MAKING A PLAN
I had already committed to leaving teaching at the end of June, 2023, so I didn’t have any time to waste. What new skills did I need? Which tools would I need? With more and more teachers leaving, the job market was becoming flooded with former teachers. What else would I need to learn in order to stand out to recruiters?
TOOLS
I already knew I would need to learn an authoring tool. I only had a vague idea of what an authoring tool entailed, and job postings showed that Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate were the industry standards. Both are expensive subscriptions, so I needed to figure out where to invest my money. I couldn’t afford any more misguided investments like SheCodes.
There are countless reviews of each tool on YouTube. I recommend searching “Storyline vs. Captivate” to learn the pros and cons of each. It’s important to look at the creator of each video to be sure you aren’t getting biased information funded by one company or the other. I decided to go with Storyline based on my research and the fact that the bootcamps I was investigating all used Storyline. With any purchase you make, be sure to look for an educator discount if you still have access to your school email account. I was able to get 50% off of most of my software purchases! Also, remember that this should be a one-time purchase because, unlike working in public education, your future employer will supply all of the tools you need.
Other ID tools that frequently came up in my investigations included Camtasia, Adobe Creative Suite, Vyond, PowerPoint, and Canva. I looked into the capabilities of each, but I decided to hold off on any more purchases until I was sure I needed them.
WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
I started with some basic googling to get an idea of the most important concepts and skills an Instructional Designer needs. I also went to websites of some of the major learning and development organizations (ATD, The Learning Guild, TLDC, and Training Magazine Network). I browsed the articles and noted the leading voices in the industry. On LinkedIn, I began following industry leaders and the discussions they were engaged in. I subscribed to more podcasts for my commute. From all of these sources, I put together a list of key concepts, and this is what I came up with in no particular order. I added to the list throughout the transition, but these were the initial topics I needed to be sure I understood thoroughly.
GETTING IT DONE
Next, I needed a plan of attack. I turned back to my colleagues in the Teacher Career Coach course to find out how others before me had found success. Some of them had found success with very little financial investment and recommended free and low-cost resources. I was excited by the prospect of saving money, but as I tried to piece it all together I realized that I really needed one comprehensive program for the majority of it. I was still teaching full-time and had a lot of family obligations on my plate, so I really needed someone else to organize my learning at this point if I had any hope of landing a new job by the fall. Others in the course recommended a number of different bootcamps. This time, before enrolling I would take a close look at each and ask lots of questions before deciding which one was right for me.
