HELLO! I’M JESSICA.
I’m a distance education professional specializing in instructional design, online instruction, and faculty development.
This blog is about my journey from online student to online instructor to eLearning GEEK!!!
And the story begins………….
In December 2002 as I was turning 23 years old, I took a moment to reflect on my life and what I had managed to accomplish or hadn’t accomplished. In that moment of self-reflection I thought to myself “I’m 23 years old, I dropped out of college with below average grades, I’m having my 2nd child, I’m married, I’m a stay-at-home mom, and have no skills or education that could get me a “good” job when I’m get ready to go to work.” Now all of that is not terrible. I love my hubby and he provided me the opportunity to stay home with my kids, but I wasn’t happy about dropping out of school and not having the skills or education necessary to get my “dream job” when I was ready to go back to work.
On a piece of paper I wrote everything I wanted to accomplish. It looked something like this:
Of course, the “givens” were on the list like lose weight, pay off credit cards, blah, blah, blah. I listed things I could change about myself and things I could accomplish. On January 6, 2002, two days after my daughter was born I started my first 2 online classes. One year later when I received my AA degree, I crossed it off my list, then my BA degree, then my M.Ed.
Fourteen years after I started my first two online courses, I earned a PhD in Instructional Design for Online Learning from Capella University.
Through this journey I’ve accomplished the goals on my piece of paper as well as many others I’ve added to the list through the years.
I’ve been a high school teacher, adjunct instructor, online instructor, trainer, and I’m currently an instructional designer. I’m going to use my experience, knowledge, and expertise to provide you tips to help you take advantage of everything eLearning has to offer whether you are a teacher, student, instructional designer, or anyone who is just interested in the art of teaching and learning online!
I will be discussing about things that are important to me, enough to blog about, and hopefully important to you!
Interested in knowing more about me? Check me out and connect with me on LinkedIn!
Yours Truly,
eLearning GEEK