Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Today definitely got away from me…blogging for twelve days straight is hard! I had a pretty low-key day of invoicing, getting my haircut, lunching with friends, and winding down – Hey! A lady has gotta relax when she’s on vacation!

It only seemed logical to continue my relaxation with some heavy decisions…

This past year, I was accepted to pursue my Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership at the University of Western Ontario, but I deferred for a year because 1) I’m somewhat indecisive, 2) I’d like to iron out my research interests a bit, and 3) 2016 was BUSY.

Why not a PhD?

No one outside of myself has asked this question yet, but here’s the reason – The main differentiating factor between a PhD and an EdD is that with a PhD, you’re conducting your own research. The EdD can be based on existing research. For the purpose of satisfying my research interests, I would prefer to base my research on existing research…because GIRL, I don’t have the time or wherewithal to conduct my own research and there are a ton of incredible folks out there conducting very relevant research that will help me with my own research. It sounds a little inception-esque, I know.

What are my research interests?

I won’t disclose of those until I dive deep into the program (if and when I do), just know that they’re drenched in concepts of online learning/instructional design/e-learning development.

So what’s the hold up?

• It’s a pretty intense 3-year program, and I’m not sure if I want to commit to doing something so intense just yet.
• There’s a cost associated, so that’s always a consideration.
• I have some concerns over the time commitment – when I was completing my graduate degree, I was also working full-time and had zero social life. I’d like to still maintain some semblance of a social life/be able to vacation and attend conferences…I’m also working full-time at the university and almost full-time with my independent work. There are only 24 hours in each day!
• A big concern I have is related to the post-concussion syndrome I’m now working through. My husband has assured me that I shouldn’t let that deter me, and ultimately I won’t, but I still haven’t figured out how to optimize my new brain for efficiency when it comes to information processing and memory.

Regardless of how many excuses I can make for myself, I need to make a decision between now and June 2017.

So, I’ve been on Winter holiday for 7 days now; what have I been up to outside of spending time with family and blogging?

Reading

I’m toggling between several good reads:

• Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte
• Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
• Moonglow by Michael Chabon

I also have two other Duarte gems cued up:

• Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte
• Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez

Working

It’s been relevantly quiet for a winter break; usually this is when all of my clients are scrambling to have things done…but I have been doing a bit of work here and there.

• Storyline development for two clients
• Assessment development for one client
• Storyboarding for one client
• Sprout development
• Catching up on some e-learning heroes challenges
  • Coming down the pipes, entries for:
    • #154: Using Pantones Color of the Year in E-Learning
    • #152: Combining Text and Images in E-Learning
    • #148: Checklist Interactions in E-Learning
• Administrative work (yay taxes!)

After itemizing, it seems that I’ve been busier than I originally thought. I guess I’ll have to take a vacation soon, right?

Napping

I have been napping like a champ! To anyone who knows me, napping is one of my favourite pastimes, and I have definitely been catching up on relaxation this break.

Christy Tucker’s 2016 Blog Review inspired this post. I certainly don’t have 10 years of blogging, but I do have some numbers!

2016 Statistics

• Total Posts: 90!
• Average Daily Views: 1,701.25
• Average Monthly Views: 35,609.83

How do I feel about those numbers? They’re absolutely bananas! I’m so happy to have the readership that I do, and I’m glad I’ve been able to provide you all with interesting and/or relevant content (somehow 90 posts worth this year). Interestingly enough, I’d down about 1% of total views for the year compared to 2015, but I still think the blog is doing pretty great!

Most Popular Posts in 2016

The most popular posts in 2016 are as follows:

• Articulate Storyline 360: What I’m Loving #Video
• Extending Slide Content in Storyline Part 2: Lightboxes
• Personalization in Storyline Part 1
• DevLearn 2016 Session – BYOL: Using Variables in Articulate Storyline
• Using JavaScript to Generate a Certificate in Articulate Storyline
• Easy Ways of Choosing Colour Schemes for E-Learning
• Automatic Scrolling Effect in Articulate Storyline 2

Blogmas Day 5 isn’t necessarily all about e-learning; I just wanted to share some of the cooler things that I did in 2016. Not a full-on reflection of the year, but some highlights.

1 – Publishing Mastering Articulate Storyline

Mastering Articulate Storyline (click image to purchase) was definitely a labour of love that I was very relieved to complete. I contracted to write it before Articulate Storyline Essentials, and was in the thick of writing after my jaw injury and concussion, which made it incredibly difficult.

I was elated the day my publishers told me it was going to print, because I really wanted to get it out to the audience and share the experience. I highly doubt I will do anything nearly that cool in May 2017, but we’ll see!

2 – Experiencing Brene Brown

In May, I also attended ATD ICE, and Brene Brown was the primary keynote. I’ve read (and love and recommend to everyone) Daring Greatly and Rising Strong, and true to the impact she made on me while reading both books, she made an instrumental impact on me during her keynote. She gave an incredible talk, and I will forever cherish that moment.

3 – Breckenridge, Colorado

Prior to ATD ICE, my husband and I drove to Breckenridge, CO, to meet up with friends for a couple of days. Even after a 10 hour flight and 2 hour drive, Breckenridge is hands down one of the most beautiful places we have ever road tripped to. We had dinner and drinks with friends, got to hike a little bit (and that elevation…is REAL), and roamed around the cute little ski town in its off-season. Amazing!

