Nicholas Bade
Hello!
Welcome to my portfolio site. My name is Nicholas Bade. I am a teacher, instructional designer, curriculum developer, and web content creator.
If you are looking for examples of my work that demonstrate conceptualizing, designing, and creating e-learning and web based training, it is found on my instructional design page.
If you are here to check out how I have taken traditional trainings and curriculum, modernized and updated it to fit industry standards and the ever-changing technology-dependent world that surrounds us, you can find those on my curriculum development page.
Maybe you are here to find some of my web content creations including videos of yours truly teaching and training.
OR maybe you just want to learn a little more about me! Hi! I’m Nick, and writing this section of this site has me flashing back to writing online dating profiles before I met my wife. “I’m Nick, I love dogs and traveling. My passions are learning, creating, and Chris Farley movies…” It always felt like walking a tight rope of highlighting what you are proud of, trying not to come off as conceited, and mixing in as much of your personality as possible. I am very proud of many things I have done in my life. I have a wonderful wife, a house with a yard I get to mow, and a second fridge in the laundry room filled with delicious drinks. Fifteen year old Nick would think that current day Nick is super lame for being excited about a bonus drink fridge, but here we are, happy with cold drinks.
I have always veered toward the creative and technology-driven side of things. In fact my Undergrad and Masters degrees from the University of North Texas are in Radio, Television, and Film, and Learning Technologies respectively. I worked for about 10 years at the #1 rated pop radio station in DFW, while moonlighting as a sports broadcaster for high school sports. I loved the performance aspect of those jobs, as well as the technical know-how needed to produce, edit, and craft audio segments.
I was also afforded the opportunity to work for a printing company, which opened my eyes to the world of graphic design, e-commerce web design, and web content creation. Though we may not be as hip with the kids as some YouTube stars, the video channel of my old company has over a million views on YouTube. YouTube.com/SignGraFX. I was responsible for every single one of those videos including the writing, editing, and even starring in some.
In all of my jobs, no matter the field, the same thing kept happening. After the third or fourth time, I started to take notice. I was always asked to train new people. I’m sure it had something to do with my knowledge of the job, and my “performance” personality. I always liked to know as much as possible about a given topic, which I’m sure helped the first part of that statement. I’ve also been told I’m very easy to talk to, and do a good job of explaining concepts to people so they understand what they are doing. I very much enjoyed both of these things. If only there was a job that would allow me to do this for a living.
So I became a teacher. More specifically I became a Technology Teacher. I had now found a career that allowed me to use all of my best personality traits: performance for the class, using technologies to enhance learning, and creating engaging content. It was that engaging content that got recognition from higher-ups in the district, and thus I was asked to take on the additional task of becoming a curriculum writer and content creator for the district.
This is where I truly found my calling- designing engaging content for learners, and implementing that content with my fellow teachers and students.
Seeing my students succeed, and even more so, seeing my fellow teachers succeed with their students using my design and content is my proudest professional accomplishment. It is truly the drink fridge of my professional career.
It's this every evolving process to keep getting better and find all the things that make me happy that brought my wife and I to the Pacific Northwest where I started working in the beer industry (so fun!) and found that I really really enjoyed making specific trainings that really fit the feel and attitude of a company. It's been a journey, but I've loved all it! -NB
