1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 Hey everyone, how you doing today? 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:05,040 I have an incredible episode for you. 3 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:09,760 In this conversation, I sit down with no other than Whitney 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,960 Kilgore, the powerhouse cofounder of I Design and a true 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,239 champion for educators everywhere. 6 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,520 We talk about her inspiring journey from the classroom to 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,360 the forefront of instructional design and educational 8 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,200 technology. Whitney opens up about what it 9 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:32,040 was like navigating both K to 12 and higher Ed, the major shifts 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,440 that happened during the pandemic, and why now more than 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,720 ever, educators deserve to have their skills recognized and 12 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,600 celebrated. Suppose you're in the middle of 13 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,080 a career pivot, trying to figure out what's next or just need 14 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,760 some encouragement. In that case, this episode will 15 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:54,120 remind you that your teaching experience matters and that with 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,800 the right community and support, you can absolutely thrive in the 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,440 world of learning design. Let's dive in. 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,080 Hi, we're ispring, an international team of e-learning 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,240 enthusiasts who help more than 60,000 clients across the globe 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,960 succeed with better online learning. 21 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,880 Our two flagship solutions are ispring Suite and ispring Learn 22 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,320 LMS. Ispring Suite is an intuitive, 23 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,880 all in one authoring tool for creating engaging e-learning 24 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,800 content, and ispringlearn is an innovative online training 25 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,520 platform for onboarding, upskilling, and certifying your 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,200 teams. We also provide tons of free 27 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,040 resources for aspiring and experienced e-learning 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,360 professionals, conduct weekly webinars with top industry 29 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,080 experts, and organize annual e-learning conferences, 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,640 challenges, and championships. We'd be happy to get to know you 31 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,400 and pick a solution that fits your needs best. 32 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:01,440 Go to www.icebringsolutions.com to learn more about us, download 33 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:08,000 our resources and connect. Hello everyone and welcome to 34 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,919 another fabulous episode of EDUP LND. 35 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,120 My name is Holly Owens and I'm your host and I'm really 36 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:16,520 excited. I'm really honored. 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,280 I'm really humbled to have this guest on the show today. 38 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,360 Whitney Kilgore is here. Hi, Whitney. 39 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:27,680 Hi, Holly, how are you? Long time no talk. 40 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,640 Long time no talk synchronously. We talk asynchronously 41 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:34,040 sometimes. That's true. 42 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,160 Yeah, well, I'm excited to have you here and you for you to tell 43 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,840 us about eye design and all the different projects that you've 44 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,400 been working on. But first tell us a little bit 45 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,700 about your story. How did you become the Co 46 00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:47,880 founder? You know all the different 47 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,000 things that you're doing. Tell us your story because we 48 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,560 have a lot of people who are looking to transition into this 49 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,160 sector. Fantastic. 50 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,320 Thank you, Holly. Gosh, it's funny. 51 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,640 I remember using the phrase. Let me make a long story longer 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,200 go. I got into education kind of 53 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,000 accidentally and actually my entire career has been somewhat 54 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,320 the accidental step down the path. 55 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,480 But I was headed into Med school. 56 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,520 I thought for sure I was going to go into the world of medicine 57 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:26,440 and, and kind of a last minute made a change into education. 58 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,520 And it's been such a journey. I, you know, I've taught first 59 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,120 grade before I moved into higher education, in case anybody 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,720 didn't know. And I really enjoyed working 61 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,680 with six year olds. It was Absolutely Fabulous. 62 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,840 They're so creative in their imaginations. 63 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:49,360 And they just love life, right? As adults, we sometimes get in 64 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,320 our own way of finding joy. And so I'm, I'm reminded of that 65 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,920 occasionally, but, but after I spent some time in the 1st grade 66 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,080 classroom, I, I made the move into instructional technology 67 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,720 within a school district because of course, I had all of my 68 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,480 curriculum available online for my 6 year old's parent. 69 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:11,000 I mean, like it was the late 90s, early 2000s. 70 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,560 I just assumed that was normal. Yeah. 71 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,959 But I was the nerdy kid that went to computer camp when I was 72 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:21,640 12 and computers were brand new. So I've kind of always been on 73 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,600 that tech journey. I just didn't realize how much 74 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,560 those worlds would collide and I was recruited out of K12 into 75 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,640 higher Ed to a company called Sungard Higher Education, which 76 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,880 is now a Lucian, and they had a remote academic. 