit from joining those organizations before graduating? Explain why or why not?

Professional organizations can be beneficial. There were four listed that sound interesting on the surface. They listed here:

American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)

International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

I would have to continue to look deeper into these organizations however; I do not believe that they would benefit me as far as gaining employment. I do think they could help me in my education of the field I am pursuing. Now, if I decided to go the corporate route they might help more in employment. I think that I will continue to research these and join a couple soon.