Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

I’ve been working as an Instructional Designer for over a decade now, and within that capacity, most of my roles have required e-learning development. It wasn’t until I took on my first role in higher education, where e-learning development was not a thing I got to do, that I began to really long for the days I once lamented…working on an e-learning project for hours, weeks, or months. It was then that I realized that while I love all of the other phases of Instructional Design, I have a particular fondness for the development phase. Here are a few reasons why:

1.Flexing My Creative Muscles

Until I discovered Instructional Design, I had never been a particularly creative or art-sy person. I always wanted to be, but it was just never in the cards. I did much better with written activities, or things that required my imagination…I always dreaded the ‘creative cat’ category in Cranium. But once I began developing e-learning and seeing how I could craft really cool learning experiences, and make learning suck less for the target audience, I became passionate about that element of Instructional Design.

2. Working with Cool Technology

Within my first Instructional Design role, we worked in a ton of different technologies. We created a lot of cool learning experiences, from traditional Instructor-Led Training (ILT) to gesture-based training to Augmented Reality (AR). In creating these learning experiences, I was able to work across a broad range of technologies. This is where my love affair with Articulate products began. I became especially excited about Articulate products after having worked in so many other products that were a lot more confusing to use. In working with Articulate products, I was able to discover the E-Learning Heroes Community.

3. The Community

As with the communities of Instructional Designers I’ve encountered, the communities of e-learning developers are a-plenty, and it makes me so happy and excited to see so many people doing such cool things. When I was first building out my portfolio, the Articulate E-Learning Heroes Community was my motivational launchpad. I truly appreciate a community of people who provide constructive feedback as it helps me grow as a Learning and Development Professional.

I have also learned so much from all of the people I have met through other communities on Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter. There is such a wealth of inspiration for e-learning development out there, and these communities have been instrumental in my growth within e-learning development.