Growing up in the Midwest incubated my curiosity. Life was relatively simple. It took a bit of creativity and exploration to make it exciting.
After high school, I attended Kansas State University for two years dabbling in a variety of majors including business, horticulture and design– like most undergraduate students do. Writing, especially creative writing was one of my favorite classes. Transferring to the University of Kansas gave me more options and areas of focus in English and there, I completed a B.A. in English with a Creative Writing specialization. An opportunity arose combining my love of writing and horticulture as an intern at a county extension office. There, I helped create and implement an innovative consumer education program. This was my first taste of supporting and fostering adult learning. From then on, my jobs always had a component of education.
A few years later, an opportunity in a training and talent development department presented itself as technical and procedural writer. Quickly, I advanced into a role that included learning management system specialization and training. The next phase of my career began soon after as a full time learning designer.
I currently work as a Senior Learning Designer for a credit union in Spokane, Washington. In my role, I support organization-wide learning initiatives to help new employees learn technical skills, update existing employees on process changes. I collaborate with subject matter experts to create engaging, relevant and action-oriented training, manage projects including cross functional department and organization-wide projects and consult on effective techniques to support learning transfer. If you’d like to check out more on my experiences in the talent development industry, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katswens/).
As I learn through this semester, I would like to gain perspective on how to leverage mobile devices to best support workplace learning. This will help me design more accessible and right-time learning opportunities to help others learn. I have a great interest in making learning effective and concise to make the best use of my learners time. I also have an interest in integrating the concept of stories as a vehicle to promote retention in compliance and regulatory training.
After finishing the program, I intend to get back into a few hobbies that have been slightly neglected. I love being outdoors and enjoy skiing, kayaking, hiking, hotspringing, fly fishing and cycling. A trip or two are on the agenda as well.
Here’s to the journey and experience of learning and making it my own!
Katie Swenson