Participants of the 2014-2015 program had this to say about the ID-2-ID program:
My ID-2-ID experience has been fantastic. I think that all instructional designers at Penn State should get involved in either the mentorship or buddy program. It is so valuable to have a colleague personally dedicated to working with you to expand your collective professional knowledge.
On Mentor/Mentee Relationship:
I looked forward to starting my day on those mornings with a warm cup of coffee and some good ID conversation with my mentor!
Our journey consisted mainly of talks and emails where we discussed projects and frustrations and possible resources that might be of help. I think my role was primarily to act as support and a sounding board.
I really valued my mentors input and will continue to apply his thoughtful, measured approach to design challenges that I encounter in the future. I am sure that I will be emailing him for advice as well…
On Penn State: One University, Geographically Dispersed:
While we may perform many different duties as IDs across the Penn State campuses, we are all focused on helping our faculty and instructors provide the best learning experiences for our students.
For ID Buddy pairs who geographically distant from one another, reading a common book together then discussing is a nice way to engage.
Met every other week via Zoom. It worked splendidly, and allowed us to feel as though we were in the same room rather than 200 miles apart.
On Pair Dynamics:
We discovered that we have some important things in common, namely lifelong learning and a love of teaching, which were constant themes in our conversations.
It was really helpful to see what an ID who manages online learning processes does. This is vastly different from what I do … so I learned a lot!
Both had vastly different kinds of work, but the chance to simply talk about our work with each other and think about what it means to us, led to insights and a reminder of the value of the work we do.