Training Future Foster Parents

by Lassonde staff

Ryan Dickison, Clay Diffrient, Sophia Gagakuma, Cheryl LaMar and Kyle Whittle are students pursuing a master’s of education in the Instructional Design and Education Technology Program. These students are working to update training materials for potential foster parents with Utah Foster Care. They learned that many prospective caregivers were not retaining information from existing training videos, which were mostly PowerPoint presentations paired with voiceover narration.

These students, who are completing their final capstone project, chose between several nonprofits, but they felt particularly compelled by the mission of Utah Foster Care. “We felt like kids (finding) parents was a crucial need,” LaMar explained.

During the fall semester, this team has worked to turn existing modules to more interactive content. Whittle said the material has shifted to “a focus on the child, and not necessarily the laws themselves.” By using hypothetical scenarios and hands-on applications, these students are developing more informative, memorable and entertaining content.

Currently, the five students are refining the material and finishing scripts based on their already-completed prototype. By the end of the semester, they plan on having two or three modules ready to launch online.