Carrie Susong Gurkin

My Story

Carrie Gurkin wears sunglasses and smiles in front of Volcan Masaya

Volcan Masaya, Nicaragua, 2015

conference participants sit circled around desks talking

Regional IB Workshop, Atlanta, GA 2016

Hi, I'm Carrie.

I have over 20 years of experience designing and developing instruction for learners of all ages. My natural passion for exploration has taken me on geographic travels across the Americas and intellectual journeys through curriculum design.

My Career Journey

I have a strong background in educational curriculum development specializing in Understanding by Design that includes serving as a professional development leader for the International Baccalaureate Organization. In 2021, I pursued instructional design certifications and gained experience through volunteer work with Teaching: A Path to L&D, developing self-paced eLearning modules for teachers entering Learning and Development careers. I successfully navigated a career shift while teaching virtual and hybrid classes, implementing inclusive and accessible curriculum units, and pioneering a visual arts program.

My Instructional Design Career

For the past two years I have worked as an Instructional Designer for an eLearning center providing professional development for educators and educational leaders. I draw on decades of experience as a curriculum developer, course writer, and educator of learners with various needs. I have worked with SMEs to develop 22 new or revised courses, including 8 course series. I defined course objectives, organized and refined content, and developed responsive courses with an HTML5-based authoring tool. As a full-service content developer, I recorded, edited, and produced audio and video assets and designed visually appealing, fully accessible job aids. My strengths include my commitment to accessibility for the benefit of all learners and the innovative use of AI tools to assist with scenario storyboarding, image enhancement, and icon creation.

After two years as an instructional designer with Stride Professional Development, an entity of Stride, Inc., I now freelance as an instructional designer and content editor. I bring expertise in eLearning course creation and tools including dominKnow ONE Flow, Articulate 360, Premiere Pro, and Adobe Creative Cloud. My work emphasizes differentiation, accessibility, and meeting diverse learner needs across various educational platforms.

Check out samples of my work, including my Featured Project.

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