77 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,720 I didn't know that that's what it used to be called. 78 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,000 No, that's brand new information to me. 79 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,120 That's awesome. Wow. 80 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,280 So I was on a remote academic services team building online 81 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:50,880 degree programs in higher Ed way before it was cool. 82 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,880 I mean, it was probably 2005 when I made that leap and I got 83 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,120 the chance to go out to universities all over the US and 84 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,760 and help faculty understand how they could embrace the 85 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,320 affordances of the LMS in order for their students to have 86 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,560 opportunities that they wouldn't have otherwise because they had 87 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,760 kids and jobs and, you know, couldn't make the track to. 88 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,280 Campus, all the things. Oh, the flexibility of an online 89 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,160 offering just absolutely was the sweet spot to allow them to 90 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,160 advance their careers. And so that's been the passion 91 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,280 project that I've been focused on for the last 20 years. 92 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,560 And that journey led me to a lot of places. 93 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,640 I worked on campus at the College of Southern Nevada out 94 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,560 in Las Vegas for a couple of years, and I was director of 95 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,400 academic technology out there, which also meant all classroom 96 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,320 technology and computer labs and, oh, by the way, the TV 97 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,720 studio and, you know. Whatever else they can add to 98 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,000 the. This falls under technology 99 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:51,760 category, right? Yes. 100 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,720 Events and video of everything, right. 101 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,400 So it was just it was quite the learning experience and then I 102 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,480 made made the trip back to Texas, right. 103 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,440 So I left South Texas to go on that journey to to Las Vegas. 104 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,680 But we had family here and children, little children that 105 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,760 really miss their grandparents. So we made the trek back to 106 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,800 Texas, which landed me at academic partnerships. 107 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,640 Which is not. I know we share that. 108 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:23,840 And I, I am so lucky that I had the opportunity to be a part of 109 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,880 building programs then globally, because I had the chance to 110 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:32,120 build programs in Beijing and Australia and the Philippines 111 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,080 and Spain and the UK and all over Latin America. 112 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,960 So it couldn't have asked for a better education all while 113 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,680 getting my doctorate at UNT. So I was doing that crazy 114 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,120 travel. And then I had all these 115 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,240 synchronous sessions that were at all times of the day and 116 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,640 night. I mean, if you've lived in the 117 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,080 central time zone, they were always at 7:00 PM, right? 118 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,480 But if you're in the UK, it's 3:00 AM, let's it's time for 119 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,000 class. So yeah, I learned about a lot 120 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,000 of things just by having those experiences in life. 121 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,440 And then one of my Co founders at at I design and I actually 122 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,360 worked together in academic partnerships way back in the 123 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,840 day. And when he was ready to start 124 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,000 the company, he asked me to go on the journey. 125 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,880 And I've never once hesitated or looked back. 126 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,560 This has been the adventure of a lifetime. 127 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,600 So oh. My God, I love your story so 128 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,960 much. It's just like it just like the 129 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,600 steps, like you're like in the classroom and then you're in 130 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,000 higher Ed and then you're going international and then you're 131 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,440 doing all these different things. 132 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,280 It's really a great journey. And I think the listeners really 133 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,240 appreciate the fact that as former educators, because I used 134 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,640 to teach high school, that we can make these journeys, that 135 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,480 these things are possible. And people don't realize how 136 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,040 much like we don't stay in one job anymore. 137 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,400 The career isn't 30 to 40 years in one position. 138 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,440 It's 30 to 40 years in various positions. 139 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,120 And hopefully you're, you're going higher and higher or just, 140 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:04,680 you know, following your passion. 141 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,840 So I really appreciate that about your journey. 142 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,720 And you know, The funny thing that I didn't share is I'm still 143 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,320 a haunted journey of like personal discovery to. 144 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,480 Yes. And the adventure that we're on 145 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:19,840 right now started about four years ago. 146 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,040 And I, I started out calling it scope creep. 