The Emerging Story of Burnout in Educational Design
The field of instructional design dates back to a 1940s training and development model used by the US military. But since then it has evolved—and in some ways sprawled—to become a standard role across higher education.
Today, if your title includes instructional designer or learning designer, you likely feel like a Swiss Army knife. You are expected to be an expert at everything, and you likely find yourself responsible for designing courses, building learning materials, making sure the materials function properly, doing some coding and managing course-building projects.
On top of all that, instructional designers are also expected to have in-depth knowledge of the learning sciences, instructional-design theories and faculty development. This results in working long hours, lacking time for professional development and constantly trying to just keep up.
Of course, many of us went into this profession because we wanted to do creative work and care deeply about the student learning experience. Instead, it’s easy to find instructional designers, or IDs, who describe their workplaces as “production shops,” and themselves like “cogs in a wheel" because of pressure from leadership to push out courses faster and cheaper with a focus on revenues and financial ROI. That leads them to work long hours to put out work they still feel good about.
Yet despite the scope of instructional design, it is not typically considered a profession, and is frequently looked at by professors as mere tech support.
This is increasingly leading to burnout in the field—just as colleges seek more and more instructional designers to build online and hybrid courses.
“When we go into ID we expect creativity, to work with faculty, and be treated with respect,” said Ella Epshteyn, a consultant working in instructional design for colleges. “People go in with passion, then get disappointed because they don’t get the care, professional courtesy or respect they deserve.”
Recently I was at a HAIL gathering for college innovation leaders, and the topic of burnout for instructional designers came up when I shared my feelings that ID’s are seen as unappreciated utility players. “The work can be very tedious depending on the work environment,” said Epshteyn. "I once left a job because I was so bored. A lot of us go into the field thinking we will do something engaging and fun. When it ends up being tedious, that is when we feel burnout.”
Why the Increase in Stories of Burnout?
The topic of burnout is not new, and it comes up frequently in teaching and nursing professions.
A recent study by Deloitte, 77 percent of respondents in a variety of fields said they experienced burnout. The major reasons given in the report include lack of support and recognition, unrealistic deadlines and consistently long hours and working weekends—all commonly reported by instructional designers I’ve talked to.
Clark Shah-Nelson, assistant dean for instructional design and technology at the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work, describes it this way: “When you don’t look forward to going to work, when [it’s] bad enough you don’t see the joy in going to work [and] don’t feel [a] connection to [the] larger workplace. In the context of a career, feeling stuck, no alternatives, not knowing where you want to be but knowing you don’t want to be here.”
Studies show that of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And that has become a problem in instructional design as a lack of time and resources for working on personally meaningful work has led many of us in the field to feel disillusioned.
“Jobs in academia are not easy to come by and location is often a luxury,” said Autumm Caines, an instructional designer at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, recently changed jobs due to burnout. “This in itself can lead to that feeling of being trapped. Uprooting families and moving is not always practical, especially for women. So, it is often easy to stay in a job that is not exactly fulfilling. Stresses due to shrinking budgets in academia, as well as outside market pressures, are not helping.”
“One of the biggest challenges for me,” said Epshteyn, “has been life/work balance as a mom with four kids. A lot of higher ed institutions have very rigid requirements—they lack flexible work opportunities and don’t allow remote work.”
Lack of mobility is another issue. The ID’s I spoke to talked of frustration around a lack of clear career path. More and more people are entering the field, excited, only to find there are few opportunities for career progression. They find themselves bored, doing the same job tasks over and over again. With no prospect of being rewarded for enhancing their job skills, and little autonomy—combined with feelings of lack of respect—results in people feeling burned out and leaving higher ed and/or the field, said Matt Crosslin, learning innovation researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Shifting from Burnout to Thriving
We can approach the issue of burnout from two directions. First we need to recognize it is an issue and educate people about how to recognize and handle burnout. According to Workplace Strategies for Mental Health the following our signs of burnout:
More importantly, we need our institutions to recognize the workplace environment that leads to this issue and begin to change the culture.
