I’m Nick, your friendly neighborhood instructional designer.

I’m always making something. I can’t help it. That’s why my mother found me one day at the age of 5 spinning—paint brush in hand, creating a thick ring of paint 35 inches up from the floor on every wall of my room. It’s the reason why I eventually got my BFA in painting and visual communication (where I still spun in a circle with paint, but I called it performance art) at Ball State University. And it’s the same need to create that got me into education, where I can create meaningful learning experiences with others. I’ve had the privilege to work with learners from all walks of life over the past 10 years: managers, front-line workers, people with credentials, people with criminal records, young adults entering the work force and adults eyeing their retirement plans.

In other words, I’ve had a lot of time to experiment, fail, and try again. I know what it’s like to work to get people motivated to learn. And it was this hands-on work with real people to achieve real learning goals that motivated me to go for my MS in Instructional Systems Design through the University of Kentucky. Finally, I had the chance to learn the theory behind the techniques I had groped towards through trial and error. I also learned the science to explain what had made me more or less effective in class.

Besides making things, continuous learning is a way of life for me. I’m eclectic in my curiosity, whether it’s about neural networks, music, bread baking, logo design trends for football teams, Yazidi religious practice, French—if it’s out there, I want to learn about it. I believe this wide palette of experiences allows you to make connections and find solutions that you’d otherwise miss. I love looking for novel connections between ideas and people, and I hope I get a chance to connect with you, too.