Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Bottom Line Me podcast. I'm your host, Ann Allard. In today's episode, we're going to explore how education can build bridges, how it can transform workspace culture, and how it fuels our individual or personal growth, even when we're trying to balance our own learning journey and it gets a little bit complicated. My guest today is someone who believes education is more than information, it's really connection. She's passionate about helping people learn, shaping positive work cultures, and continuing her own lifelong learning journey. She really brings both heart and insight into how learning can strengthen people, strengthen. Strengthen teams, and the way we all can work better together. So with that, I would love to introduce you all to my guest today, Marissa sighs. Marissa, hi. Thanks for joining me.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Great to have you.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Thanks for having me, Anne.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Well, it's great to have you on the podcast.
Before we get started, why don't you take a couple minutes and tell our audience a little bit about yourself, what you do here at Old Republic title and. And anything else you might like to share.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: All right. So, yes, I'm Marissa Saez and I'm an instructional designer with Older Public Title. Before I was with Older Public Title, I studied communication at Utah State University. So I got a bachelor's degree in global communication, which usually people are like, what in the world even is that? But ultimately, what that is is we're taking the philosophical side of communication, but also recognizing the different cultural, ethnic, economic, different types of diversities that exist and taking those into account with that philosophical perspective. And then after that, I continued on and I got a master's degree in communication studies, where it was a very heavy academic focus. So I had to learn how to be an academic, which was a fun challenge for me. So I got to do a lot of research and I got to really dive into the different communication topics that were really interesting to me through that time. I also worked as an instructor at Utah State University, so I got to teach interpersonal communication for a few semesters. And that was so fun. I absolutely loved that opportunity. It was fun because I got to learn how to take these really complicated topics that I was so passionate about. I had so much to say and try to repackage that for someone who's new to that field and try to help them also get excited about those different things. So that was a lot of fun. And then from there, I pivoted into a role of being the personnel training director for a dietary supplement company. And there I focused a lot on compliance training, large scale in person training and general more webinar style training for a worldwide team base. So that was a lot of fun. But as I was there, I found that I was really interested in this online space and learning and trying to see what capabilities there were with that. So that's how I pivoted into older public title. Right. I now work as an instructional designer, meaning that I work on both the instruction side, like what you're actually teaching someone, and the aesthetic side of how that looks when you're teaching someone about that. And I create those different training modules for people who are new to title, trying to bring new people, new generations into this field.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Wow, that's quite the resume.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you've had so many really interesting opportunities to utilize your skill set.
You know, I wanted to ask you first, what sparked your passion for education?
I think you've answered that question already, but is there anything you want to add to that? Was there something or someone that sort of really helped you move along or sparked you to continue this learning journey?
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
So, to be honest, my passion for education came well into my experience in life because early on I think I had a difficult relationship with education in that in my kind of really young years, I really fell victim to this idea of right brain and left brain mentality, which is. It's real. Right. That definitely exists. But I think I fell into it to a point. It was debilitative, where I am a more right brain person. So language, English, you know, that type of thing is a lot more natural to me. Whereas the math and sciences are a little more difficult for me to comprehend and get on board with. So as I was going through my education journey, well into my bachelor's, into my master's degree, I still had that mindset of, well, if it has to do with math or numbers, like, it's just not worth it. I'm not even going to try. Just kind of ignore that side. And so when I was in my master's program, like I said, we had a very large research focus. And with the research in our field, at least there are three main research paths. So you can do quantitative research, which is all about statistics. You're taking a large population and looking at general trends of different topics. Then you have qualitative, where it's more about, okay, we know these trends, but let's get down to it a little bit more. I'm going to have a long conversation with a smaller population to try to understand that a little bit better. Then there's also rhetorical analysis, which is Generally we have these, you know, maybe speeches that have been written. What kind of effect does that have on people? Or different visual, like an advertisement? How is that affecting people? How is it communicating? So within those three realms it should be right, because of my right brain mentality that I should fall into the latter two. Right. But I kept finding I was really interested in this quantitative stuff and that was really hard for me. I almost felt like I was like untrue to a certain side of myself. But I just kind of kept trying and I leaned into it a little bit more. I spoke with my advisor and my friends, my husband, and I was just like, I don't really know. These are. This lines up with the questions I'm asking. It's really interesting to me. So I just kept trying. And it was such a formative experience. Experience for me because I was very successful in that even though it felt like I shouldn't be, I really was. And so that taught me that if you really put your mind to it and you have the tools you need, which I did. I had advisors, I had tons of people to help me, then I could get where I wanted to go. And I ended up being a much more well rounded person after that. So to me that's what really sparked is I want to help people understand that you can learn those, those more difficult things, even if it seems quote unquote unnatural to you.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Wow, your passion is so obvious. It's, it's very. Wow, it's very exciting. But you know, in, in, in my opening I mentioned something about how education is a way to build bridges. And we, you and I had that conversation prior to recording here today. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about what that means.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So to me it sounds maybe a little bit dumb or something, but to me it really. Or cliche is probably a better word. It sounds a little cliche. However, I really think that education can be a bridge to anything at this point. We live in an age where you can learn about virtually anything through, you know, what's available online or in different spheres of your community or whatever. Right. And so as long as you take the time to learn about that thing and you get the right tools, you should be able to achieve whatever you want to in the learning sphere. And so that's really the bridge for me is you can get where you want to go, you just have to actually take that journey. But I think sometimes we think that, you know, it's just going to be a quick, you just cross the bridge and it's over. That's really not true.
