Appalachian State University Blog

While technology always seems to develop quickly, it has picked up even more momentum in the last decade or so. Smartphones, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced platforms used to work and learn remotely have all changed people’s lives — for better and for worse.

No one knows this more than Krista Wojdak, PhD, learning experience design consultant and professor at Appalachian State University. For the last 20 years, she’s been helping students and professionals across industries not just adjust to new technologies but also harness them.

Now, in App State Online’s Bachelor of Science (BS) in Organizational Leadership and Learning (OLL) Flight Path program, Dr. Wojdak is sharing her decades of experience and facilitation of active learning experiences with a new group of rising leaders.

The Cost of Being at the Forefront

Dr. Wojdak got her start in the learning design, technology and strategy space in 2002 when she earned her PhD in instructional design and technology. Before she had even finished her studies, she landed a job as the director of a college instructional design and technology center.

It sounded like a dream job. Dr. Wojdak would be at the forefront of a new era of tech-powered instructional design. However, she entered the field when few knew what instructional design was, so it was conflated with other general tech support duties.

Fortunately, Dr. Wojdak found an open position at one of her three alma maters, which had a burgeoning instructional technology center in need of a director. If she accepted the position, they promised to put her talents to good use.

Making an Impact and Finding a Calling

Dr. Wojdak received and accepted the offer and got to work immediately. She worked across campus to identify and implement new instructional technologies and collaborated with other campus units to provide professional development and faculty support services. The center is still up and running to this day.

However, something was still missing from Dr. Wojdak’s career. Her PhD was in instructional design and technology, but she wasn’t employing her instructional design skills or her passion for learning science.

“I was just the ‘technology person,” she said. “I didn’t want to be in tech for tech itself, but in the service of quality teaching and learning. I needed to shift.”

Dr. Wojdak wanted to find new uses for new technologies, explore the pedagogical implications of using them and actually guide educators as they tried to adapt. She wanted to ask and answer the big questions dominating her field.

In 2010, Dr. Wojdak got that chance. That year, she accepted a position as an assistant professor of instructional technology at App State.

Growing at and With App State

In the last 15 years, Dr. Wojdak has taught no less than 35 graduate courses at App State, often to educators and education administrators. Her experience guiding learning development through technological transformations gives her invaluable insight into what skills these education professionals need to advance in their careers and serve their students.

However, educators aren’t the only people in today’s economy who need to be able to navigate technological transformations. Leaders in every sector must be able to do the same — and in App State Online’s BS in Organizational Leadership and Learning (OLL) program, Dr. Wojdak teaches them how.

Dr. Wojdak designed and leads two classes in this program: one on professional development and adult learning and the other on digital learning systems.

In these classes, Dr. Wojdak teaches rising leaders, managers and administrators how to design and develop professional learning programs and products and help their workforces develop new skills. She teaches professionals from a wide range of sectors.

“I have students working in many different roles, and people who already own their own small businesses who want to expand,” she said of her online OLL students. “They want to know more about leading, and the classes that I teach involve considering the connection between professional learning and leadership.”

Active Learning: Giving Online Education Meaning

The way Dr. Wojdak goes about teaching her classes in the OLL program is as important as the content itself. One of her favorite tools is a technique called active learning.

Active learning involves students more directly in the learning process. It emphasizes hands-on projects, class discussions and other interactive activities and focuses less on lectures.

Dr. Wojdak’s background in learning science and design allows her to design courses that encourage active learning. “We know that when students are actively making meaning and applying the content in relevant ways, that’s when learning sticks,” she said. She also acknowledges the challenges of asynchronous learning courses, especially considering developments in AI.

Dr. Wojdak has been working with Voltage Control, a learning academy and consultancy, to develop a facilitative teaching model that combines facilitation techniques with active learning strategies and centers human skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.

“We know pretty definitively in the research that active learning is the best way for students to learn,” Dr. Wojdak said. “But culturally, structurally and systematically, we’re not there in terms of it being the way we teach. There are still so many barriers.”

Dr. Wojdak invites students to bring real-world problems from their current jobs to class. Then she uses online discussion forums and other activities that allow students to learn from each other and connect. This allows her students to use their time effectively while still getting the comprehensive education in tech-savvy leadership they need.

Lead Your Organization Into the Future

During her time at App State, Krista Wodjak has helped students further their careers and empower their organizations, big and small, to embrace change. At the same time, Dr. Wojdak has continued to push herself in new directions, whether it’s researching AI or exploring new teaching strategies.

In App State Online’s Bachelor of Science in OLL Flight Path program, Dr. Wojdak and her colleagues teach their students to do the same.

To find out more about the program’s flexible format and curriculum and how App State faculty go above and beyond to provide a personalized experience, request more information today.

Recommended Readings

6 Organizational Leadership Skills for Success

Dr. Kevin Sutton on Real-World Learning for Working Professionals

How to Leverage AI in Leadership