According to the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace feelings of their work not being important or appreciated can lead to greater instances of burnout. Many of the influential thinkers that have helped shape our educational systems—both historical, such as John Dewey, and contemporary, including Parker Palmer—have highlighted the importance of aligning one’s passions and personal values with academic and vocational pursuits. There is also ample evidence to suggest that finding purpose in one’s work produces better outcomes for students.
Supporting flexible work schedules, such as allowing work from home or work from anywhere can help, as can creating a documented career progression. As Caines suggested: “As leaders in a field, we can champion legitimizing remote work and collaboration opportunities. We can talk about burnout to try and raise awareness around it. Attempt to find ways of recognizing people’s work outside of the institution at a professional organization or collaborative project level.”
Clark Shah-Nelson, of the University of Maryland, described how some universities are moving beyond one level of instructional designer by adding a new category of senior instructional designer, and some institutions are even adding additional levels (similar to an assistant, associate, and full professor). Those levels can be tied to specific accomplishments, like learning new skills, completing professional development, publishing or making conference presentations. This gives people something to work toward—and the opportunity to align goals with personally meaningful work.
Making changes to job levels and descriptions can take time, as well as buy-in from leadership. Shah-Nelson described other, more “light-weight” ideas that could have a big impact. Make sure your team has down time for fun and to pursue their passions. He stressed the importance of not just suggesting people take the time, but making sure it is blocked off on people’s calendars.
A fun idea he described is to try adding a magnetic dart board and a big whiteboard for an asynchronous game of darts. People can play a round as they are passing through and mark down their score. There are a lot of ways to be connected where people don’t need to be there all at the same time.
Control Windows 10 like a pro by enabling developer settings
For many power users, the way Microsoft Windows 10 works, though effective, is just not good enough. Many powerful Windows tools can be accessed via developer settings.
Image: nd3000, Getty Images/iStockphoto
For the most part, the Windows 10 operating system from Microsoft works the way most users expect it, and want it, to work. Web browsers open websites, productivity apps like Office 365 create documents, emails are received and sent, messages are exchanged—everything works like it is supposed to work. But for many power users, that's just not enough.
Many of the more powerful applications, tools, and utilities available in Windows 10 are locked behind disabled settings and a labyrinth of configuration menus. In previous Windows versions, power users had to research where to find and apply those configuration changes. In Windows 10, users can reach many of those power tools through developer settings.
This how-to tutorial shows you how to find developer settings in Windows 10 and describes what you can do with them.
LEARN MORE: Office 365 Consumer pricing and features
Enable developer settings in Microsoft Windows 10
Developer settings are located in the Update & Security section of the Windows 10 Settings screen. Click the Start Menu button in the lower left-hand corner of the typical desktop, select Settings (gear icon), and then select Update & Security. In the left navigation bar, select For developers to reveal the screen shown in Figure A.
Figure A
Figure A
Under default conditions, the first section will either be set at the Windows Store apps mode or the Sideload apps mode. Generally, this is for your protection. Enabling developer mode will grant installation permission to many more applications and should not be activated without due consideration. The process will take a few minutes to download and activate.
The next configuration is for a Device Portal and Device Discovery, which lets you see, configure, and manage your PC remotely over a network or USB connection. It also provides advanced diagnostic tools to help you troubleshoot and view the real-time performance of your Windows PC. This is important for many developers but may not apply to your circumstances—leave them both disabled unless you specifically need them.
SEE: Emerging technology: What tech pros need to know (TechRepublic Premium)
The next configuration section (Figure B) deals with File Explorer settings. Many of these settings will be familiar to power users who enable them as a matter of course whenever they get a new Windows 10 PC. The benefits of the settings are fairly self-explanatory.
Figure B
Figure B
As you continue to scroll down the page, the next configuration setting (Figure C) concerns Remote Desktop functions.
Figure C
In a modern mobile workforce setting, remote access to a workstation connected to a local enterprise network through a VPN is often required. To enable a secure remote connection, these settings must be enabled.
