Hello from Amy!

Hi everyone,

My name is Amy Frank. I live in Calgary, Alberta with my husband, two sons, and dog. We are actually expecting baby #3 at the end of this course! I started this program after having my first son, so it seems fitting that I will finish the program during my third sons first year. The beauty of this program is that I can actually have small children, be pregnant, work full-time, and still “attend” class. Love it. This is my ninth course. Due to the expected arrival of my third baby, I will be taking January to March off, so convocation will have to wait until Fall 2010.

My family (I am the only girl)

I am very excited about this course, as it seems to fit with my interests more than most of the other courses I have completed. Unlike many of you, I am not a formal teacher. My interests in learning technologies began when I was working for a market research company. I was looking for a change and, since I had HTML knowledge, they asked me to start designing training for our clients. In the beginning I only knew how to create basic web design and technical writing. I started taking continuing education courses through the University of Calgary and Mount Royal in online documentation and e-learning. I was hooked at that point. I was working with some well-known Fortune 500 companies, and my company was allowing me the flexibility and resources to make some changes to how we delivered our online training. Unfortunately, venture capatalist companies, like the one I was working for, tend to put money into the areas that are “hot” and demanded by clients. As soon as the economy changed and a couple clients decided to discontinue working with us, my team also stop receiving funding to make changes. This meant my fun ended. However, this is also when I found out about this program and found a new job. I am currently working for AlbertaHealth Services (previously the Calgary Health Region). I work as e-Learning Developer in the Patient Care Information Services department. We develop e-learning modules used to train clinical staff on the various patient care applications.  As the various regions merge, there is a push to align patient care applications and start developing provincial training platforms.  I am hoping this drive towards e-records will open more opportunities for our group. In the future, I hope to continue working in business.

When I am not working, I am spending time with my kids. I would like to say that I have a number of hobbies and activities going on,but with two kids, 3 and 1, with another on the way, I am just happy to sit on the couch for the last hour of the day. J I will get some hobbies in two – three years.

I look forward to this semester and having a chance to work with all of you!

 Amy