From Discovery to Mapping, KCELT Design Update

KCELT hosted an Innovative Learning Institute in August 2016, entitled “Designing Personalized Professional Development.”  This learning institute was not a “sit and get” two days of professional development – instead, it was a discovery-based experience with the goal to design personalized professional development for all Kirkwood employees.

Before the institute, we all reviewed some inspiring videos from  Stanford 2025, which reveals the definition and some aspects of personalized learning and ideas for the future of learning and design thinking.

During the institute, the activities allowed us to brainstorm and build upon each other’s ideas and experiences, engage in empathy interviews, and build a talent network. We also designed several personalized learning prototypes, presented them to the other groups and improved them based on constructive feedback that we received. Participants shared ideas, feelings, wishes, wonders and stories.

We partnered with Media Services to capture the Institute energy and discovery process.  This video shares some of the participants’ excitement for possibilities in learning and their take away’s.  Please click here to view the video.

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Thanks to Wilson Rojas for capturing these great moments

After the institute, the Design Team (KCELT, L&D, and educational consultant, Jim Stephens) gathered together and reviewed all the ideas and notes from the Institute that participants generated in the discovery phase. We grouped the similar ideas together and drew a map that will help us in our next step to personalize Kirkwood employee onboarding and training. The next phases are “mapping” and “building” and then “prototyping.”

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We plan to build a prototype beginning from the hiring, onboarding, and orientation and design a personalized pathway that welcomes Kirkwood employees and helps them to advance in their careers through ongoing personalized professional development.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section under this blog post. Let us know how do you foresee future professional developments at Kirkwood? What are some challenges that we should be aware of? Share your other thoughts on the future of learning at Kirkwood Community College.  Our next update will be coming out soon, please stay tuned!