Week 1 Welcome & Introductions

Hi there! My name is Angela Paschal and I'm from Pella, Iowa. I work for Vermeer, a family-owned agricultural and industrial manufacturing company right in the heart of Iowa. If you've ever seen a round hay bale shaped like a marshmallow out in a field, our founder, Gary Vermeer, invented the machine that makes those back in 1971! I've worked at Vermeer for the last 10 years and currently serve as a Senior Talent Development Specialist. My days are generally spent delivering training on a variety of professional skills topics, designing new instructor-led or online curriculum, providing 1:1 strengths-based career coaching or preparing for and coordinating our annual compliance training.   

I joined the AI Assistant Certification Cohort because we recently added AI Assistant to our Articulate license and I want to learn how to use the tool to its full capability so we can develop training faster. 

Though I don't have a picture on hand, we do have a 4-year-old goldendoodle (Skye), and 1 year old cat (Mizzou) who recently joined our family. They are becoming fast friends!  

Hi y'all! My name is Shannon O'Keefe, located in Charlotte, NC. I'm a senior manager at Spectrum for the Call Center Learning Solutions team. There are several instructional designers in our department taking this certification as well. My team leads many AI initiatives, and I want to ensure that we are aware of all the newest AI features in Articulate.  I've been using Articulate since it was Articulate Presenter, just the PowerPoint plug-in, so I want to keep on top of its evolution. I have a dog named Bailey who is a mix of a dachshund and a cocker spaniel (no matter what the doggie DNA says). 😁

 

 

T-pain, one of my three cats: a brown tabby with green eyes and water droplets on the fur of his nose.

 

Hi Everyone!

My name is Kayla. I'm an instructional designer for The Home Depot. I joined this cohort because I recently received my certificate in AI Literacy, Governance, and Ethics, and am striving to remain on top of the current trends in AI so that I can best implement them. The goal for me is always the same: creating the best learner-centered content. 

I've been really enjoying some of the AI features within Articulate recently, and am hoping to learn more and do bigger and better things using it as I've barely scratched the surface!

 

 

Hello everyone. My name is Billi (girl) 😄- as you can imagine I get a lot of Bill's 😄 Of course I laugh it off and wanted to leave no mystery for you...or maybe I should have. I'm in North Carolina. My journey has been learning and applying learning experience for over 15 years. Currently I have been working with Piedmont Natural Gas for 6 years. My kitties are Jack and Tiger. 🐈

We have enabled AI for a few months now and while I have been exploring, my hope is this cohort will provide more guidance to get the most out of the tool. I will be sharing this to our Community of Practice Internal Conference. I'm excited!😃

Hi there ~ my name is Ruth Love, and I'm based in Houston, Texas. I work for The Nature Conservancy as a Learning Technology Specialist, where I design eLearning courses and digital learning experiences that help staff build skills and share knowledge effectively.

I joined this cohort to strengthen my ability to use AI to create high-quality, engaging learning materials and enhance the learning experiences I develop.

While I don't have a pet, I am an avid birdwatcher. On a recent bike ride through the city, I was thrilled to spot this beautiful Yellow-crowned Night Heron, which I've included as my photo.

I'm excited to learn from all of you, share ideas, and explore new ways AI can support learning and development. Looking forward to the journey together!

Hi everyone! 👋

My name is Leslie Clifton, and I'm based in Colorado. I work as a Senior Learning Experience Designer in the insurance and financial services industry. While my title sounds fancy, my day-to-day work is really about helping people learn and perform better on the job. I design learning experiences, build eLearning courses, create job aids and facilitator materials, partner with subject matter experts, and help translate complex business processes into practical, learner-friendly training solutions.

I joined this AI Assistant Certification Cohort because AI is rapidly changing how we work, create, and solve problems. I'm excited to learn more about how AI assistants can enhance productivity, support learning and development, improve content creation, and help teams work more efficiently. I'm hoping to come away with practical skills, new ideas, and a network of people who are exploring many of the same opportunities and challenges.

Bonus: I'm a pet lover, here's a picture of my cutie Bentley.

 

Hi everyone! My name is Renée and I'm currently based in Winchester, Virginia, which is located at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. I'm an instructional designer with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and I love what I do. Most of my work is centered around designing and developing courses and programs intended to help my coworkers grow and become even better at their work. 

I was interested in this cohort because we've had access to the AI Assistant for some time now and it's been pretty useful so far. I'd also like to learn new ways to leverage this tool to increase my efficiency and empower my design strategy.

My favorite supervisors are pictured below: Frosty, Porthos, and Patches. They keep me on my toes every day and are always keeping tabs on me. Some people might think they're micromanagers, but I don't mind.

Hi - I am looking forward to learning new things. I am watching my nephew's dog right now, and she is a handful.

 

Hi everyone! 👋 I’m Stacey, and I’m based in Portland, where I work in Training and Adoption for one of Oregon’s larger health systems. My very small team creates a variety of training resources to help support our users and the different applications they use every day.

I’m excited to spend more time exploring Articulate and learning about everything it can do. I joined this cohort to learn more about the AI Assistant features and how they can help enhance course creation and make it more engaging. Looking forward to learning more!

Kuma, Otto, and Mimi

Hello! My name is Samantha Vodanovich and I live in sunny San Diego, California! I am a Revenue Enablement Manager at Ivanti, primarily focused on leading our onboarding program & communications to the field.

I joined this cohort because I leverage Articulate greatly in our onboarding program & as an active user, I am always looking for ways to learn & become more efficient within the tool! Especially with the Rise course capabilities: course creation (prompting for those), AI images, AI blocks, etc. 

No dogs of my own, but my mom has two Pomskies & they are some sassy girls! 🐶