ISU Instructional Design and Technology Students Receive Grant to Attend International AECT Conference

Graduate students from the Idaho State University Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) program attended the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) International Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada happening on October 24 - 28. Thanks to a grant provided by the Idaho State University College of Education, 19 students and their professors had the opportunity to attend for free and network with leaders in their field, present their research, and learn about career opportunities.

AECT is the major international academic organization for instructional designers and professionals to collaborate and share their passion for finding better ways to help people learn. By participating in conferences such as AECT, students gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to be international advocates and change agents in their field. 

John Curry, Chair for the College of Education’s Organizational Learning and Performance Department and Associate Professor for the Instructional Design and Technology Program, is the AECT 2022 Convention Planning Committee Co-Chair. As Curry said, “My major professor always taught me that one of our responsibilities as professionals is to always be part of the academic conversation. Dr. David Coffland, my program colleague, and I are committed to that idea. Helping our students attend AECT, familiarizing them with the conference experience, demystifying the process of presenting your research, as well as what it takes to be part of the academic conversation is invaluable. It can be discussed in a class, but being at the conference with our students, introducing them to those who wrote their textbooks or whose research we’re reading, it can’t be replicated. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Jean McGivney-Burelle, Dean of the College of Education, for her support of this project.”

In addition to attending this year’s AECT Conference with their students, the IDT program faculty will be teaching a course for students attending the convention. Students choosing to register for the course will have required daily class meetings in which they meet with experts in the field, will have required assignments aligning with the conference attendance experience, and will write a final paper identifying trends in the field based on the conference presentations attended. 

Both Curry and Coffland are active in the AECT organization. At this year’s conference, Curry and Coffland will each give two presentations with graduate students. Curry has also served two terms on the AECT Board of Directors and is a three-time winner of the AECT President Award for his leadership and service to the field of instructional design and technology. In 2021, Curry was also honored by AECT’s Division of Emerging Learning Technologies (DELT) for his extraordinary commitment, leadership, and service to the organization by creating The DELT John Curry Distinguished Service Award. 

To learn more about AECT, please visit https://aect.org/.