About Me
Name: Rachelle O’Brien
Current Position: Instructional Designer
Current Employer: Cogent Skills
Time in Current Position: Joined July 2015
Qualifications: BA (Hons) Dance, Performance and Teaching, Certificate in Higher Education Teaching Toolkit, AFHEA, SEDA, working towards MSc Digital Education
Contextual Statement
My career journey so far has been rich and varied. My brother who is 10 years my senior set up his first tech company when he was 16. Rather than pay for help, he taught me instead. At the grand old age of 10 I was crawling through loft spaces wiring. I didn’t realise at this point that technology would play such a big part in my life.
I’ve had many jobs; I’ve been a pot wash, a chef, a waitress, a cleaner, an administrator, envelope stuffer, a systems administrator, student liaison officer, transition manager, a trainer, a mentor, junior technologist, learning technologist, contractor and now an instructional designer.
My main role as a student liaison officer was to help students transition from HE to FE. Retention was a key priority to the university so a key part of my role was to reach as many students as possible. To do this, I utilised technology. I developed an interest in understanding how and why the students were using technology available to them and ways of working to bridge the gap between technology and the end user. The experiences I had in this role, both face to face and online, gave me deeper insights into how users interact with information presented to them and the ways in which utilising technology and making small adaptions can shape and enhance these experiences, removing barriers that may have been present before.
To explore my interests further, I undertook a Certificate in Higher Education Teaching Toolkit which allowed me to explore pedagogy in an online environment. Following this approved programme led me to become associate member of the HEA and SEDA. I also gained experience of working with a VLE and technologies like Adobe Connect. This opened a new world for me in recognising that learning could be made available 24/7.
I moved into a new role where I had much more opportunity to explore online environments and supporting students online. I was responsible for the administration and maintenance of two commercial Moodle platforms. This is where I gained real hands-on experience with VLEs and working with end users in solution focused environments. Deciding to explore this further, I took an opportunity to independently consult for a start-up company developing instructional videos for end users of their newly developed portfolio platform. This opened up many doors for me and during this time I worked on multiple projects to provide solutions for ensuring end user success on their websites, whether that be through the development of instructional resources, VLE set ups or eLearning development.
Exploring and working in these areas highlighted for me, the passion I have for learning technology. Reflecting on my experiences I found that I was able to pin-point those things I was passionate about. Technology, understanding how people learn, increasing engagement and access to online resources/ learning environments, developing and building resources to support people online, helping learners to engage online by bringing practice as close to real life skills and experiences as possible.
I moved to my current role in July 2015 and have been working in a solution-focussed innovative team ever since. In my role, I work to provide digital solutions to address skills and knowledge gaps in the science sector. I have developed a company VLE with the intention of building a community of practice for the science sector, this is utilised by many companies as an internal resource. My main priority is to work with employers to help them to upskill and build competency in their workforce by utilising technology. I take a holistic, learner-centred approach in my work and design learning opportunities that encourage learners to co-construct knowledge and reflect on their learning. The intention is to create impactful, meaningful learning that is both motivational and long lasting. My job provides me with new challenges every day and I love it.
CMALT has been an aspiration of mine, ever since I became a Learning Technologist. It is a way of critically reflecting on practice and seeking the views of peers. I wanted to have the opportunity to document and reflect upon the work I have already undertaken and to become part of the ALT community. I believe that by doing this I will be able to more effectively work towards reshaping and enhancing my own work to ensure that I am both current and constantly evolving my practices. Achieving this professionally recognised award would be a massive achievement for me and my organisation and the accreditation will help to support and define my role to others.
Core Area 1: Operational Issues
Core Area 2: Teaching, Learning and/ or Assessment Processes
Declaration
I declare that, to the best of my knowledge, the statements and evidence included in this submission accurately describe my practice and are drawn from my own work, with the input and support of others duly and clearly recognised.
Signed: REO’Brien
Date: 31/05/2017
Rachelle O'Brien 