About Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL)

Rigorous

Apply systematic and/or systemic methods to performance improvement work.

Apply established professional ethics and standards to performance improvement work.

Responsible

Align performance improvement solutions with strategic organizational goals and make recommendations to produce results valued by organizations.

Respectful

Collaborate effectively with others, in person and virtually, and communicate effectively in written, oral and visual forms.

Reflective

Apply theory and evidence to performance improvement work.

In addition to coursework, our graduate programs provide both experienced and new professionals with:

• Internships to gain workplace experiences working as a virtual member of an instructional design team
• Structured guidance for portfolio development with professional work samples and support for social networking with other professionals
• Refresh of existing skills with new theories and emerging practices
• Opportunities to partner with faculty on conference presentations or article publications, as well as participate on faculty research via virtual research labs

In our online courses, you don’t just learn from books; you learn from real-world projects.

• Complete needs assessments, instructional design and evaluation projects for real clients
• Create storyboards and develop your storyboards into e-learning modules using software such as Articulate Storyline, Captivate and Camtasia
• Design and apply performance improvement and change management strategies to the workplace
• Develop survey and interview instruments, analyze data and create visuals to enhance your data storytelling
• For those seeking a deeper dive into instructional design, OPWL 547: Learning Experience Design covers design thinking, personas, empathy maps, prototyping and agile practices. OPWL 527: Game-Based and Gamified Learning teaches how to design engaging and interactive learning using game-based learning theories as well as how to gamify the learning process to engage and motivate the learners.

In becoming an Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning student, you are joining a community of practice of instructional design, training and development and performance improvement professionals from across the USA, each province of Canada and countries across the world.

Connecting with people whose passion you share helps you keep up with rapid changes in technology and their impact on the workplace.