147 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,880 We could, we got into yard work during the pandemic, like a lot 148 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,480 of people, right, right yard. And so we decided to buy a piece 149 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,159 of property, larger piece of property, and started planting 150 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:38,000 grapevines. And so my husband and I, every 151 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,960 night and every weekend for like 2 1/2 years, we were drilling 152 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:47,360 holes in the dirt and setting end posts and drilling tea posts 153 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,200 into the ground. And we now have a four acre 154 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:54,720 vineyard up in North Texas and grows 7 different varietals of 155 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,280 of grapes. And my husband is an assistant 156 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,360 winemaker in the Texas Hill Country and we have a little 157 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,040 winery here on property and. It's been. 158 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,200 Such a fun adventure. It's the joy thing I mentioned 159 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,160 earlier with first graders. I get now at this point in my 160 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,720 life to watch adults. Just pure unadulterated joy. 161 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,200 But it's adults now. Right, right, right. 162 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:22,600 No, we need that so much as adults. 163 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,240 I think we focus a lot on work and like paying bills and stuff, 164 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:31,080 but gosh, that is unbelievable. And I've watched your journey on 165 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,000 Facebook and like building your beautiful home and your vineyard 166 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,840 and all the things. And I'm like, that's what who I 167 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,360 want to be like when I grow up. How would it be like Whitney? 168 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:43,360 Because it's so it's so inspirational. 169 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,760 Like you have this great way of like balancing everything. 170 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,800 And I know sometimes people, especially listeners, can feel 171 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,880 like, Oh my God, I, I'm, I'm changing jobs or I'm having a 172 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,800 baby or I'm doing this and it's like it's super chaotic. 173 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,960 But it seems like you found like the right area personally and 174 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:02,160 then professionally and it's like all just coming together. 175 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,160 I love that feeling. I love it, so warm. 176 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,800 Fuzzy, you got to create your own balance, right? 177 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:11,320 And it's funny, what we're doing here doesn't feel like a side 178 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,240 hustle. It's like integrated into 179 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,320 everything that we do. The community that forms around 180 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,480 a vineyard is actually sort of interesting too. 181 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,520 So friends and neighbors offer all the time to help and to come 182 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,040 out and and work out in the vineyard. 183 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:33,400 So it's just, it's amazing. I think the the feeling that we 184 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,280 have such close knit friends now that want to spend time with us 185 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:38,880 out there digging in the dirt, right? 186 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,080 I have a neighbor, she says it's the best exercise ever. 187 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,280 And it's not like I have to have a gym membership. 188 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,080 Exactly, exactly. I can, I can imagine kind of 189 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:49,960 gracious, that's a lot of manual labor. 190 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,400 But one of the things I want to talk to you about is your 191 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,160 journey with eye design and you know, your Co founder, CEO, all 192 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,760 those different things like people who are transitioning 193 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,880 teachers, they see themselves and I've talked to a lot of 194 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:07,200 them. I'm sure you have too. 195 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,080 And you have a very large following out on LinkedIn. 196 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:15,560 I want to mention that as well. They feel like they have to jump 197 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:18,840 back into the basics, like they have to go back into this entry 198 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,600 level coming outside the classroom. 199 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,600 So I think one of the things I want to ask you is, as a former 200 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,520 educator, how did you feel initially stepping out of the 201 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,280 classroom? And what are some of the things 202 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,920 that you did to kind of elevate yourself or like deal with that 203 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,920 imposter syndrome? Because that's huge when you 204 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,200 come out of the classroom. Yeah, I think there's an 205 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,400 interesting, like fear of failure that comes over a lot of 206 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,160 us when we take that first plunge into a different pool, 207 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,360 right? And the, you know, the old 208 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,920 saying fake it till you make it is helpful at times, right? 209 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,960 But stage fright is real. I was actually on a podcast 210 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,280 yesterday and I had the gal who was asking the questions get so 211 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,360 nervous that she started sweating. 212 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,240 Just she was uncomfortable. It was her first time hosting a 213 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,640 podcast. And all of us can be 214 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,360 uncomfortable in certain situations. 