Sometimes I like to think it's kind of like that kid's book. I read it a lot. That if you give a mouse a cookie, for those who may not be familiar, it's essentially the story of this cute little mouse. And he receives a cookie, I think, from his friend, and then he's like, okay, I had this cookie. Well, now I want a glass of milk. And. But I have the glass of milk. I need a straw. I need a napkin. And anyway, it just continues on and on and on and on. Towards the end, he ends up with a painting that he has put together, and he decides to put it on the fridge. And then as he gets to the fridge, he's like, oh, I want a glass of milk. And then it starts the cycle all over again. Right. And so I think sometimes education can feel like that, which can be a little disheartening, I think, where you get all the way down this line and then you find yourself back at the basics. But in reality, that's okay. And that's probably a good thing, because once you've gone through a lot of those steps and you come back, you can see things with a new perspective, or you can look at it from an educator standpoint and say, you know what? When I was learning these things, I think there were some gaps here, or we could reframe this a little differently, and then you make a better bridge for people down the road. Right. So it's not only this little bridge of your own educational journey, but I think societally, as an organization, you can build better bridges to those ultimate places to help people through their education journey and just make it a little more seamless and maybe more inclusive for people.
So.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: And then you can go back and get another cookie and start all over again.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Exactly.
I love it. That.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: That's awesome.
What a great story.
So let's talk about today's adult learning. You know, it doesn't look anything like it did even 10 years ago. We've really moved from classrooms and binders to zoom rooms, microlearning on demand, just about everything.
So my question to you is, how do you think online learning has made things better? And hopefully you think it has, particularly for adult learners.
And then my second question would be, what challenges do you think it's introduced?
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So there are absolutely lots of. Of different benefits that have come from online learning, especially for adult learners. I think, as a kid, you know, it's very systematic. You just follow exactly what the instructor says, whereas an adult you have a lot more autonomy in your online learning space. And so with that, you have a lot of different tools at your disposal. Right. For instance, with myself, I know that if I'm watching a video or if I'm, let's say I'm watching an instructor, I have like a lecture happening a lot of the time. It's hard for me to follow what they're saying. I'm trying to know, viciously, take notes or whatever.
Whereas with an online type of learning model, I can put on the closed captions and instantly it is so much simpler for me to understand what they're saying and to follow along. And so you have those different technological tools just right there available to you. I think another thing that's great about the online learning space is say you go through an online training and you're like, you know what? I feel like I still missed, you know, 20% of that. I'm still a little bit confused.
That's okay. At that point, you still have the opportunity to maybe reach out to your instructor, if that's available. Or you can do a search, you can use AI, you can do all these different things, right? To learn more about that topic, you can take that initiative to continue your learning process. Even though it's a remote setting. I think sometimes people forget that. I think once it says training complete, it's done, but it doesn't have to be. You still have the opportunity to keep learning.
However, there are the challenges still, right?
And I think the most obvious one for most people is we get distracted when it comes to online learning. The most classic example is when you have some sort of compliance training, just show up in your inbox, right? And you think, oh, no, I have to do this again. And so a lot of people, you know, whether they want to admit it or not, they'll put the training on and just kind of click, click, click, and they'll do something else, right? And of course, that is not a great way to approach that training. And so, you know, I myself have fallen into moments where I think, oh, maybe it's worth it. I'll just do that.
But I found that, you know, it's okay. I. I still should be learning this. I have faith in the organization that I should know this topic and that it will benefit me. So I've decided to do instead is I'll dedicate time in my calendar to that training. So if I see it come through and it has a due date, you know, two months from now, I'll choose a time within that timeframe. I'll be like, okay, I'll set aside this 30 minutes for that training. And then I know leading up to it, that's what I'm gonna be doing. So then during that time, I really can focus on that. I'm gonna make sure I'm in a room where I'm not distracted. Right. I don't have different things happening around me. I can really focus on that. And then when I'm done, it's over. I don't have to think about it again. Rather than what I was finding in the other way when I just kind of had it going, is it would take me forever because I would just keep going back and forth between different tasks. And so ultimately it was faster to do it this way, where I just set aside the time and of course, more effective in the actual learning outcome. So that's been helpful for me, at least when it comes to that challenge.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: That's a great tip, really. I think, because all of us, self included, you get those notices that you've got to complete some kind of a training or something, and, you know, one of two, two things happens. You either do it immediately, but you're multitasking, probably, or it ends up, you know, in the. You know, going into that dark black hole in your inbox. And then you get the notice that says, you've got 24 hours.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: No.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: So, great tip. I think that's a really good idea to dedicate the time for something like that. Awesome.
Yeah.
