From the editor – Q2 2019

By Kelly Smith

Welcome to our Q2 newsletter! I hope you are energized from Summit! This was my favorite Summit yet, and I think what made a difference is that I’ve gotten to know so many great people in the past five years. Volunteering for the SIG and for my local chapter has strengthened friendships and bonds with people I rarely see in person and gave me a chance to attend my first Leadership Day. It was a great opportunity to learn from STC’s senior leadership (including our new president, Ben Woelk) about how we can motivate STC members and strengthen all our communities. If you haven’t yet taken on a volunteer position in a SIG or your local chapter, I highly recommend it! You’ll have fun, work with great people, and have another accomplishment to add to your résumé!

I know I learned a lot this year and I’m eager to hear what topics interested all of you. If you want to write an article about your experiences and what you learned about instructional design and related topics at Summit, please send it to me at newsletter@stcidlsig.org for publication in the Q3 newsletter.

This quarter, we have a good selection of student articles, as well as the regular updates from our leadership team, so without further ado, here are the articles for this issue.


In her manager’s report, Marcia Shannon talks about her experiences at Summit. And don’t forget – if you’d like to be co-manager, contact Marcia. Remember, our SIG is only as strong as our volunteers!


Jamye Sagan’s treasurer report gives a brief summary of our financial health and expenses.


Lori Meyer wrote about our SIG’s first award recipients. Certificates were handed out at the SIG lunch at the Summit in Denver.


Lori also wrote about the different recognition opportunities at STC and provided information on how to apply for them.


SIG member Adele Sommers writes about learning myths. Check out her article to see why you should always critically examine claims – even those made by experts!


Student Outreach manager, Sylvia Miller, has collected 12 articles from students on various ID-related topics. This quarter, we are publishing four of them. Congratulations to the winners and look for four more articles in next quarter’s newsletter!

Can Schools Survive the Information Age? by Ainsley Ma

Best Practices in Designing Instructional Material by Alyssa Haffejee

Effective Use of Games in Instructional Design by Mike Fowler

The Use of Media in E-Learning by Julian Hoh-Il Synn

If you are a student who would like to contribute to the SIG, or if you are a professor or teacher and would like your students to get involved in STC, please contact Sylvia!


If you have an article related to any aspect of instructional design, please send it to newsletter@stcidlsig.org. We welcome submissions from all our members and would especially like to see book reviews and bios of new members. The deadline for our Q3 issue is August 3, 2019.


Kelly Smith
Kelly Smith

Kelly Smith has been Managing Editor of the IDeaL newsletter since May 2018. She also serves as membership manager for her local chapter – STC Southeast Michigan. Kelly works as Senior Technical Writer at Dart Container in mid-Michigan and has been active in the STC since 2015.

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