3 Questions for Instructional Designer Nicole Sanderson

Nicole Sanderson began with a goal of becoming a documentary filmmaker, leading to internships and jobs in public television. While working at WGBH in educational outreach, she helped transition teacher support materials to online formats and became interested in interactive work. She returned to school for a graduate degree in learning design and technology, then worked on a blended master’s program at the Fletcher School at Tufts, where she focused on online education. She later worked as an instructional designer at Boston University and Harvard University. She is proud of Emotions 101, a collaboration with psychology to support freshmen mental health and emotional management, and of Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking. Her greatest superpower is empathy.

"I originally set out to become a documentary filmmaker. This led me to several internships and jobs in public television. While I was working at WGBH in the educational outreach department, we were just transitioning to putting materials like teachers' guides online. I became fascinated by the work the interactive department was doing and decided to go back to school for a graduate degree in learning design and technology."

"While at BU, I worked on a course called Emotions 101, which was a collaboration with the psychology department. It was intended to help freshmen with mental health and emotional management as they transitioned into college. I was very proud to be a part of this important initiative. At Harvard, I think my most impactful course would be Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking."

"I think learning about rhetoric-both how to be persuasive and know when you're being persuaded-is one of the most important skills that can be learned. Learners seem to agree-so many have reached out to the faculty over the years to tell him how it has changed their perspective and even their lives. This is what many of us get into online education for, and I was so lucky to achieve it with this course."

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