215 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:19,280 And I think if you're willing to lean in to the chaos and the, 216 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,200 and the challenging situations that we find ourselves in, 217 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,480 sometimes those challenges come with great reward and 218 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,160 opportunity. So there's like this overcoming 219 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,480 fear piece, right? It's, I think we call it 220 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,480 imposter syndrome a lot, but it's really our own 221 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:45,600 physiological fear of success and I think we've all got to get 222 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,400 past that a little bit and I know that's easier said than 223 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,240 done. And if. 224 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:56,840 You let the steps that magically appear in front of you. 225 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,120 If you let yourself take those steps forward, you'd be 226 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,960 surprised where you'll end up. Yeah, taking the risk for sure. 227 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,640 I think it, you know, one of the things I kind of preach to 228 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,000 transitioning teachers is that they need to honor their 229 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,040 teaching experiences because they go out into the world 230 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,360 looking for a change in career. And then, you know, they're 231 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,240 working with resume reviewers or recruiters who have no idea 232 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,600 about teaching, let alone learning and development and how 233 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,800 that whole sector works. And they're telling teachers 234 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,080 don't put your teaching stuff on the resume, which really like 235 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,560 breaks my heart because I'm like, if you've been in teaching 236 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,320 for 15 to 20 years, you should really be looking for a senior 237 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,880 level position out in the L&D world. 238 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,040 You should not be erasing that from your history. 239 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,640 So it really bothers me when I talk to people and they're like, 240 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,160 Oh my gosh, the recruiter told me to take this off. 241 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,000 They're not going to like this. Like, how can you not honor what 242 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,360 a teacher does? I. 243 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:01,320 Also think with AI, there's an opportunity to let chat TPT or 244 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,400 Claude twink wink Claude who writes a little bit more 245 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:10,240 academically by the way, right? Claude is fantastic If you fed 246 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,960 up your resume and asked it to highlight the relevant 247 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,600 experiences that you've had as an educator related to that job 248 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,800 posting. I think the amount of leadership 249 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,960 that you could unpack as a teacher is tremendous, right? 250 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:31,880 Being able to keep 30, sometimes 30 students on the same page, 251 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:36,440 planning an entire lesson for them and and the cognitive 252 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:39,320 science aspects of what a teacher does. 253 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,680 Like, I think we we're under singing. 254 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,400 Is that the right thing? Yeah, we're kind of undersinging 255 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,240 ourselves when we when we write what our capabilities are. 256 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,680 So maybe that would help somebody get unstuck if they're 257 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,560 thinking about how to revamp their resume for a new position. 258 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,040 I agree AI, AI has totally changed the game when it comes 259 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,600 to transitioning roles and kind of updating your professional 260 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,840 materials. So tell us a little bit about I 261 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:12,200 Design for the audience that doesn't know or hasn't heard of 262 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,280 I Design. What do you do there and what 263 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,200 what's I design all about? Oh, Holly, thank you. 264 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,160 It is. It is an incredibly wonderful 265 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,240 organization. We've been in business 12 years. 266 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:33,400 Congratulations, that's amazing. But we've built so many programs 267 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,360 at this point, I've, I've kind of lost track of how many. 268 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,280 It's been hundreds of universities all over the US and 269 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,440 we have the largest domestic instructional design shop of, of 270 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,560 humans, right? Many of them were former 271 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,920 teachers too, and needed an entry point into instructional 272 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,240 design. But I think, you know, we've 273 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,480 partnered with universities to do programmatic design and to 274 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,400 make sure that the program vision, the outcomes that the 275 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,520 students are supposed to achieve, the what you want your 276 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,640 students to be able to say about their student experience. 277 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,440 All of that gets captured at the program level before we build a 278 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,360 single course so that we get a really cohesive student 279 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,400 experience across the program. And so that's been really 280 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:24,760 powerful from a creating student centered learning experiences 281 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,200 perspective while working with faculty that are using a 282 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:33,080 technology that might be new to them or teaching where, you 283 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,400 know, maybe all they did was during the pandemic remote 284 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,720 instruction. Right emergency remote teaching. 285 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,000 Emergency remote teaching. There you go. 286 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,760 Maybe they didn't embrace all the technology that they could 287 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,360 have leveraged in order to create synchronous and 288 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:50,360 asynchronous experiences for their students. 