After 16 years as a 杏吧专区 chemistry instructor, Andrea Leonard has joined the Office of Distance Learning as an Instructional Designer, building, she says, on the knowledge and experience she杏吧专区檚 gained during nearly a decade of online instruction.
杏吧专区淚 was at the first meeting when the Office of Distance learning asked, 杏吧专区榃ho wants to teach online?杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 She says. 杏吧专区淪ince that time, I杏吧专区檝e become well versed in the theory and practice of course design for online and hybrid students, and I wanted to spend more time doing it.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e learned a lot of new and exciting techniques, and hopefully I can bring that knowledge to others.杏吧专区
Leonard has designed several online and hybrid chemistry courses since the 杏吧专区 began expanding its offerings.
As the Office of Distance Learning 2017-2018, Leonard conducted a major course redesign in order to explore adaptive learning practices and technology. The result was an adaptive General Chemistry I course built on the Realizeit platform. The course has since been recognized by Realizeit as best-in-class and is currently being marketed to other universities.
杏吧专区淎daptive technology fosters personalized learning,杏吧专区 Leonard says. 杏吧专区淣ot everyone will receive the same experience, but everyone will achieve the same learning objectives. It helps learners focus where they need the most help and it won杏吧专区檛 overwhelm learners with constant new information if they haven杏吧专区檛 yet mastered previous skills.杏吧专区
In her new role, Leonard says she wants to help faculty members get the most out of the courses they杏吧专区檙e creating while expanding the use of adaptive learning methods.
杏吧专区淲hen you杏吧专区檙e hired to instruct a class at the 杏吧专区 level, you杏吧专区檙e hired as a subject matter expert 杏吧专区 you杏吧专区檙e hired because of your knowledge of your field of study,杏吧专区 Leonard says. 杏吧专区淵ou杏吧专区檙e not hired because of your knowledge of course design. The job of the instructional designer is to help subject matter experts create quality educational experiences for their students using techniques and technologies that might not be familiar to them.杏吧专区
She says she also wants to help faculty find solutions as they approach online and hybrid teaching for the first time, whether they want to ensure academy honesty, effectively present complex information, or foster interaction between students outside of the traditional classroom setting.
杏吧专区淎ctivity on the instructor杏吧专区檚 part in email and on discussion forums can really overcome the hurdle of not being in the same room,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淲e have technology where we can speak with each other, where we can share screens with each other, we can look at a piece of notebook paper and write down things and share this with each other 杏吧专区 and this can happen across the country.
杏吧专区淭he technology exists for these uses and more, but most instructors aren杏吧专区檛 aware of it because they杏吧专区檝e never had to use it, or it wasn杏吧专区檛 used during their undergraduate experience. I want to make sure that everyone that wants to use such technology in their classes will have the understanding and help to use it.杏吧专区
to work with an instructional designer on creating engaging assignments, integrating EduTools, aligning learning objectives and outcomes, improving course navigation and layout, humanizing, and more. We're available throughout the year.