You know, so let's talk a little bit about your journey, because I'm guessing that part of your educational experience was classroom and part of it was online pros and cons of both for you.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: Yeah, there are lots of pros and cons I found for myself.
I actually succeed in both. And I think that's probably true for most people. I think, again, kind of going back to that, sometimes we fall victim to different mindsets. You might think that you're only going to learn one way, and that may not be the case. And so I decided to just kind of try those different opportunities. And I found that it might look a little bit different and I might approach it a little bit differently, but I really successfully involve. So, of course, as we spoke about before, I had a lot of, you know, traditional classroom training, but in preparation for my current role where I do this instructional design, truthfully, I learned probably 95% of what I know from YouTube.
I just. I knew that this was the type of work I was going to be using. I knew the software I would need and so I was like, you know what? I'm just going to see what's out there. And there was so much that I could learn from. Of course, you know, at the end of the videos, totally at the end of a lot of the videos, people say, take my class or whatever. I truthfully never did that. Instead, all I did was watch their little video, and then I would, you know, kind of sit with that and then try to replicate it on my own. And what I've also found is, you know, now that I've done all of that, I feel more proficient in my role.
I. Even though I know what I'm doing, it seems like sometimes I can't stop thinking about work. And let me give you an example.
So if I'm, say, watching the NBA playoff game that's going on right now and an ad comes up for, like, UberEats or some sort of dietary supplement, I'll watch the ad and then they'll have, like, text pop in, or they'll have these cool effects happen with images, and instantly I'm like, oh, how could I do that? How could I make that happen in my. In my tools? And so, you know, I'll think about it for a moment, and then I just kind of sit it away. I don't really think about it that much. But then I'll find myself, days later in my job. I'll be like, just kind of stuck in this design rut. I don't know what to do. And that will come back to my mind. And it's so helpful to just be primed for those learning opportunities and to receive them and just be like, you know what? It's okay to think about work for a minute. It's going to benefit me in the end. And it really. It's something I like, so it's not a big hassle or something like that. But that's been really helpful for me.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: That's really, really interesting. I think there's. You just never know when something's going to show up that can, you know, that can help you to figure out what's the next element or the next design thing that I want to do. But I can't talk your language because I'm not an instructional designer. But let me ask you this. You know, in your role as an instructional designer, and I think this is probably true for a lot of people that are learning online. I even know when my son was going to college, he really craved being in a classroom because of the collaboration and the social aspects of it and everything. So you know, how do you, how do you keep people engaged or how do you make sure that they, they do feel like they're connected when they're, you know, taking classes or working or doing all of this virtually.
Give us some tips.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: That's a great question. Yeah.
To me, I think one of the easiest way to build that connection is to use predominantly video based training. Um, that's what a lot of people are doing when they're not at work. Right. A lot of people end up on their phones scrolling through videos. Right. And so what I try to do is sort of replicate that, obviously in a more professional sense, but having that type of connection. So it's not necessarily with their classmates per se. A lot of times that's just not really feasible for the type of training, at least that I produce.
But they can build a connection, even if it's asynchronous, with the presenter. And so we try to help the presenter know that they should share stories. They can connect with the learner as they, if they were sitting right in front of them so that when the learner gets there, they come back to that same person every time. It's almost like, you know, a real classroom experience. It's just you're by yourself at your computer. And so I think if you can get people in that space in their mind, then they can still have a really formative learning experience.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: Interesting. Never. I never, never thought about it that way. I know myself, there's times when I'm taking some course online.
I'm very engaged and I'm very interested, but I'd love to be able to turn to somebody and say, what did, what did you think about that? Or how did you, how did you interpret that? So that's the challenge, I think, for a lot of adult learners that are doing these things in space by themselves, rather than, as I mentioned, my son talking about being able to go in and even sitting and having a cup of coffee or sharing lunch with someone. So you have to do that more intentionally these days. But from what I'm hearing you say it can be done.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: It's just like you're saying that you have to intentionally block time off, I guess you have to intentionally block time off to connect with other people in this learning environment. So, yeah, great information, Marissa. It was so much fun to have you. And I think I've learned a lot here as well. So, as you know, on our podcast, we always like to end with a bottom line.
So I think my bottom line question for you today is what's a lesson from your own learning journey that you hope our listeners can take away from this conversation.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I think for me, the bottom line really is that every learning journey is unique and that's okay. And we should just recognize that both for ourselves and for those people around us. Right. As we work with other people, we may be at different spots on our learning journey. And that's fine. Just like with every anything else. Right. We're all unique and the learning journey is nothing different. And within that learning journey, we can be both a receiver of learning. We can say, okay, I know I need to learn about this thing. And we can be a seeker, say, you know what, I want to learn more about this topic. And you just put your mind to it and find the resources that you need and then ultimately get that knowledge that you're looking for. And I really do believe that as we cultivate all of those different mindsets, that will be a more well rounded person and will just honestly be better people all around.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great bottom line. And you brought, you brought it full circle. So thank you so much. Well, thanks so much for spending some time with me today. This is a great conversation and to our audience, as always, we appreciate your taking the time to join us. And until we meet again, let's everybody learn, grow, and prosper. Thanks,
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Sam.
