Instructional Designer Profile - Melissa Filotas
Around the globe, ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø employees are united by their belief in the transformative power of ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø, their commitment to helping our university partners create the best online ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø experiences, and their enthusiasm for their work. Their distinctive skills, responsibilities, and personalities are what allow ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø to continue providing unrivaled ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø services.
We would like to give you a glimpse into who these employees are, and how their expertise translates into success for our partners.
Melissa Filotas discusses what she does at ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø, why she loves it, and how the Instructional Designer role is integral to student satisfaction:
As an instructional designer, my key responsibilities involve consulting with subject matter experts (SMEs) to learn more about their content, so I can build engaging, creative, and effective courses. During these consultation calls, I review content provided by SMEs, suggest ideas for enhancing the content, brainstorm interactive activities for representing the content and assessing students, and provide support as SMEs work through the course development process.
What kind of skills do you need to be an Instructional Designer?
To be an effective instructional designer, you must be articulate, creative, innovative, collaborative, and be able to multitask. Since instructional designers work on multiple courses across numerous programs, it is very important that an instructional designer be organized. In addition, an effective instructional designer must understand the backward design process employed throughout the development process to create the most effective courses. This process ensures that all assessments and activities are aligned to weekly course objectives and that the course is following sound pedagogy.
Why is your role important at ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø?
The instructional design role, which is part of the course development department, is crucial to helping partners deliver the most effective and engaging courses for their students. Since students may work full-time jobs, live in rural areas without access to brick and mortar universities, or have other demands that prevent them from attending on-ground courses, instructional designers at ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø play a significant role in providing all students the opportunity to obtain a comparable ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø without physically attending classes at a college or university.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with my ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø colleagues who care about delivering quality ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø in an online environment, and who continually research best practices and innovative tools to employ in order to foster authentic experiences and student engagement. In addition, I enjoy working with subject matter experts to help make their course ideas come to fruition.
What do you enjoy most about working at ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø?
My colleagues – the committed professionals who make work fun and enjoy each and every day! Although I work on the US virtual team, I feel connected to my coworkers since we chat on a regular basis.
Want to work at ²ÝÁñ³ÉÈËÉçÇø? Explore our job openings.