Tyler Youngers

Creative Performances

 

My creativity in singing and acting enriches my work as an instructional designer and educational technologist.

 

While singing or acting I am able to see things in new ways, think outside the box, improvize and think on my feet, which all support a quality performance. The arts teach me divergent rather than convergent thinking. The arts make me come up with different, rather than similar, solutions. This thinking translates into useful skills for professional instructional design.

 

As a participant in ensemble singing and stageplay acting, I collaborate and work well with a variety of people. I quickly establish a rapport with others as it supports a quality performance and promotes an enjoyable creative experience.

 

In my creative performances, I practice numerous skills that transfer to my instructional design work. More specifically, I take a larger performance (song, hymn, script) and break it down to understand what artistic elements must be a part of the performance (phrasing, emotion, volume, characterization, etc) to support the highest quality end product. This focus is much like the work of an instructional designer.

 

As an instructional designer, I must know my target audience, know the desired learning outcomes of my target audience, and know how to create a learning program that meets their academic needs. I must know all of the instructional/pedagogical, technological, and content elements necessary for a high quality end product. I apply the skills developed in my creative performances to my professional work.