Everything Happens for a Reason
by Tamara Lindemann
A Broken Road that Leads to a Great Future!
A Bumpy Road
After I graduated from Northwood University in May of 1999, I thought I was done with school as it had helped me achieve some great career objectives and goals to land in the Performance and Development department at the Bank. For me, it was the perfect job that consisted of training and development, instructional design, user acceptance testing of systems, associate communications and project management. I absolutely loved every aspect of my job. My career was in full swing as a Performance Consultant in the Performance & Development department in the Call Center at LaSalle Bank. Then there was the merger of LaSalle Bank into Bank of America. A business decision was made to close our Call Center site in October 2008 and approximately 300 employees at my site were displaced. Because they closed the entire site, all employees were automatically qualified for the No Worker Left Behind – HRDI Program through Michigan Works. The benefit to the program was that I was eligible for funding for two years up to $10,000 to use towards my degree. It truly was a blessing. This program gave me the opportunity to pursue my dream of completing a Master's Degree Program. The displacement from the Bank also allowed me the time to attend Holloways Real Estate Institute to pursue my dream of obtaining my Real Estate Salesperson license and begin a new career with Century 21 Looking Glass. Previously, I had been so involved in my career at the Bank that there had never been enough time to pursue either of these dreams. I made the decision to choose a Master in Arts of Educational Technology with an emphasis in Instructional Design for my program at Michigan State University. My passion is to design and implement training material, tools and resources that will assist employees improve their skill set and performance development to become successful at their careers. So my thought was, that this program would only reinforce, enhance and expand some of what I already had begun. Since I had been in property management for around 15 years and loved to help people learn, now an active real estate agent and no official student audience, I decided to develop all my course work around real estate so I could better educate my real estate clients regarding buying and selling properties.
I began the Master’s program in January 2009 at MSU. Making the decision to attend onsite classes or take the online program was difficult as I had never taken an online class before. After very careful consideration and weighing the pros and cons of both, the online program won. It was a bit scary at first taking online classes, as I was afraid I would miss out on the class interaction components of the learning process. I quickly learned that online courses have so much to offer from an interactions standpoint. This program has been very participatory, hands on, engaging, collaborative, focused and very team oriented. Plus, it offered the flexibility of attending class when it worked for my schedule vs. a set time of day. This was very helpful since in June 2010, I began a new job as an Eligibility Specialist with the State of Michigan, Human Services Department. So at this point I was very busy with working two jobs and completing my classes along the way. The online program offered the ability to connect with a diverse group of individuals from all over the United States and world. Being able to work collaboratively with a diverse group of people helped me to view things from different cultural learning perspectives.
All Roads Lead Somewhere!
The Right Turn
My first true impression of what this program was all about really hit me during the Summer of 2009 when I took a condensed course, CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology To Problems Of Practice, instructed by Carlton Matteo. This course was offered as partially face to face and partially online. This class made me realize that I really had a lot to learn about teaching using technology. It introduced me to many technology firsts, such as: Learning to use Dreamweaver to create a website, creating a Podcast, a Webquest and a Technology Plan. Some of my work can be seen at…http://mtamaralindemann.weebly.com/cep-812---applying-educational-technology-to-problems-of-practice.htmlThe class was very challenging and it was when I really knew that I chose the right program for me as I came alive with enthusiasm and excitement. It was new ways of thinking, planning, developing training material and training like I had never experienced. The technology that was introduced and being learned seemed to have endless opportunities.
Another class that instilled my love for design and development was CEP 817 Learning Technology by Design instructed by Punya Mishra. This course focused on learning by design, art and aesthetics of design, iterative design, evaluation and collaboration of design. One of the course requirements was to create an educational resource website. I chose to design my site using Google Sites. It was fun and challenging. I named my site Real Estate Basics. The hardest part was defining what the site would contain as far as content. I had learned from the class that content needed to be interesting and flow well throughout the site. The website topics included:
My first true impression of what this program was all about really hit me during the Summer of 2009 when I took a condensed course, CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology To Problems Of Practice, instructed by Carlton Matteo. This course was offered as partially face to face and partially online. This class made me realize that I really had a lot to learn about teaching using technology. It introduced me to many technology firsts, such as: Learning to use Dreamweaver to create a website, creating a Podcast, a Webquest and a Technology Plan. Some of my work can be seen at…http://mtamaralindemann.weebly.com/cep-812---applying-educational-technology-to-problems-of-practice.htmlThe class was very challenging and it was when I really knew that I chose the right program for me as I came alive with enthusiasm and excitement. It was new ways of thinking, planning, developing training material and training like I had never experienced. The technology that was introduced and being learned seemed to have endless opportunities.
