After 20 years of teaching, Jennifer Lauder makes a bold career change

Jennifer Lauder was an elementary teacher at Alliance Public Schools for nearly two decades when she decided she was ready to make a bold change.  
 
Enrolling into the 内布拉斯加大学 at Kearney’s online Learning, Design and Technology M.S.Ed. 程序 with a concentration in Leadership in Instructional Technology led to a 400-mile move, 最大的菠菜的平台助教奖学金, 硕士学位, and a new position she calls a “dream job.”  
 
Bold change number 1: 体育菠菜大平台’s online Learning, Design and Technology M.S.Ed. 程序 
 
“I had taught in the classroom for kindergarten, first, and second grade. And then I was the media teacher for the kindergarten through fifth grade students in Alliance. Then I decided I was just ready to make this career change,兰黛解释道. 
 
During her last two years of teaching at Alliance, Lauder was taking online courses that she says benefited her as a teacher. 
 
“I was able to use a lot of the knowledge and skills that I was gaining in that position, as well as mentoring other teachers and teaching them about technology,兰黛说. “It will make you a stronger educator no matter what your career path looks like.” 
 
Bold change number 2: 体育菠菜大平台 最大的菠菜的平台助教奖学金 
 
我叫来博士。. Gaskill, and I said, ‘I have this crazy idea that I can complete my degree in a year. 你觉得怎么样?’ She's like, ‘Yeah, let's do it,’兰黛说.  
 
Dr. Martonia Gaskill, 副教授, Director and Advisor for 体育菠菜大平台’s Learning, Design and Technology not only supported Lauder’s “crazy idea” but also provided her the means to make it a successful idea through offering her a 最大的菠菜的平台助教奖学金 体育菠菜大平台的教师教育. 
 
“I totally did not expect that was going to happen,兰黛说 about accepting Dr. Gaskill的报价. “I resigned from my position in Alliance, I sold my house, and moved to Kearney. I really liked being on campus because I was able to develop a really good relationship with more professors. I learned a lot about higher education, which was what I wanted to do.” 
 
Lauder gained experience working on a college campus while being able to complete her 程序, all within her one-year timeframe.  
 
“It all just kind of fell into place,兰黛说. “I couldn’t have ended up in a better place to catapult me into my future.” 

 
Bold change number 3: Creighton University Graduate School of Medicine 
 
“One of the things that I really loved to do when I was in public education was working with my co-teachers and mentoring them and teaching them about how to use technology in their lessons,兰黛说. “That's what really inspired me to want to be able to make this transition into higher education and really help a different level of faculty and teachers.” 
 
Lauder recently accepted a position as an Instructional Designer for Creighton’s Graduate School of Medicine in Omaha, 内布拉斯加州, nearly 400 miles away from where she calls home. 
 
“It is a dream job because I am adding to my knowledge base about adult learning theory and working with a group of people that are forward thinking and trying to do what's best for medical students in meeting their education needs,兰黛说.  
 
While she considers her new position a dream job, she is also aware of the multitude of other opportunities that lie ahead within this field. 
 
“It is also a great starting point for me because I think that there will be amazing opportunities in the very near future both at Creighton and beyond to be able to really be a positive influence in the instructional design world in higher education because it is a career that is just starting to build up,兰黛解释道. 
 
Bold change number 4: Jennifer Launder, M.S.Ed. 
 
兰黛将在 体育菠菜大平台’s spring 2023 commencement ceremony 五月 19 to receive her master’s degree in Learning, Design and Technology. She credits her time in 体育菠菜大平台's online master's 程序 as a huge factor that allowed her to land her dream job at Creighton University.  
 
“I would say that it has benefited me professionally because it's what has allowed me to make this amazing career change and personally it has given me the confidence to be able to make this career change as well. And it's really renewed my passion for education,兰黛说. 
 
Another group she gives credit to for her ability to make these bold changes are the many professors and advisors she had throughout the 程序. 
 
“Oh, what a positive impact that they have had on my life,兰黛说. “I'm just forever grateful for them.”