289 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:54,320 So we help with all of that, but that's just one pillar of the 290 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,080 business. Now when I look back 12 years 291 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,520 ago, I'm like, oh wow, that's where we started was 292 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,720 instructional design, but then we started with our nursing and 293 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,520 healthcare related programs solving a lot of challenges 294 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,400 throughout the years. So you may remember during the 295 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,880 pandemic finding clinical placement sites got really 296 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,240 tough. And so we have some institutions 297 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,119 where they, we were supporting their nursing programs all the 298 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,200 way from, you know, marketing and enrollment services through 299 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,520 to retention and coaching students and navigating higher 300 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:30,920 Ed. A lot of first Gen. folks, 301 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,000 right, going through programs. Well, we actually solved the 302 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,720 clinical placement problem too for our partner institutions. 303 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,680 And so that's been huge for them to be able to ensure that, you 304 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,840 know, when they've got 1000 nurses going through their 305 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,080 nursing programs, but there's a place for every single one of 306 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,400 those nurses to do their clinical activities. 307 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,320 So, yeah, so that's been really cool. 308 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,320 And then in the last four years or so, we built software. 309 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,240 So we have a curriculum mapping software tool that does 310 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,760 accreditation reporting with the push of a button and are now 311 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,920 using AI in instructional design in really thoughtful ways. 312 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,560 Still, from a programmatic view, it's not like an AI course 313 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,320 builder. It, you know, there's one of 314 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:19,000 those born every minute on the Internet now. 315 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,560 Yes, that's so true. Programmatic design that 316 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:28,360 leverages the power of AI and our own reusable design objects 317 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:33,000 and reusable build objects that make the process so much easier 318 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,360 and faster. But better, right? 319 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:39,680 Richer student experiences because of those reusable design 320 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,760 objects that we've created. So again, another fun journey to 321 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:48,640 be on is the evolution of iOS, which has been tremendous. 322 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,320 I love to hear it and I love to hear the fact that, and I 323 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,240 already knew this, that you're focused on the student 324 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,720 experience and you take it from the program level. 325 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,680 You're not just saying, OK, let's just start designing these 326 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,480 courses. You really take a look and 327 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,400 evaluate what's happening and what needs to change. 328 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,680 You know, that's all that just helps the students so much. 329 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,920 And in a sense of building community and the authenticness 330 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,560 and realness. You can have all the AI you 331 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,280 want, you know, but there's something to be said about the 332 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,640 human emotion and the human experience in these programs. 333 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,600 And like you said, there was a huge challenge during COVID, so 334 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,040 we had to figure out our way around that. 335 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,960 Like with the clinical stuff or just, you know, at the end, I 336 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,120 remember at the end of COVID, there's like an article that 337 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,080 came out like in the New York Times or something that said 338 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,040 online teaching failed or something like that. 339 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,320 And I'm like, you all don't even know what you're talking about. 340 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,200 I got so upset when I read that article. 341 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,040 I'm going to have to find it. But it was just like, this is 342 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,600 not what we're talking about when we're, we're considering 343 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,840 instructional design in the frameworks and the things that 344 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,440 we do on the back end of things. This is, you know, we literally 345 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,320 just said move this online, put this in the Google, you know, 346 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,880 the Google Classroom or whatever LMS you're using. 347 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:05,800 And that there wasn't thought or consideration behind how to do 348 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,440 that. It's kind of just when we call 349 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,680 it an emergency, that means it moved really fast. 350 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:14,440 It was triage to go online, which has its benefits but also 351 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,720 has some huge disadvantages too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 352 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,360 And you, you miss out as a student, right? 353 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,640 I mean, how many of us had children at home during the 354 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,200 pandemic, right? So I would I had AI had a 355 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,920 daughter that was in high school and while I'm working she's on 356 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:38,560 her computer having school right on Webex and so she's laying in 357 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,040 bed with her camera off and I don't know did she learn 358 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,800 anything. I feel terrible for those 359 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,240 younger students too. Trying to or teachers for 360 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:50,160 goodness sakes. Right? 361 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:54,240 Trying to hold the attention of a bunch of 6 year olds to go 362 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:00,280 back to my first grade days on Webex or Zoom for 45 minutes, 363 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:06,120 much less a whole day. I I really I can't imagine what 364 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:08,360 that felt like to be a teacher in that moment. 