APTARA REEL APTARA REEL ~ |SSUE 05| 0) | 2016 ~ PAGE6 Professional Development CONSULTANT OF THE QUARTER: Christine Fleming ~ Aptara Certified Consultant (ACC) Christine Fleming is our Consultant of the Quarter, Jan-Mar, 2016. She is currently working on 2 series of UCLA (University of California, Las Angeles) projects as instructional Designer — Specialized Programs. Chris has worked in learning and development for both corporate entities and K-20 institutions for more than 35 years, and along the way has effectively participated in the ‘design and delivery of more than 800 courses. On the corporate side, she has worked for many Fortune 600 companies including Intuit, McDonalds, Express Script, SkillSoft, and CNA Insurance. In higher education, Chris has designed ‘courses in subject areas ranging from psychology ta business to geology to criminal justice for the University of the Rockies, Southern New Hampshire University, and Regis University, where she alte Fening previously served as Associate Dean for Leaming Design. otra Cried Conutans (6) ‘Constant of he Quarer- G1 2016 Chris holds a Ph.D. in instructional Design for Online Learning from Capella University, an M.S. in ‘education from indiana University, and a B.A. from the University of lowa in English education. She lives in Estes Park, Colorado, at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, where visitors to her yard include deer, el. wild turkeys, and the occasional bobcat, Here is a brief from the interaction we recently had with Christine on her selection as Consultant of the Quarter. You have been active inthe field on Leaming and Development for about tno decades. Tel us about your journey so far and how it all started, The only thing | ever expected to be was a high school English teacher, but after eight yeare of that | was ready for new challenges. | often say I've stumbled through my career rather than followed some careful strategy. Opportunities presented themselves, | took them, and after a while Id accumulated a huge range of experience, somewhat to my own surprise. When “instructional design” ‘emerged, | discovered a level of passion that justified a doctorate love the blend of rigor and creativity that ID affords! You started as Teacher, worked in both the classroom and online environments. Do you think that helped you understand end users of eleaming courses? ‘Absolutely. | think thi is one of the key things that enriches my perspective: when Im designing I'm simultaneously thinking as the 1D the student, and the facilitator. 've coached alot of young IDs who leamed the craft academically, without that classroom background, and they sometimes struggle with whether a particular presentation or activity will actually work in the real world. You have worked for many organizations as an LED professional forthe Fortune 500 and Education sectors. What basic challenges do you ‘nosmally se in these two different sectors? ‘The two are very different. To give a very concise response, Id say that the key challenge for corporate clients is understanding their particular culture and needs (different for every company, and sometimes, different for groups or departments within 2 company), hile the key challenge in higher ed is coaching faculty who may be uncomfortable with the online environment. must add that those are sweeping generalizations, and there are many more nuances to both sides. Tell us about your association with Aptara, Heel so lucky that Aptara contacted me. Everyone I've worked with has been helpful and supportive. When I was first called, it was with a couple of potential clients in mind, UCLA turned out to be the right fit for me, which | guess the past 18 months has validated.APTARA REEL APTARA REEL ~ ISSUE 05 |Q) | 2016 ~ PAGE 7 Professional Development What would you advise to new LAD aspitants and these already in the industry? IMy advice would be to get as many different experiences under your belt as you can. Do ‘every kind of job in the industry rather than aiming for a 30-year career with a single ‘organization or a single title. Teach, learn every software program you cen, work with @ range of clients/companies, do graphic design as best you can—just never say "no! Which mould you recognize as your greatest achievements in your briliant, long career? I don't know if i's been “brilliant” but the greatest satisfaction is hearing from people I've ‘coached in the past, who are now highly experienced and successful IDs in their own right, thanking me for my guidance. I'm grateful for whatever ve been able to do to help, ‘so many other people become briliant professionals. How has learning evolved over the years? Ive been in education/training long enough know to recagnize the swinging pendulum. When | began teaching, the classroom was your own little kingdom, and as long as you were doing something related to the subject matter you were doing your job. That meant ‘a huge range of individual approaches. Then “rigor” became a quiding principle, which meant structure, structure, structure. Now that itie common to cee the term “traditional online” (which makes me chuckle), and there are co many different approaches underway, | ‘see individualizing coming back into focus. This means, among other things, that learning. now, means everything and anything from ‘classroom with a desk to a mobile phone, from @ lecture to a game, from a tutor to a MOOC. And it's only going to continue in that direction. In ten years (or less!) | feel sure that credentials/badges/competencies will have moved from the fringes to the center of ‘education. And that might be a great thing! Which specific blogs or other online material do you distinguish and choose for your information about new developments within your field of interest? I confess to signing up for lots of newsletters, etc., and then being very selective about what | actually read. if ttle grabs my interest, | reaé the post or article, and if not, |just delete. | would put in a plug for one | really like on the higher ed cide: weetnews@weet wiche edu (http://www cet wiche edu), How would you define the role of an eLearning Instructional Designer in the modem era of education? Great question. | s2e more and more diversity in the way higher ed and corporate clients regard IDs these days. For many, an IDis a technical person—someone who “does” Articulate, or uploads courses to an LMS, Others see an ID as a translator of specific content, ‘such as healthcare material. Since | view a top ID as a person who is content agnostic—who maintains a focus on the needs of the learner and the idea of learning to DO something (not just “know” something), and who combines both creativity and rigor (alignment) {as a project is developed—the content and the toolset, to me, are beside the point. But my opinions, alas, do nat move the world! So | think today's ID is wise to gather as many skills as possible without forgetting those core abilities that made you an ID in the first place. Would you ike to say something to your felow mates at Aptara? “This is a very exciting time to be in learning and development! I this field is your passion, you can expect many turbulent, challenging, ‘but rewarding years ahead, and since my goal isto put off retirement for as long as possible, | hope to be right in there with you. Here's to the future! Thank You!