Another class that instilled my love for design and development was CEP 817 Learning Technology by Design instructed by Punya Mishra. This course focused on learning by design, art and aesthetics of design, iterative design, evaluation and collaboration of design. One of the course requirements was to create an educational resource website. I chose to design my site using Google Sites. It was fun and challenging. I named my site Real Estate Basics. The hardest part was defining what the site would contain as far as content. I had learned from the class that content needed to be interesting and flow well throughout the site. The website topics included:
- Advantages of Home Ownership
- Avoiding Foreclosures
- Buyer Checklist & Resources
- Buying a Home
- Century 21 All Moves - The Path Home
- Facing Foreclosure
- Financing Options
- Glossary of Real Estate Terms
- Mortgage Calculator
- Online Resources
- Understanding Short Sales
The goal was to include common topics of questions or concerns for clients in the industry today. This site is still an active site that I refer my clients to today. It was a great experience putting it together. Creating this site made me realize how important it is to keep up with technology and how it can really make your job more effective and efficient. In creating it, I thought of it from all perspectives, the client as a user, my company and me as the designer. You can check out the website I created as an educational resource for real estate at… https://sites.google.com/a/msu.edu/m-tamara-lindemann/
My thought process and philosophies about training have definitely evolved and developed greatly from this program. As a trainer, it has made me realize that there are many more factors that contribute to a successful learning process than just developing good training material. As from one of my text books from EAD 861 Adult Learning, Jane Vella discusses the importance of forming a respectful relationship between the student and the teacher. I totally agree with her thought process here. The student needs to be able to feel like they are in a comfortable and safe learning environment where they can ask questions, share ideas, experiences, and participate in discussions. My teaching philosophy has always been to engage students with interactive questions, exercises and collaboration. Through the classes I have taken, it has helped me to see how important other factors are in the learning process. Using a form of skills assessment prior to training can help to set up the structure, content, and flow of training session. It can also assist in determining the delivery method to use for the content delivery (i.e. paper handouts, computer based material/module, podcasts, internet, etc) for the session. As a learner, this program has strengthened my skills pertaining to learning theories and models, learning styles, technology options as a resource for learning, communicating online, collaboration, research resources and methods, patience, attention to detail, time management, design color schemes, consistency with font and style, diversity, and teamwork, etc. I have a new found respect for online learning. In today’s society, I am not sure it is really given the proper credit that it deserves. 21st online learning is fabulous, convenient and a great success; at least from my experience.
Where have I been & where must I go?
Stopping to Checkout the Welcome Center
After I had several classes behind me and had actually developed some cool tools and websites for my clients. It was time to test them out. Since I began the program I have only had a few first time home buyers. Most of my buyers are clients who have purchased a home in the past. As a tool for my clients and to help educate them and for me to gather some great feedback regarding the educational resources I had developed along the way, I shared some of what I created with my first time home buyers and seasoned clients. The main tool I shared at this point with my first time home buyer clients was the Stair Powerpoint on Buying a Home that I created during the CEP 811 class. It was a great tool for the buyer to learn about some basics of buying a home and because it was self directed, the client was able to test their knowledge by taking the quizzes in the Powerpoint. This tool proved to work well with first time home buyers as it was a good introduction with some basics for them to get started on thier search for a dream home.
The other resource that was shared with both first time home buyers and seasoned home buyers was my website that was developed in Google Sites during CEP 817. The website is called Real Estate Basics and offers a lot of educational information for real estate clients. I ask my active clients at the time the site was developed to look it over and provide feedback. The feedback was great. They offered a look at it from the user perspective and I was able to further develop the site with additional topics and even include a mortgage calculator and information on Short Sales. Overall, my clients seem to like the site and have had positive comments about its content and functionality.