The last configuration section (Figure D) refers to PowerShell. Developers often need to run special utility scripts that have no certificate associated with them. This setting allows those scripts to run. If you are not running PowerShell scripts on a regular basis, it is OK to leave this setting disabled.
Figure D
Figure D
While many of the configuration settings located in the For developers section can be located and modified from other configuration menus and screens, having them located in a central location is convenient. In previous Microsoft Windows versions, power users had to spend time tracking down these settings, but Windows 10 has simplified the process by including access to so many settings from one screen.
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How To Manage Your Career Like A Business
Manage your career like a business and find the fulfillment you deserve.
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Did you know that you’re already your own boss? That’s because your career is a business, and you are the product. Depending on the statistic, it’s estimated that the average person will change careers five to seven times during their working life. Regardless of the exact number, it’s likely that you will have several careers during your lifetime. Since professional development is no longer linear, it’s more important than ever to take charge of your future. Here are some ways to manage your career like a business so that you can find the fulfillment that you deserve.
Focus on your strengths
Focusing on too many skills and talents at once will not allow you to achieve optimal results. Even more important is to home in on what you do best. The most common mistake people make is to focus on improving their weaknesses. Instead, concentrate on what you are naturally talented at so that you can go from good to great. Ideally, these are also activities that you enjoy. There are even health benefits to strength-building in the workplace. Studies show that people who use their strengths at work are more energetic, confident, healthy, creative, satisfied, and engaged.
Build your brand
With the explosion of social media and the gig economy, branding is important not only at the corporate level but also at the individual level. It's called personal branding, and it’s all about telling a compelling story with you as the central character. Your personal brand is the unique combination of skills and experiences that make you who you are and allow you to stand out from the crowd. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is famously quoted as saying, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Great personal branding will differentiate you from competitors and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers.
Promote yourself
One way to manage your career like a business is through promotion—especially as it relates to your personal brand. A great way to market yourself is by creating a standalone personal website. All you need to begin is a simple layout with an “about” page and a blog. Share content consistently across your personal social media profiles to position yourself as a subject matter expert. If your website has an opt-in, you can even create a weekly newsletter. You may also consider starting a vlog or your own podcast. The essential things are to target the right audience and continually increase your visibility.
Know your audience
Running your career like a business means knowing your customer. This could be your boss or the person you have a job interview with. Take time to understand their pain points. What do they need, and how are you able to provide value? What problem are you solving? Clearly defining your target audience helps you develop a consistent message and effective branding.
Stand out from the crowd
What separates you from the competition and makes you unique? Figure out your brand differentiators and try to fill a void rather than follow the pack. Tammy Perkins, Chief People Officer at PMI Worldwide, offers this advice,” Ultimately you want to be your authentic self, showing potential employers how your skills are uniquely differentiated from others, while also sharing your passion, along with supporting work examples and accomplishments. Do all three, and you have a chance to stand out with recruiters and hiring managers.”
Continuously evolve
It's crucial to grow and evolve to remain competitive in a constantly changing workplace. Manage your career by keeping up to date on the latest trends in your industry and adapting accordingly. Commit to ongoing learning. Expand your knowledge and skills. Get the training you need to move to the next level. The more you step up your game, the more valuable you will be to your manager, team and company. This approach also positions you for future opportunities that may exist outside of your current company or industry.
Develop a long-term plan
To manage your career like a business, you need a long-range plan. Change is so rampant in corporate America that a long-term strategy is probably no longer than five years. When designing your career, identify what you would like to be doing. Is it a more senior job within your own company or perhaps a different field altogether? Next, develop a set of specific steps you must take to attain that long-term objective. Make sure to write your goals down (on paper) and review them regularly.
Ultimately, you’re the CEO of your career. By implementing these simple strategies, you'll find yourself not only advancing professionally but also enjoying the ride.
If you feel like it’s finally time to find a more fulfilling job or career, download my free guide: 5 Signs It’s Time to Leave Your Soul-Sucking Job!
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