365 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,800 And I'm so grateful for all those educators that stuck it 366 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:16,760 out and still are in classrooms every day helping students be 367 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,000 better then they could be if they were sitting at home on 368 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,720 Webex or Zoom. Yeah, it was it was definitely 369 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,680 some tough times. And I know we learned a lot of 370 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,360 different lessons out of COVID and what to do and what not to 371 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,000 do. And I just think that people 372 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:34,920 really need to understand and like you're saying, give the 373 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,800 teachers grace, give the students grace 100%. 374 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,240 Like that was not what they were expecting. 375 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,600 Their expectations had to shift and shift very quickly. 376 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,400 And who knows, like when that hopefully doesn't happen again 377 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,240 with a Covic type situation. But what if something else 378 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,840 happens, especially if we think about local communities. 379 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,280 You're in Texas, tornadoes. I'm in Wilmington, there's 380 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,360 hurricanes. So when devastation or something 381 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:07,040 like that happens, like what do you do to make sure that people 382 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,920 still have access and that they're still able to learn and 383 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,680 be social? Like I think that's the one 384 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,240 thing I missed. It was so difficult to be stuck 385 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,480 inside the house and not I had to have a fever really bad. 386 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,520 Like I wasn't getting out there and talking to people. 387 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,480 It was, it was crazy. Yeah, yeah. 388 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,640 Aren't we glad those days are behind us now, though? 389 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,320 Yes, we're so glad. We're so glad I'm traumatized, 390 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,440 but we're so glad. But. 391 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,400 You're spot on when you start thinking about disaster 392 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,200 preparedness, right? Yeah, yeah, there's a lot to 393 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,480 that. When I was out at the College of 394 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,600 Southern Nevada, we were working on those plans. 395 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,520 What were we going to do in the event of an emergency, right? 396 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,240 So I think there are a lot of institutions that actually think 397 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,560 about online learning from that perspective. 398 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,800 And that's actually the wrong perspective to be thinking of it 399 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,800 from, right it. It shouldn't be an emergency 400 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,240 situation where you would consider online. 401 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,680 It should be to benefit your students for the greater good of 402 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:13,320 them, society, the institution. There's a lot of benefits to 403 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,720 making your educational experiences available in a 404 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,880 variety of formats. So but yeah, let's be forward 405 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,560 thinking and student centered. Yes, that's all. 406 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,320 That's what the future is now, you know, with all this, this AI 407 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,960 stuff, I'm, I'm excited about to see how this all integrates. 408 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,160 One of the things I want to ask you, since you have such a 409 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,440 wonderful career journey and like you've been in the 410 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,760 classroom, you've been in higher Ed, you, you own a business, 411 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,520 you're an entrepreneur inside, inside higher education and 412 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,160 outside higher education, you have your vineyard. 413 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,200 We have a lot of transitioning teachers or people who are just 414 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,600 looking to make a change that listen to the show. 415 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,240 So if you could give them like 3 pieces of advice about how to 416 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,360 transition out and, and what to do. 417 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:00,720 Like what are the ways that they can just just do it, Like make 418 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,720 the step, you know, overcome the, the fear that that kind of 419 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,400 thing. I want to hear your what your 420 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:11,960 three pieces of advice are. Yeah, I think let's see three 421 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,920 things. One, continue your education 422 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:23,000 like this journey in education begins and ends with learning. 423 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,720 Like you need to be a lifelong learner and you need to be 424 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,920 embracing the latest technologies and and advancing 425 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,800 your educational experiences. So I'd say keep learning. 426 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,160 It doesn't have to be for credit, it doesn't have to be 427 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,200 another degree, but some sort of learning experience should be a 428 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,360 part of your daily routine. Network. 429 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,200 LinkedIn is a great place to network with other people. 430 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,720 You think, Holly, I don't remember where I saw that you 431 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,560 were prepared or like you were presenting at a conference 432 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,600 overseas somewhere. And I was fascinated by your 433 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,880 post. I remember this very vividly. 