Rebecca Biederman

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About me…

Learn, Grow, Leap, Repeat

I have been many things thus far in life: student, teacher, mentor, coach, entrepreneur/business owner, foodie, and mother, to name a few. Regardless of the role, what drives me, sustains me, excites me, and challenges me, is learning.

Throughout my professional career I have derived great satisfaction from designing and facilitating dynamic and authentic learning experiences online, in-person, or a blend of both. Any teacher worth their salt will tell you the key to being a great teacher is to be a great learner. I model that by following my own sense of curiosity and constantly evolving my skillsets.

What I have learned about myself is that it doesn’t matter if I am teaching gymnastics to elementary students, psychology to high school students, or manufacturing processes to adults because it all brings me joy and puts me in a state of flow.

I started my professional career as a secondary social studies teacher. I have taught every grade 6-12 at one point or another, but for the last 5 years I have been teaching primarily psychology, political science and world history to the upper grades 10-12.

I have designed online, blended and in-person courses using a wide variety of technology resources including Schoology LMS, Google Suite, Microsoft Office Applications, Screencastify, Quizlet, Kahoot, Pear Deck, Jamboard, Edpuzzle and more.

My passion for good instructional design has crystalized for me over the past few years and has inspired me to pursue a new path that leads me away from the classroom to apply my skills in the corporate or non-profit arena with adult learners. I launched this new path by completing the Instructional Design for eLearning certificate at the University of Minnesota in May of 2021.

Working with subject matter experts to distill knowledge and translate it to help others aquire those same skills is a very dynamic and exciting process for me. My goal is to design and facilitate the learning experiences that enable professionals to learn, grow and leap forward in their careers, just as I have done.

Feedback

Assessment is a critical component of instructional design. Using formative assessments that give actionable feedback to learners about what they can do to improve is essential to any good instructional design project.

When data is collected stategically from formative (and summative) assessments throughout multiple points of a learning experience it begins to form a feedback loop that can act as a tool with which to gauge the needs of the learner and to ultimately guide change that may be needed in the organization itself.

Engagement

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Without engagement there is no learning. So, engagement is everything. Whether learning is self-paced on a screen, instructor led in-person, or some combination of the two, it must be as authentic as possible in order to engage adult learners who have taken their valuable time to participate in the learning experience.

Authentic learning experiences must reflect the complexity of the real world that the learner operates in. When the adult learner is included in the design process it ensures the relevance of the learning and in turn helps to assure it is engaging to the audience it serves.

The Design Process

Designing a “bridge” and enticing a learner to journey across it can be a daunting endeavor to some, but not for me. I thrive on designing learning experiences with the right amount of challenge, that will engage the learner, and provide relevant feedback. In order to do that, I utilize multiple instructional design models in my practice.

I use the Design Thinking process to empathize with the learner, gather ideas from all stakeholders, develop prototypes, invite feedback and ensure evaluation is central to the project.

I rely on the ADDIE model as a guide to analyze learning gaps, develop my project management timeline and determine desired behavioral outcomes.

I employ the Backwards by Design model to help align learning objectives with assessment measures