Welcome to the mad mind of a master student studying instructional design, or as I call it -- ID.

If I had my druthers I'd do both Masters programs here at NYU. Here's why: the masters program in ECT focuses its teaching on the science of educating, the psychology of the learner. I have found the learning environment at Steinhardt to be more traditional, nurturing, and intellectually fulfilling. The MS in ID on the other hand, is a blended program largely conducted online synchronously using Centra. Its teaching is geared toward career change or career advancement. Learners are non-traditional adult students who hold full time jobs and have been in the workforce no less than five years. More than 90% are professionals already working in either an academic environment or corporate training. Students are executives from companies such as Johnson & Johnson, WashingtonPost.com, and Jet Blue. They also have educators -- high school teachers, k-12 teachers, and two already have their Ph.Ds.

The MS in ID is highly demanding, intensively collaborative -- and stressful. The curriculum immerses you more in subjects that are business-driven and technologically complex. You'll work on 4 to 8 collaborative projects, and at least two 7-page papers. Oh, and you'll have no less than two weeks to complete them because you will often not be given details in advance. Additionally, because the program is predominantly online, there are forums requiring extensive participation - which is like writing mini-papers every week. Being in this program requires discipline and team work. In other words, you better like your project mates, and be able to work with very little supervision as accesssiblity to instructors is limited to email.

While I found the learning process extremely rigorous, the experience is definitely one of a kind. The synchronous online format allowed me to attend classes while traveling. I even logged on to a class from London. Learning is also more from one another rather than from student-teacher, you learn from each other's professional expertise, and thus you experience one of the richest networking opportunities.

That said, I've returned to the School of Education because I missed learning for learning's sake. I missed the process of thinking, brainstorming, questioning. The School of Education is about the never-ending quest for knowledge, the tenacious search for answers.

Is one better over the other? Absolutely not. While both programs provide students with the goal of achieving a master's degree, the journey of each has its own distinction. It is up to the student to decide which path they want to take to achieve that goal.

I personally would like to see both programs collaborate, giving students the opportunity and flexiblity to customize their own learning experience but choosing the courses that best fit their needs and objectives. The way I see it, instructional design is a hot professional field that is like a multi-lane highway. There are times when you need to get on the fast lane. And there are times when you just want to cruise and enjoy the scenery a bit.