434 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,480 And I wrote you and said, Oh my gosh, you're the kind of person 435 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,360 I really like to be around. Can we connect sometime and have 436 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,040 a coffee? And I think networking is where 437 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,000 some of the best connection points for all of us or is 438 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,360 found, whether it's virtual on LinkedIn or it's in real in the 439 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:21,240 real world. And then the other career advice 440 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,680 I would share is if you don't feel like the opportunity is 441 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,520 there for you to move up, then move over. 442 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,360 So and all, I mean career letter wise, if you're not where you 443 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:37,720 want to be yet, you may have to move to another organization or 444 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:44,080 entity, whether that's inside education or external in order 445 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,960 to continue your journey upward. So never feel like there's a 446 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,200 ceiling. Just feel like, you know, what 447 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,400 was that? Chutes and ladders, right? 448 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,920 But think mostly ladders. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 449 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:00,320 Those are. That's great advice. 450 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,800 Very, very simple and actionable tips of things that you can do 451 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,320 right now if you're thinking about transitioning into a 452 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,880 different role or into the learning and development space, 453 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,200 Whitney is a great role model for that and how to do it. 454 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,920 So tell everyone in the audience where they can find you, where 455 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,840 they can connect with you, where they can see eye design stuff, 456 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:22,600 if they're interested in working with you. 457 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,080 Give us all. Yeah, so the I Design website is 458 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,560 I designedu.org. Check it out. 459 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,320 Lots of great stuff happening there. 460 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,440 If you're interested in learning more about our aligned software, 461 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,000 feel free to reach out to me. My e-mail is 462 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,960 whitney.kilgore@idesignedu.org. I'm happy to answer questions 463 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,440 about anything that we do. And if you're wanting to 464 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,720 network, you can catch me there or find me on LinkedIn. 465 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,440 I think my LinkedIn is Whitney Kilgore. 466 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,560 Yeah, on LinkedIn. So try to be as easy to find as 467 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,520 possible. And I love connecting people 468 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,960 with other people. So if you've got something 469 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,360 you're thinking about or excited about, you know, let me know how 470 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,360 how can I help you connect with others that might be able to 471 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,920 help you bring your dream to reality, your vision to reality. 472 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,120 Well, it's so great to to have had you on the show now and 473 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:19,440 reconnect with you. And I can say that you're 474 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,240 definitely one of the people I look up to when it comes to like 475 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,160 the journey in L&D. And so I appreciate all that you 476 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:30,920 share, all that you do. And the fact that you are first 477 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,560 grade teacher turned the CEO and the Co founder is an amazing 478 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,520 feat. You should be very proud of that 479 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,240 and I just love, I just love chatting with you. 480 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,760 It's just so easy and you really break it down into simple stuff 481 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,080 So what people can do. So thank you so much for coming 482 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,240 on the show and sharing your experience with our audience. 483 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,920 Thanks for having me on Holly, it was quite the adventure. 484 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,840 Yeah. Hi, we're Ice Spring, an 485 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,800 international team of e-learning enthusiasts who helped more than 486 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,280 60,000 clients across the globe succeed with better online 487 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,760 learning. Our two flagship solutions are 488 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,880 ispring Suite and ispringlearn LMS ispring Suite is an 489 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,720 intuitive all in one authoring tool for creating engaging 490 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,680 e-learning content, while ispringlearn is an innovative 491 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,600 online training platform for onboarding, upskilling, and 492 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,520 certifying your teams. We'd be happy to get to know you 493 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,560 and pick a solution that fits your needs best. 494 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,000 Go to www.ispringsolutions.com to learn more about us and 495 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,680 connect. Thanks for spending a few 496 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,000 minutes with Holly. She knows your podcast queue is 497 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,680 packed. If today's episode sparked an 498 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:40,880 idea or gave you that extra nudge of confidence, tap, follow 499 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,560 or subscribe in your favorite app so you never miss an episode 500 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,840 of Ed Up L&D. Dropping a quick rating or 501 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,320 review helps more educators and learning pros discover the show, 502 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,280 too. Want to keep the conversation 503 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,600 going? Connect with Holly on LinkedIn 504 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,160 and share your biggest take away. 505 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,720 She reads every message. Until next time, keep learning, 506 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,360 keep leading, and keep believing in your own story. 507 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:04,360 Talk soon.