My name is Sydney Dickerson.
I’m a learning designer based in Lafayette, Indiana.
Who am I?
I love learning. This is probably best reflected in the amount of time I’ve spent as a student. I hold a B.A. in Language Education and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics. I am fluent in Spanish, and I’ve spent time learning Portuguese, Italian, and Arabic. One of my favorite learning topics is dogs and dog behavior. In another life, I think I would have been a dog behaviorist!
I love learning about learning. During my graduate studies in linguistics, I learned all about the intricacies of language acquisition and the cognitive processes involved in learning. I quickly realized that I love learning not just about how people learn languages but about how people learn anything at all! Through books like Design for Learning by Julie Dirksen and The Accidental Instructional Designer by Cammy Bean, I discovered that I’m absolutely fascinated by how people acquire new knowledge, skills, and attitudes and how I can use my knowledge of this process to maximize learning.
I love helping others learn. Currently, I help design digital textbooks that support college students in mastering the basics of biology, psychology, and political science. In previous roles, I helped call center agents learn to support health insurance customers, and I spent six years helping college students learn Spanish language and culture. Some examples of my work include Effective and Engaging Language Teaching: An Interactive Checklist, an e-learning performance aid that helps new language instructors design lesson plans; Intercultural Collaboration, an e-learning story-based experience that helps managers of multicultural teams make culturally informed and empathetic decisions; and Dog Body Language, an e-learning experience that helps dog caregivers recognize the meaning of different dog body language signals.
Outside of learning, I enjoy being active, teaching my dog Rosie new tricks, traveling, and cooking new dishes. A fun fact about me is that I competed in track and field as well as cross country in college. A fun fact about Rosie is that she currently knows 10 different tricks.
What is my approach?
I prioritize context in my work. By presenting information and feedback in the most contextualized way possible, I help learners form connections between what is familiar and what is new, making it easier for them to retrieve the information later.
I ask and answer meaningful questions. Why should learners care? What will they be able to do after the learning experience? What will happen if they don’t have this skill? These are questions that are central to my design. I believe that learning happens when learners are able to construct personal meaning from their experiences.
I use language strategically. I am experienced with tools like Articulate Storyline and Rise, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Captivate, Snagit, and Camtasia. However, as a linguist and former Spanish instructor, my all-time favorite tool is language! In line with LXD research, I use language that is concrete, familiar to the learner, personalized, and concise, which leads to greater learning outcomes.