Background

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My name is Katelyn Williamson. I grew up in Tampa, Florida, and I currently live in Palm Harbor, Florida. An avid reader and writer as a child, I attended Florida State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in editing, writing, and media. I worked a couple proofreading and writing jobs after graduating before I landed a Copy Editor position at a local Online Program Management company. While I had taken a couple online classes in college, it was here that I was fully introduced to eLearning.

 

As a Copy Editor, I worked with a team of Instructional Designers, Video Editors, Graphic Designers, Program Managers, and Instructional Technologists. I learned about instructional design for the first time as I worked with my teammates through every step of the ADDIE process developing programs and classes for various university partners. As a Copy Editor, I was vital to ensuring the integrity of all learning materials (e.g., rubrics, LMS pages, video lectures), both grammatically and functionally, but after a few years in this role I decided to pursue a higher degree that would open up more career opportunities.

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Learning Experiences

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I applied to the M.Ed. program in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of South Florida and was accepted in the summer of 2020. Shortly after beginning the program, I switched to the newly created M.S. program in Learning Design and Technology with a concentration in eLearning Design and Development. While both degrees have much to offer, I chose the M.S. for its more targeted program of study.

 

During the program, I have gained both theoretical and practical knowledge to supplement my prior professional experiences. Studying various learning theories provided a theoretical foundation of learning and how to design effective learning experiences, while studying design processes increased my ability to analyze and design for various audiences in various environments while considering various constraints. Additionally, I learned about different technologies that can aid and enable learning, and I learned how to use design programs such as Captivate, Storyline, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and more. I then utilized all of this knowledge in the creation of learning materials and experiences for various projects in which I worked alone as well as in teams.

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Current and Future Professional Goals

 

During my time in the program, I also transitioned to a new job as an Instructional Technology Specialist at a large healthcare company, which is the position I hold today. While my responsibilities are similar to that of my previous Copy Editor position in that I focus on the quality, functionality, and accessibility of eLearning created by my team’s Instructional Designers, I have had more opportunities to complete small design projects, work in the company’s LMS, and develop our team’s processes. In particular, I have helped lead various initiatives to both increase the accessibility of our team’s eLearning as well as establish accessibility testing protocols. Accessibility topics and Universal Design of Learning were particular interests of mine throughout the M.S. program, and I have translated this knowledge to my professional efforts to promote accessibility in eLearning.

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As I look to the future, I hope to further explore both design and technology professionally. Particularly, I am interested in learning more about LMS administration as well as completing more design projects in order to gain more professional experience in these areas and round out my skills profile. My major goal in the short term, however, is to continue to be a leader in the development of standards and processes for the creation and evaluation of fully accessible eLearning materials and experiences. To accomplish this, I will work with my teammates in researching and testing various technologies for the potential to aid accessibility as well as developing and evaluating accessibility best practices for eLearning. In the long term, I aim to transfer these skills and accessibility expertise into a consulting or managerial position, either for my current employer or on a freelance basis.