My Story
My journey into instructional design began with inspiration from my father, a university English professor who studied abroad in England. His dedication to education and global perspective encouraged me to dream big and pursue studies abroad.
After earning my undergraduate degree in Burkina Faso, I applied to The Ohio State University. I didn’t get in and I was deeply disappointed. But I didn’t give up. I kept going and was eventually accepted at West Virginia University, where I became a graduate teaching assistant and completed a master’s in Foreign Languages with a focus on French and TESOL. Later, I earned another master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in healthcare, hoping to work in hospitals or nonprofit organizations. When that path didn’t pan out, my wife suggested something new: instructional design.
That advice changed everything.
I discovered a field that combined my love for teaching and technology. I pursued a Ph.D. in Instructional Design and began working in the field, first at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, then at the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University Fort Wayne, and currently, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I also consulted in the corporate environment.
Over the past 10+ years, I’ve collaborated with SMEs, designers, institutions, and businesses on a wide range of learning projects. Along the way, I realized that one crucial skill was often missing from our toolkit: project management. I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error.
That gap is what inspired me to write The Instructional Designer’s Guide to Project Management. This book is for instructional designers who manage courses, collaborate with SMEs, juggle deadlines, and balance multiple expectations, yet may not have formal project management tools to support them.
Instructional design isn’t just about content and pedagogy. It’s about leadership, planning, communication, and execution.
I hope my resources and book help you work with more clarity, less stress, and greater impact.
