Learning Designer - Dayane Proaño

If you’ve ever checked out the International Master’s Program in IT and Learning on the University of Gothenburg website, you might recognize Dayane. She’s the alumna featured on the program’s cover! From sunny Ecuador, Dayane is working as a university English professor while balancing roles as a content creator and an instructional designer. In this interview, she shares her journey, insights on the program, and how she seizes every learning opportunity that comes her way.

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Q: Dayane, what led you to choose the IT and Learning program?

Before moving to Sweden, I was working in a high school as an English teacher. A project I did there with the Arduino hardware sparked my interest in programming and creating applications. I also saw how technology could support the learning process and I knew I wanted to take the next step in discovering more about learning and technology. So, I applied to master’s programs in both the UK and Sweden and received a full scholarship from the Swedish Institute for this program. I took the opportunity and that’s how I ended up in Gothenburg!

Q: How have you navigated your career path since completing the master’s program?

I always want to try out new things and look for learning opportunities.

Well, it has been a roller coaster, where I have experienced different roles. From instructional design to User experience design (UX), and now a university professor in English for medical students. I am also doing a TikTok channel to teach Spanish to English speakers. This year I took a course in hairdressing and offered to redesign their guiding instructions, in exchange for personal lessons in barbering (laughs). Personally, I think I always want to try out new things and look for learning opportunities by applying what I've learnt into practice. I consider myself as a learning designer/educator.

Q: What are the 3 hard skills that you think are essential for your daily work?

Figma, video editing and researching.

For user expericence roles, learning how to use Figma is important. Then for content creators, video editing skills are needed. I am using Inshot and Capcut for my video editing. I also do translation in the medical field, which requires me to have research skills and an understanding of medical terms.

Q: Can you share more about how you transitioned into your current roles?

So I am a person who gets impressed easily and as I said, when something new comes out, I always want to try it. At the time I graduated, instruction design was an option where I could do online courses for companies. I worked briefly with Sana Labs, a Swedish company that’s grown significantly since then. Through that experience, I realized how much the way you teach impacts how you present information. It also taught me the importance of listening to the learner’s voice rather than imposing your own. And story telling was also an important part when I was doing the job. While it wasn’t a perfect fit for me, it was valuable for figuring out what I did and didn’t like.

When I returned to Ecuador, I initially went back to teaching at the same level as before. It wasn’t what I envisioned but still, I made the most of it. My students and I worked on four prototypes using Figma—skills I had picked up during my internship. Those projects gave me a chance to reflect on whether I wanted to continue in UX or explore something else.

Then I got the opportunity to teach at the university level for medical students. I applied what I’d learned from the program by keeping clear objectives in mind and integrating technology wherever possible. My daily job would involve teaching and doing lesson planning. I tried to integrate different technologies in my teaching, for example teamwork on Mural, or letting students create video clips to present their knowledge.

Q: That definitely sounds like a roller coaster journey! Now, let’s talk about the master’s program. What was your impression of it, and how helpful has it been for your career?

The program pushed me to develop critical thinking skills.

Firstly, let's talk about Sweden. How the society is organized here was very different from my country in terms of public transportation, housing, etc.. University here is also different. In Ecuador, one professor usually teaches an entire course. But in Sweden, one course could have several professors or guest lecturers facilitating discussions and seminars. It was interesting to see how responsibilities were shared.

The program also pushed me to develop critical thinking skills. Back home, if the textbook said something, it was considered fact. But here, I learned to question everything. Why do you say that? How do you know it’s true? It changed the way I approach knowledge and information. The focus on writing assignments also helped to improve my academic writing skills, which was not my strength before.

The 'Digital tools for communication and learning' course and the internship were relevant.

I enjoy practicality so the course in 'Digital tools for communication and learning' and the internship were relevant for me. In the course, we followed the entire design process, from building user personas to creating prototypes—though we used PowerPoint back then instead of Figma! For the internship, I worked online with a client in Valencia to improve the user experience for an English-learning resource website. While it was a great experience, I think in-person internships would have been more effective for networking and collaboration.

For my thesis, I designed a reading app. While I didn’t continue with the project afterward, it gave me a lot of motivation to start something new. That said, the thesis was time-consuming and challenging.

For the second year, we can do elective course but I was dependent on the scholarship, my options for the electives were limited. One course that did not meet my expectations is ‘Literacy in the digital world’ since I was looking for something more practical. Maybe more opportunities of putting what we learnt into practice or investigating hypotheses in the field of digital literacy would make the course richer.

Q: Reflecting on your master’s program, is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Students need to take responsibility for building their CVs, but more networking opportunities and support from the program would have been helpful.

I think I would look for more opportunities to design applications or do user experiences during the program. While the program offered some practical projects, it felt too general at times and lacked a clear pathway for students who wanted to focus on specific outcomes like mobile app design.

I also think students need to take responsibility for building their CVs, but more networking opportunities and support from the program would have been helpful.

Q: Finally, is there any advice you would give to people who are interested in the program, current students and already graduated ones?

We are human, try to connect more and show more genuine interest in others' lives.

For someone who is considering the program, be clear about your goals. This program is great if you’re interested in research, but if you’re looking for more practical experience, you’ll need to seek that out yourself.

For current students, try to find internships, even if they don’t go perfectly. Every experience teaches you something. Also doing the master thesis with a client or a company can give you more concrete results with real-life applications.

And another thing I have changed since studying in Sweden is that, I used to be the person who kept work and life separate, once I finished work, then that was it. But now, I try to connect with my students more. You don't have to get too personal but we are human, try to connect more and show more genuine interest in others' lives.

Thank you Dayane for the interview. These are great insight for all of us, we really appreciate it and wish you all the best in your future!

A picture of Dayane's favorite place in Gothenburg - Fiskebäck

If you are interested in Dayane's journey, you can connect with her here:

TikTok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@upgradeyourspanish

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dayaneproano

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We hope that this interview provides you with a fresh perspective on the International Master’s Program in IT and Learning and the career paths it can lead to. If you found this helpful, subscribe to our newsletter here:

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