A Day in the Life of R3 Instructional Designer Sarah Lickley

Posted on Thursday, April 6th, 2023

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In “A Day in the Life” series, we interview different employees on the R3 Project to take a peek at what is going on behind the scenes and get to know our hard-working colleagues that are rethinking how we do things at the college. 

Today we sat down with R3 Instructional Designer, Sarah Lickley, to learn more about her work on the project and what her typical day looks like in the office

  • What is the role of an Instructional Designer?

Instructional Designers create learning materials to assist people within an institution to learn new information or new skills. Instructional Design is a multidisciplinary field that draws from learning theory, psychology, graphic design, elearning and teaching. I take a task that someone will need to learn how to do in the software, digest it into writing, and then use that to create passive and interactive learning content. 

  • What is your educational background, and what did you do before this job?

I have a background in teaching with a Master’s degree in Arts Education. I have worked in social work, higher education teaching, for not-for-profit management and ran my own business. My experience in digital arts and design has been a big part of how I see the look and feel of the learning products I create. Having experience and education in teaching gives me the ability to tailor the learning to a variety of learners and their needs. This has come in handy when considering accessibility for all learners. Most surprisingly, I have found that my experiences working with other software (including Genesis) has helped me reflect on how learning new software can be empowering with the right training.  

  • How do you learn the content that you will create training materials for? 

Once the system is configured based on AC needs, I get a walkthrough by the Business System Analyst on the tasks associated with that specific configuration. As decisions are made that update the system, I am able to get more content from Business System Analysts, which assists me in creating more learning content. I meet every week with a different Business System Analyst who provides me with the new content that explains how tasks will be performed in the new software and what business processes will look like for that task. I am currently working through units in General User Training, which is the training for the majority of Algonquin College users who look up information in the system to complete their daily tasks. 

  • How do you decide on the design of the training materials?

Initially, we took Algonquin College’s design standards and applied them to the learning content we were working on. As we have developed more content, it was released to the Change Champion Network (CCN) employees, who provided feedback and helped us improve the design and usability. We are also currently consulting Algonquin College employees to improve the accessibility of the design of different types of learning products to ensure they are functional and accessible for all users.  

  • How do you ensure what you create will work for the learners?

Quality and usability are my #1 priorities. Whenever I am looking at a new training, I am trying to find the best way to get the information across so that it is easy for the learner to understand and apply in real life. As I mentioned before, accessibility is also a priority to ensure we make the training inclusive.  

One of the tools I draw on is the Universal Design for Learning guidelines that help us offer multiple means for learners to engage with the content depending on their needs. For example, one learner may want to listen to the content and pause so they can try it in the software themselves. Another may want to see a video of the tasks being performed in the software and then practice it in a safe space before they enter the software. Another user may just want to read instructions and jump right into doing it themselves. We think about all of these possibilities and create multiple learning products on the same topic so that learners can choose and work through at their own pace. In the future, there will also be in-class learning possibilities for employees who learn best when on campus in person.  

  • What are the key benefits of your involvement?

Because of my background in the arts, I take special consideration of the look and feel of the training products. I hope that they are more enjoyable to use when they are nice to look at and easy to view. My superpower as an instructional designer is taking confusing or complex content and organizing it or simplifying it so it is easy for others to learn and understand. I am like your own personal interpreter! Making content engaging and manageable is a huge benefit to having an instructional designer around. 

My previous experience at Algonquin working in Genesis helps me to better sit in the shoes of employees who will be soon going through this transition and think about what could make things more seamless and enjoyable for them. When I see a process or method that is different in Thesis SM than it was in Genesis, I highlight it as an important training note so that I can help employees better understand how the new system works.  

  • What is a typical day like at work for you?

This is an interesting question, because every day is different for me, which makes things fun and interesting. Like I mentioned before, I may be writing scripts or storyboards, meeting with subject-matter experts, creating products, working with co-op students, training team members, reviewing and implementing feedback, researching new approaches to accessibility, collaborating with team members, and the list goes on. I really enjoy my work, and I am proud that I can contribute to the R3 Project and the training that will help employees have an easy transition to the new SIS.  

 


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