The first week of my educational journey to becoming an instructional designer has been a mixed bag of emotions. I am supper excited, but extremely nervous. I am far from tech savvy. So, conquering the first step of this assignment, setting up a blog, was a huge challenge, but well worth the time and effort. Why? Because not only was I successful in completing the assignment, and making my first post, I found a treasure trove of information in the process. I am looking forward to the enormous growth opportunities that will ensue as a direct result of content from the three blogs I selected for this assignment.

       Delvin Peck is an instructional designer and e-learning developer who does freelancing work in the industry, but primarily focuses on career coaching for instructional designers. Simply stated, his blog is a gold mine for novice instructional designers looking to land their first job, as well as experienced designers aspiring to land their dream position. It is a rich resource for career development tools and advice. There are numerous articles that provide essential information on topics that range from how to become an instructional designer, to instructional design models and ADDIE, to securing employment and advancing in the instructional design field. Additionally, the site contains an awesome example of an actual portfolio, there is a link to a bootcamp opportunity, and an invitation to join an instructional design online community. A great deal of the content is useful for students as it covers the full spectrum of the instructional designer’s role. But it has the added bonus of coaching content to support the transition from student to instructional designer and from novice to expert designer. Check it out at www.delvinpeck.com.

      Scissortailcs.com/blog/ contains content related to mastery of the various aspects of the instructional design process specifically as it pertains to e-learning. It is a helpful resource for instructional design students because it contains practical information such as tips and advice for developing a portfolio and interview skills. It has usefulness over the course of an instructional design career because it addresses scenarios routinely encountered on the job. The content on this site resonated with me primarily because my interest lies in online and e-learning. The majority of the content is focused on issues related to instructional design for e-learning.

       This third blog resonates with me because I’m all about identifying my weaknesses and taking decisive action to improve. Although I’ve been reassured repeatedly that being tech savvy isn’t a prerequisite for the instructional design role, there are a few software programs that are essential tools of the instructional designer’s trade. First and foremost, among them Articulate 360. I elected to follow the Articulate E-Learning Heroes community to gain competency with the Articulate 360 course authoring tool. Community.articulate.com contains e-books, free courses, informative articles, and perhaps the most useful, discussion posts that offer the opportunity to gain knowledge from a large community of experienced instructional designers and e-developers. This resource is invaluable for students aspiring to become instructional designers as well as experienced designers because it provides readily available access to expert advice to assist in instructional design issues. The e-learning weekly challenges require specific mention as they offer opportunity for participants to move toward mastery of this popular course authoring tool.