BACKGROUND | Jesse Regalado (IDT)

On December 14, 2017, after graduating from the Psychology Program, Georgia State University, Magna Cum Laude, I sat down and wrote my application letter for the Instructional Design & Technology (online program), M.S. program. I introduced myself and highlighted my skills and qualifications. I wrote about my hopes and dreams of helping the optical industry certify more opticians. As I began the course, I became aware of two other aspects of the program, I was not aware of:

Computer Assistive Technologies (Virtual Reality, Immersive Reality, Speech to Text and Read Out Loud Technologies)
Human Performance Improvement

These different aspects of the Instructional Design & Technology program changed my perspective. It also changed the avenue in which I wish to pursue. Since being introduced to the Human Performance Improvement part of the program, I reached out to the small town I live in with a plan to make it economically sustainable.

The small town, I live in, was once very profitable. In 1889, the Bibb Manufacturing Company bought out the cotton mill. They convinced the railroad company to expand its railroads, to Covington. This caused the town’s population to boom.

In the 1970’s, Companies in the Unites States began to offshore outsource their cotton products to Uzbekistan. They off shored out sourced to other asian countries as well. This caused the collapse of the cotton mills across the United States.

The closing of the cotton mills caused a population shift, in the city of Porterdale. The population went from 3,207 in the 1950’s to 1,429. This shift caused a negative impact on the economy of the city of Porterdale.

I studied the average wage and living conditions, for the citizens of the city of Porterdale, GA. From this study I came up with a plan to bring revenue to the city, employ its citizens, help local merchants and make it economically sustainable. I have met with the city manager and mayor to go over the qualitive and quantitative analysis, as well as other aspects of implementing the proposal.

I am also, very interested in helping disabled people by using computer assistive technologies. In 2014, I was involved in an automotive accident, that led to a broken back. I then realized activities of daily living can become challenging. I underwent rehabilitative treatment that helped me live with my new realities and limitations. This is the driving force behind me developing a computer assistive certification program for special education teachers k-12

Most post bachelor certification programs require 12 credit hours. I developed the curriculum, for one of the courses, for the 4-tiered professional standard-based certification program, I am proposing. The purpose of the certification program is to help assist persons with visual, hearing, physical and multiple disabilities in activities of daily living, cognitive and linguistic maturation, personal and social maturation as well as knowledge and cognitive building processes.

I also developed an online opticianry instructional design, using front end analysis. I used performance, instructional, goal and learner context analysis. I performed a needs and objective assessment, as well as an instructional strategy. I, also, developed formative and summative assessment and evaluation procedures for the instructional design I want to develop.

On Aug. 2020, I enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Liberty University. I obtained an Ed.S. in 2023 in Curriculum and development, specializing in virtual and augmented reality and computer assistive technologies. After obtaining an Ed.S. in curriculum and development in 2023, I reenrolled in the Ph. D. program fall of 2023. I specialized in Quantitative and Qualitative research. On March 06th, 2025, I obtained a Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Technology with a concentration in Human Performance Technology. My dissertation was on transcendental Phenomenology. The title of my dissertation was: LIVED EXPERIENCES OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT POST-COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN RURAL GEORGIA: A TRANSCENDENTAL PHENOMENOLOGY STUDY.