4 – Becoming a Part-Time Professor

In July, the coordinator of graduate studies at our university pitched me to teach Introduction to Instructional Design for the M.Ed program we offer, so I applied, was awarded the position, and became a part-time professor.

It was an incredibly surreal experience – going from a fear of public speaking, to speaking at conferences, to giving a 2.5 hour lecture on something I’m most passionate about every week in front of a group of students. These opportunities have allowed me to grow so much!

I really enjoyed my experience, and I’ll certainly do it again if the opportunity presents itself, but it gave me greater context for how part-time faculty members feel and the process they undertake when awarded a teaching contract (usually only weeks before the course is in session). I feel like I can more effectively communicate with faculty members within my Instructional Developer role, and can be a bit more empathetic.

5 – Iceland

In September, my husband and I took a late honeymoon to Iceland. It was the most amazing place we have ever been, and if you haven’t gone…YOU MUST GO NOW! We stayed in Reykjavik, which was such a peaceful city…I had anticipated it being a lot busier and congested, but it wasn’t.

We had 4 excursions book: we went to the Blue Lagoon…which was beautiful, but the least exciting of places we went (super relaxing though!), then we went north, wandered a national park, saw some really cool geysers, and snowmobiled on a glacier; on the way back from the glacier, we stopped at Gullfoss waterfall…which was absolutely breathtaking. The next excursion was to see the northern lights by boat, but it got cancelled. We were exhausted from the snowmobiling though, so we weren’t too disappointed. Finally, we went south, visited a super dangerous beach, saw a bunch of waterfalls, hung out at a really cool museum, and tried many times to take selfies with the sheep.

We had the last day to ourselves, so roamed Reykjavik, got matching tattoos (of an Icelandic mountain range), and took a lot of photos of the enormous church in the middle of town. Iceland was hands down our best vacation, and if we travel anywhere in Europe or Scandinavia in the future, we’ll definitely fly Iceland Air and book a free stop-over.

Podcasts are my kryptonite. I always need some form of background noise when I’m working, and podcasts are my preferred medium. I listen to a fair amount of comedy podcasts, but I also keep up on Learning and Development podcasts. Here are some of my favourites:

Dear Instructional Designer

Kristen Anthony has created a huge following with her podcast Dear Instructional Designer. So much so, that 3 different people have come up to me at conferences to discuss the podcast! There are many interviews with fellow Learning and Development folk (including myself – on episode 13), and she’s currently entering Season 3! A wide range of topics are discussed, and Kristen’s casual style makes this podcast very easy to listen to.

Trends and Issues

Trends and Issues Podcast is hosted by Abbie Brown and Timothy Green, authors of Essentials of Instructional Design: Connecting Fundamental Principles with Process and Practice. As alluded to in the title of the podcast, the hosts discuss emerging trends and issues in e-learning and instructional design. While not my all time favourite podcast (it’s a bit heavily weighted in VR/AR lately, which isn’t my thing), it’s still a very informative podcast to listen to if you’re in the L&D field.

The eLearning Guys

I’m familiar with hosts David Charney and Nejc Zorga Dulmin from e-learning communities and social media, so when I saw they were getting together to create a podcast, The eLearning Guys, I was really excited to listen. Both hosts are e-learning developers, so it’s always nice to have context from roles relevant to mine. The podcast is still in it’s start-up phase, only 6 episodes in, but they’re a good 6 episodes, so I’m definitely going to continue to listen!

The eLearning Coach

I’m always fan-girling over Connie Malamed. She’s super down to earth, and her podcast episodes for The eLearning Coach are relevant and easy to digest. She’s had some heavy-hitters in the L&D industry on her podcast, and I’m able to learn something new from most all episodes. She and her guests have a wealth of knowledge, and it’s important to learn what you can from your colleagues and peers, so this podcast keeps me engaged with the industry and eager to hear more.

Today’s post is a bit of a cop out because I’ve been spending time with my family and just enjoying Christmas festivities/all of the food.

I’ll be writing a wrap-up post for 2016 and a 2017 goals post in the coming days, but for now I just wanted to reflect a bit on some things I’ve been working hard at this past year that have impacted my productivity. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?

In summer 2015, I had a baseball accident that gave me a concussion and a lot of medical appointments. In 2016, one of my main personal goals was to work on getting my jaw back to working order, and one surgery and a lot of physiotherapy later, it’s just about there. Not quite, but almost.

The biggest challenge from this injury was dealing with post-concussion syndrome and coming to terms with my new brain. I still struggle quite a bit with my crumbier memory and how my brain processes things, but in 2017 I’m hoping to master a new way of thinking and organizing my thoughts and workflow.

I’ve invested in a really nice notebook and a premium todoist account, so I’m going to see if that helps me ring in the new year on a positive/less forgetful note.

I still play baseball; I haven’t let the injury stand between me and one of my favourite activities, but I have been limited in how active I am as different activities cause me small setbacks in my rehabilitation. It’s been a frustrating injury, but after focusing on the mechanics of my jaw in 2016, I’m ready to focus on getting my brain and body back in proper working order.

Has life given you some lemons this year? How are you making lemonade out of them?