Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Navigating the Lurches and Slumps as an Online Learning Professional in Higher Education

Audience Level: 
All
Session Time Slot(s): 
Institutional Level: 
Higher Ed
Streamed: 
Onsite
Special Session: 
Leadership
Abstract: 

Join this session for a playful parody of Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! from an online learning professional career perspective and talk through some strategies for designing your way through the lurches and slumps of Higher Education. And if you’re stuck in the Waiting Place - this session might help!

Extended Abstract: 

Introduction: 

Working in higher education isn’t always the easiest of experiences. Low wages, flat organizational structures, difficult clients, slow adoption of change, heavy workloads, lack of flexibility around schedules and work locations, lack of agency - all of these are common complaints heard from instructional designers and online learning professionals in universities and colleges across the country. 

It’s no surprise then that a quick look on LinkedIn shows numerous posts and resources for higher education professionals to transition out of universities for higher paying, often remote, corporate online learning professional positions. 

The Great Resignation occurring now assumes that employees are leaving for better opportunities. But sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Sometimes it’s just different grass. Sometimes it’s actually worse grass. A new job may offer a higher salary but the work may not be as fulfilling or offer as much work/life balance or job security. A new job may offer remote work, but remote work may not provide the same promotional opportunities or social connectedness. To ensure these decisions are being made for the right reasons, online learning professionals need to understand what they are wanting with a new position, beyond just salary.

In some situations, online learning professionals feel like they can’t leave a current work situation because of a constraint (geographic location, family situation, need for a specific salary, etc.). When this happens, they need to find a way to be okay in their day to day work. Living with the stress and unhappiness of hating a job or feeling unappreciated is no way to live.

Using the frame of Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! as a guide, this session will explore ways to identify professional goals specifically for online learning professionals, reflect on constraints that may influence decision making, identify the dissonance and opportunities between those goals and constraints, and identify steps for reframing by embracing the power of choice and designing a healthy and fulfilling work mindset. 

This session is not about pretending things are okay, ignoring bad working conditions, or otherwise gaslighting online learning professionals to stay in situations that aren’t working for them. Instead it’s about the power of our mind to reframe situations and take charge of the story we tell to ourselves and others. 

Takeaways: 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify individual strengths, values, and areas for growth as online learning professionals

  2. Reflect on work, family, and life constraints

  3. Identify the dissonance between values, constraints, and goals

  4. Identify strategies for next steps and reframing

Plan for Interactivity: 

  1. Participants will complete polling activities using various technologies to share experiences. 

  2. Participants will participate in small group discussions. 

  3. Participants will complete either a digital or print worksheet throughout the session to take with them.

Position: 
7
Conference Session: 
Concurrent Session 6
Conference Track: 
Leadership and Institutional Strategy
Session Type: 
Discovery Session
Intended Audience: 
Administrators
Design Thinkers
Instructional Support
Training Professionals
Technologists