Britney Cole
Associate Vice President, Solutions Architecture and Innovation Strategy The Ken Blanchard Companies
About:
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As the Head of the Blanchard Innovation Lab, I help people have better days at work by taking a human-centric approach to leadership development. When people see leadership as a partnership, focus on strengths and care about their people, they are more engaged at work and at home – bringing their best selves to those who matter most. I've spent my career being curious on how to make these better days happen more frequently. Consulting with the largest companies in the world, I've made it my mission to understand how employees learn new skills, how managers effectively lead their teams, and how executives run their businesses. With more than 15 years of corporate learning and development experience, my team works on building the skills needed to accelerate performance, inspire others, and spin up high-performing teams.
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As engineer turned designer to innovator in the field, I've been able to create and facilitate award-winning solutions that not only create tangible business impact, but also (and most importantly) improve lives...and make more better days. The LDT program was so fundamental in my journey to where I’m at in my career today. Learning from industry giants, including Dr. Allison Rossett, I was able to truly understand how adults learn and then create pragmatic and impactful learning experiences to build knowledge and skills. The opportunities to actually build a strong portfolio to bring to employers, work with local organizations, be published with Dr. Kristen Bell and the VA, and network with students who, to this day, are my close friends, I could not be more grateful!
Liesl Madrona, M.Ed.
Instructional Designer Accessibility Specialist
Accessibility Center
About:
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The role of the CCC Accessibility Center is to provide training, resources, and technical assistance to faculty and staff of California's community colleges to improve access for students with disabilities. Ms. Madrona focuses on designing and developing online self-paced accessibility micro-courses for professional development. Ms. Madrona’s passion to create equitable courses led her to other vital projects in the CCC system. SDSU’s Learning Design and Technology program provided her with critical skills needed in her daily work. Following is her story:
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The role of the CCC Accessibility Center is to provide training, resources, and technical assistance to faculty and staff of California's community colleges to improve access for students with disabilities. Ms. Madrona focuses on designing and developing online self-paced accessibility micro-courses for professional development. Ms. Madrona’s passion to create equitable courses led her to other vital projects in the CCC system. SDSU’s Learning Design and Technology program provided her with critical skills needed in her daily work. Following is her story: I needed a quality instructional designer program that was flexible with my full-time work schedule. After narrowing it down to two institutions, I ultimately chose SDSU's LDT program for two reasons: faculty-student engagement and real-world based projects with opportunities to work with real business organizations. I didn't want just a degree. I needed skillsets I could actually use to make me competitive in the field. I felt every course was a stepping stone to helping me prepare for my career - I was thankful there was no "busy work." I didn't want to take any more online courses where the most interaction I had with the teacher was reading their name on the syllabus. All of the teachers were supportive and made time to help me succeed. They helped facilitate what could have been disastrous group projects into meaningful and intentional experiences between my peers and our client. I've created life-long friendships in this program and established invaluable connections in the field. I'm certain I would not be in the role I am in today if it weren't for the LDT Program, which provided me the essential foundational and leadership skills required to set me apart.
Daniel Novak, Ph.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor
University of California - Riverside
About:
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Educational technologies come and go, but the Learning Design and Technology program at San Diego State University taught me skills that have served me well for over 12 years. As a young person starting out in the technology sector, the LDT program provided me with rich opportunities to learn concrete skills in instructional design, technology implementation, and business performance improvement that employers value. Now, as a professor, I use these same skills to ensure that students and faculty receive high-quality learning experiences and materials in every project.
Peter von dem Hagen
Instructional Designer
Palo Alto Networks
About:
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After 20 years as a software engineering manager, I decided to make a career change into the education side of Tech. The LDT program was exactly what I needed to make this transition. The courses had a good mixture of learning theory and real-world application. The projects where I worked with companies were particularly valuable, not just because I could get experience and apply learnings to the job, but also in developing my portfolio and the ability to confidently present it.
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I was able to get an internship at a software company called Coupa through one of the LDT faculty and alumni. During this project, I built out a full e-learning module. Being able to showcase that module, as well as my school portfolio, got me into a 3 month contract position at EasyPost. That opened the door to another contract position at Apple, where I stayed for 6 months. My primary goal was to get a full-time position as an instructional designer for a tech company and I was able to do that at Palo Alto Networks in February. I would say my position now is more design-oriented, and we have to create engaging e-learning content in a fast-paced environment. During my job search, I could see that my master's degree from SDSU was valued and gave me an edge in competing for open positions. I would have never been able to make this transition had I not gotten the education and project experience I got from the SDSU LDT program.
Kristie Anders
Instructional Designer
Continuing Education Program, Loyola University Maryland
About:
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Before starting my Master's program in Learning Design and Technology through San Diego State University, I had never actually taken an online class. I had heard that they could be impersonal with a lot of busy work. I had a completely different experience with the LDT program! During the course of the two years, it took me to complete all the requirements, I moved from Hawaii to Arkansas and had a baby. My instructors and classmates always asked for updates about my personal life in a way that made me feel seen and cared for, even though all our interactions were virtual. I even still keep in contact with a few of my classmates.
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I also found the coursework to be meaningful and engaging. The projects that we worked on for clients in particular not only helped me gain actual experience in the field but also set up a relationship for me that led to an employment opportunity. I was hired as an instructional designer for Loyola University Maryland's continuing education program, ASPIRE. I got to be an integral part of starting the program and have been working to support it over the past year and a half by doing course design, media development, helping with marketing efforts, and managing online communities for clients. I'm thankful for what I learned and the connections I made through the LDT program at SDSU.
Elizabeth Damiano
LMS Administrator and Digital Learning Specialist
for a women's clothing label and social marketing company
About:
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My experiences in SDSU's Learning Design and Technology (LDT) program prepared me well to pivot to a new industry. Despite my lack of paid experience in any business field, I was able to leverage the experiences afforded by the LDT program to make a good impression in job interviews. Group projects are a hallmark of higher education, but the LDT program's projects involved real problems faced by real clients. I collaborated with a business development firm, a university, an instructional design firm contracted with a public utility, a non-profit organization, and a department in the federal government.
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My courses increased my self-confidence to learn new software and acquire basic skills in related areas, such as photography, graphic design, video editing, game design, and web design. I also worked on multiple research projects, two of which were presented at international conferences and resulted in publications. The breadth of learning opportunities and experiences in the LDT program enhanced my marketability and prepared me well for a new career path.