ESU students present prize-winning instructional design plan
Emporia State University
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Although an instructional design solution that Jennifer Gibson and Elizabeth Ermis presented was judged the best of the competition, the two Emporia State University students who developed the plan had never met face to face until the day before the event.
All their classroom learning, collaboration and idea-sharing had been done online, the more than 1,000 miles separating the two students bridged by the Internet.
Gibson lives in Lawrence, Kan., and Ermis lives in High Point, N.C. Their presentation was judged the best of three solutions at the AECT-Pacificorp Design and Development Competition on Oct. 28 in Louisville, Ky.
Gibson and Ermis will finish master’s degrees in ESU’s Instructional Design and Technology program in December. All their classes have been conducted online, and the team utilized various electronic avenues to share their work on the AECT-Pacificorp competition with each other.
“Jen and I met our first semester in the program and noticed we had a lot of similar backgrounds and thoughts,” said Ermis. “We were using the university’s instant messaging system to talk about coursework. Then we started having friendly conversations outside of class about other courses we were taking,” Ermis continued, explaining how the friendship they built online helped them in collaborating on the competition project.
The pair’s prize-winning presentation was a training project for a fictional company named Smith and Johnson. They developed online support that the company could rely on after a two-day training session was completed.
“Our team came up with a knowledge management system that would be online and available for Smith and Johnson trainers to use before, during and after the workshop we’d actually give them, so we wouldn’t expect them to absorb everything during the two-day workshop,” said Ermis.
“Liz and I work well together and balance each other out,” said Gibson. “We’ve had classes together at ESU before, though always at a distance.”
They have worked since January on the AECT-Pacificorp project, and were selected as one of three finalist teams in the competition.
“Being selected as a finalist team basically means that they are winners in the competition, along with the two other teams,” explained Marcus Childress, professor and chair of ESU’s Instructional Design and Technology department.
Ermis and Gibson, as master’s degree students, competed with students from Florida State University and Utah State University, both doctoral degree programs.
“I knew that we were going to be the underdogs, being that we were the only master’s level students and most of the teams coming to that competition are doctoral candidates,” said Ermis. “In fact, when I got to the airport, I got on the shuttle to the hotel with Dr. David Merrill, who’s a big leader in the instructional design field. I introduced myself to him and explained why I was at the competition, and he said, ‘Oh, well, you know Florida State is going to win, right?’”
Ermis works as an instructional technologist at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., helping faculty members integrate different technologies into their classes and curriculum. Although there are a dozen colleges and universities near her home, none offered a masters degree in instructional design. Appropriately enough, Ermis came across ESU’s IDT program while doing an online search.
Gibson is taking a full course load this semester to finish her degree. She has completed internships as an instructional designer.
“A lot of people at the conference recommended I consider pursuing my doctorate,” Gibson said. “I hadn’t really thought about that right away,” she said, adding that a doctorate isn’t something she’s ruling out entirely.
“A lot of people have questioned the quality of education one can get from a distance education program,” said Ermis. “I think Jennifer and I are a testament to the kind of quality an online program can deliver.”
Gibson agreed. “I think we’ve had more discussion and in-depth discourse with fellow students and faculty than you might get in a face to face course, because people might be talking at the same time, or they may be reluctant to speak up and give their opinion in a room full of people,” she said.
ESU students have competed at AECT-Pacificorp before. In 2007, Sandra Valenti and Steve Harmon were one of three finalist teams.
“The conference was a great experience, even before we won the best presentation,” said Gibson. “To have that week of being involved with people in the field, seeing and shaking the hands of people who’ve written our textbooks…it was just an amazing experience,” she said.
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