After I had several classes behind me and had actually developed some cool tools and websites for my clients. It was time to test them out. Since I began the program I have only had a few first time home buyers. Most of my buyers are clients who have purchased a home in the past. As a tool for my clients and to help educate them and for me to gather some great feedback regarding the educational resources I had developed along the way, I shared some of what I created with my first time home buyers and seasoned clients. The main tool I shared at this point with my first time home buyer clients was the Stair Powerpoint on Buying a Home that I created during the CEP 811 class. It was a great tool for the buyer to learn about some basics of buying a home and because it was self directed, the client was able to test their knowledge by taking the quizzes in the Powerpoint. This tool proved to work well with first time home buyers as it was a good introduction with some basics for them to get started on thier search for a dream home.
The other resource that was shared with both first time home buyers and seasoned home buyers was my website that was developed in Google Sites during CEP 817. The website is called Real Estate Basics and offers a lot of educational information for real estate clients. I ask my active clients at the time the site was developed to look it over and provide feedback. The feedback was great. They offered a look at it from the user perspective and I was able to further develop the site with additional topics and even include a mortgage calculator and information on Short Sales. Overall, my clients seem to like the site and have had positive comments about its content and functionality.
Happy Endings and New Beginnings!
My Final Destination & a Highway to Endless Opportunities!
Finally, I would like to comment on my experience in the final class of my Master’s program, CEP 807, Capstone instructed by Dr. Matthew Koehler, Penny Thompson, and Andrea Zellner. I see where the saying “Save the best for last” comes in to play with this class. It truly has been very motivating and a joy to be a part of the Fall of 2011. This class was designed for graduate students to create a living professional portfolio that is a take away from the Masters program. The portfolio consisted of basic information about me, my resume, a technology showcase where samples of coursework are available for review and my Capstone essays reflecting where it all began and ended. At first, I was a little apprehensive about the idea of portfolio website, but that quickly changed as the design began and the site started to take shape and come alive. It is truly a fantastic way to end the Master’s program at MSU. My goal has always been to learn as much about technology tools and educational resources available that I could use and that would help to grow and develop my skills as a professional. And this program has exceeded my expectations. My hope was to move back into a position in the training and development field. Although I love the Department of Human Services and serving my community and helping clients learn about programs that are available to them, my heart, soul and passion is with training and development. Even though my portfolio is still under construction today, I was able to use it recently when I applied for a job with the Department of Treasury, Collection Services – Training and Development Division. I provided my website to the interview panel as a resource and reference of samples of my coursework throughout my Masters. Needless to say, I got the job and begin a new career November 28, 2011 as a Quality Assurance Analyst. This course and this program have assisted me to return to a career in the field that I love so much, performance and training development.
My journey at Michigan State University has been a fantastic one over the past two years. The knowledge and skills that I gained will be with me no matter where I go. Thank you to all of my instructors along the way and to Michigan State University for a great educational experience.
Finally, I would like to comment on my experience in the final class of my Master’s program, CEP 807, Capstone instructed by Dr. Matthew Koehler, Penny Thompson, and Andrea Zellner. I see where the saying “Save the best for last” comes in to play with this class. It truly has been very motivating and a joy to be a part of the Fall of 2011. This class was designed for graduate students to create a living professional portfolio that is a take away from the Masters program. The portfolio consisted of basic information about me, my resume, a technology showcase where samples of coursework are available for review and my Capstone essays reflecting where it all began and ended. At first, I was a little apprehensive about the idea of portfolio website, but that quickly changed as the design began and the site started to take shape and come alive. It is truly a fantastic way to end the Master’s program at MSU. My goal has always been to learn as much about technology tools and educational resources available that I could use and that would help to grow and develop my skills as a professional. And this program has exceeded my expectations. My hope was to move back into a position in the training and development field. Although I love the Department of Human Services and serving my community and helping clients learn about programs that are available to them, my heart, soul and passion is with training and development. Even though my portfolio is still under construction today, I was able to use it recently when I applied for a job with the Department of Treasury, Collection Services – Training and Development Division. I provided my website to the interview panel as a resource and reference of samples of my coursework throughout my Masters. Needless to say, I got the job and begin a new career November 28, 2011 as a Quality Assurance Analyst. This course and this program have assisted me to return to a career in the field that I love so much, performance and training development.
My journey at Michigan State University has been a fantastic one over the past two years. The knowledge and skills that I gained will be with me no matter where I go. Thank you to all of my instructors along the way and to Michigan State University for a great educational experience.