The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential. Steve Ballmer
Hi Everyone,
Hope you all keeping well.
My professional experience ranges from ten years in the Oil & Gas industry as well as a couple years in the non-profit sector; in roles such Training Supervisor, Compliance Lead, and Analytics Specialist/Analyst.
I’m currently the Training Supervisor for a midstream Pipeline company and the main focus of the role is designing and delivering training courses for the Project personnel through Learning Management Systems.
My educational background has mostly been in Business Administration, Project Management, and Training. I finished an undergraduate degree in Business and have also completed an MBA with a major in Project Management a few years ago.
The main reason for taking ETEC523 was to gain an understanding of mobile education, its pedagogy and its culture. This ties nicely to my application to the MET Program which was motivated by my strong interest in the application of technology, especially the information technology represented by the Internet, in the field of education. I strongly believe that technology-supported instruction, eLearning, mobile education, and digital literacy in formal and informal learning contexts, has tremendous potential for development and business application.
Over the years, I have facilitated training sessions and delivered corporate courses to different personnel levels; from the individual level to the very senior leadership level. My goal and next step would be to teach remotely at colleges/universities and believe that this MET program can certainly provide me with the foundation, tools, and resources to move towards that goal.
I look forward to working with you, and learning from you folks
Regards,
Saeid
Hi Saeid,
Nice to meet you. I thought I’d answer the question you posted on my intro here. 🙂
You asked “What was the most interesting/informative MET course for you, and why?”
WELL… hmmm…this is a really difficult question to answer!! I love that the program has such a variety of electives to choose from, and I’ve honestly enjoyed them all. I really can’t answer the question, but I will share a piece of advice. I completed one of the virtual summer institutes in July and it was INTENSE. If you decide to take one, I recommend clearing your calendar for at least 3 weeks (one week on either side of the actual institute) and be prepared to work LONG days during the institute itself. I was incredibly burned-out by the time I handed my last assignment in.
Hi Sally,
That’s a great tip, thank you for that. I was actually contemplating the Summer Institutes, particularly because they range between only 1-3 weeks in length. Reading your feedback and learning that they could be super intense certainly prepares me to do more planning ahead of time. Thank you.
Look forward to working with you this semester,
Saeid
Hi Saeid, Thanks for introducing yourself. It is great to see some others with non-teaching roles in the program. It will be interesting to gauge your thoughts about the delivery of this course within WordPress instead of Canvas (which is a more traditional structure). Look forward to working with you.
Hi Sam,
Couldn’t agree more; I was pleasantly surprised to see some folks with non-teaching backgrounds in the class this semester. With regard to your question, I must say that LMSs have been my preferred system/structure for a fairly long time, and I continue to use them on daily basis at work. Having said this, prior to course registration, when I realized that ETEC523 is delivered within WordPress I was actually eager to try it and step out of the comfort zone. I’ll bookmark your post and will come back to it in the final days of this course to share my unbiased feedback and experience with you.
Thank you Sam. Likewise; look forward to working with you and learning from you,
Saeid
Hello Saeid, nice to meet you!
I found interesting your experiences and motivations.
I work in the construction field, so I’m curious about the type of courses you provide using the LMS. How do the target public respond to those strategies?
Thank you
Hi Deisy,
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for the questions.
My team designs program-specific courses for different disciplines, programs, and (sub)programs. For instance, many of our training courses are safety-related items that were deemed required as a result of a gap assessment or some sort of lesson learned. The team also designs several general-level courses such as Orientations, Welcome Videos, How-to’s, etc.
The target-audience (learner level) almost always prefers a smaller number of training requirements. However, the discipline owners and program managers always ensure that the right amount of training requirements are available to their personnel. In other words, when it comes to training, in particular when training courses are safety-related, we keep communicating that these are must-have and not really nice-to-have items.
Great questions Deisy,
Thank you,
Saeid