Activities
Educational Gaming Commons
This is where I concentrate most of my efforts.The goals of the EGC are:
variety of education technology and pedagogical issues. We also usually have one or more grassroots initiatives started to assist the university in improving teaching and learning. For example, in spring of 2008 we began the development of an education technology and pedagogical needs assessment. The purpose of the needs assessment is to better understand what faculty want, what they struggle with, and how we can improve our services by meeting these needs.
Coordination of Electronic Learning Support Specialists
We're currently in round two of this initiative. In round one, five eLSS were hired to assist faculty with sound educational uses of ANGEL, Penn State's Course Management System. ANGEL was brand new to Penn State at the time, and due to its power and complexity, we felt just-in-time assistance was needed.
The eLSS were a huge success. One of them used to joke with me he couldn't walk across campus without disguising himself or he would never get to a meeting on time - faculty were always stopping to chat about an ANGEL tool, a way to use the tools to increase learning and motivations, etc.
Round one lasted for a three-year period, after which all eLSS were moved into similar positions, usually with more responsibilities. Baed on this success, we implemented round two, placing three eLSS at campuses with no instructional design support. While the round two eLSS continued to work with faculty on uses of ANGEL, their role has expandd to include all education technologies, including Adobe Connect, Personal Response Systems, blogs and wikis, and so on.
We're now (Fall 2008) conceptualizing round three of this initiative. Our plans are to place an eLSS at every campus location over the next three years. This is a massive undertaking that will require new management and coordination techniques.
My current main role in this initiative is to serve as the community mentor. We hold monthly meetings via Adobe Connect to discuss common issues, share ideas, swap war stories, and advance ourselves professionally. I ensure that all eLSS are pursuing their immediate job goals and foster their professional development. It's a great job to have!
ETS
As the manager of Instructional Design at ETS, I work with our designers here to ensure that communication flow between them is open. We meet every other week to discuss our individual projects and look for synergy. It's interesting to note that only one designer reports directly to me. We all work in a matrix of sorts, coming together for professional development and support.
I also have "other duties as assigned." While many cringe at this catch-all job duty, I actually enjoy the challenge and opportunities each new week brings. What are my "Other" duties? While they are far too numerous and varied to list here, they usually revolve around assisting others in making decisions.
New Media Consortium
As co-director of Penn State's NMC presence, I participate in various activities tied to education technology on higher education.
PSU Online ID/IT Subcommittee
This subcommittee is responsible for developing guidelines for evaluating and implementing online courses at Penn State. Our first effort, the Penn State Quality Assurance e-learning Design Standards, was received and approved by the Penn State Online Coordinating Council. The standards are to be used by each academic unit to review its online courses that are to be delivered through Penn State Online. I also sit on various committees at Penn State to represent ETS and instructional design.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Team
I am the co-chair of a team at PSU that is looking at the PSU-specific "Nessie" data. Our goal is to leverage the data from NSSE to discover opportunities to assist colleges and campuses to foster positive student engagement at Penn State through the use of information technologies.
This is where I concentrate most of my efforts.The goals of the EGC are:
- Stimulate research, application and education utilizing games, and virtual environments
- Develop educational games
- Create an Affiliate Program
- Implement the Educational Gaming Commons Lab
- Development of educational games.
- Engaging in basic and applied research and evaluation of educational game tools and techniques.
- Establishing liaisons with researchers outside Penn State.
- Securing internal and external funds to provide support for specific projects.
Learn more at the EGC Web Site!
Learning Design at Penn State
I have a variety of efforts underway here:
- Learning Design Community Hub
- All ID Community Meetings
- Coordination of Electronic Learning Support Specialists
The Learning Design Community Hub is a focal point for 
instructional designers and educational technologists to share information and ideas. It is also a clearinghouse for a variety of information on the uses of education technologies, useful for IDs, Ed Techs, instructors, and faculty. This community is open to the world, and we hope to leverage the amazing talent and intellects of the community to improve teaching and learning.
variety of education technology and pedagogical issues. We also usually have one or more grassroots initiatives started to assist the university in improving teaching and learning. For example, in spring of 2008 we began the development of an education technology and pedagogical needs assessment. The purpose of the needs assessment is to better understand what faculty want, what they struggle with, and how we can improve our services by meeting these needs.
Coordination of Electronic Learning Support Specialists
We're currently in round two of this initiative. In round one, five eLSS were hired to assist faculty with sound educational uses of ANGEL, Penn State's Course Management System. ANGEL was brand new to Penn State at the time, and due to its power and complexity, we felt just-in-time assistance was needed.
The eLSS were a huge success. One of them used to joke with me he couldn't walk across campus without disguising himself or he would never get to a meeting on time - faculty were always stopping to chat about an ANGEL tool, a way to use the tools to increase learning and motivations, etc.
Round one lasted for a three-year period, after which all eLSS were moved into similar positions, usually with more responsibilities. Baed on this success, we implemented round two, placing three eLSS at campuses with no instructional design support. While the round two eLSS continued to work with faculty on uses of ANGEL, their role has expandd to include all education technologies, including Adobe Connect, Personal Response Systems, blogs and wikis, and so on.
We're now (Fall 2008) conceptualizing round three of this initiative. Our plans are to place an eLSS at every campus location over the next three years. This is a massive undertaking that will require new management and coordination techniques.
My current main role in this initiative is to serve as the community mentor. We hold monthly meetings via Adobe Connect to discuss common issues, share ideas, swap war stories, and advance ourselves professionally. I ensure that all eLSS are pursuing their immediate job goals and foster their professional development. It's a great job to have!
ETS
As the manager of Instructional Design at ETS, I work with our designers here to ensure that communication flow between them is open. We meet every other week to discuss our individual projects and look for synergy. It's interesting to note that only one designer reports directly to me. We all work in a matrix of sorts, coming together for professional development and support.
I also have "other duties as assigned." While many cringe at this catch-all job duty, I actually enjoy the challenge and opportunities each new week brings. What are my "Other" duties? While they are far too numerous and varied to list here, they usually revolve around assisting others in making decisions.
New Media Consortium
As co-director of Penn State's NMC presence, I participate in various activities tied to education technology on higher education.
PSU Online ID/IT Subcommittee
This subcommittee is responsible for developing guidelines for evaluating and implementing online courses at Penn State. Our first effort, the Penn State Quality Assurance e-learning Design Standards, was received and approved by the Penn State Online Coordinating Council. The standards are to be used by each academic unit to review its online courses that are to be delivered through Penn State Online. I also sit on various committees at Penn State to represent ETS and instructional design.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Team
I am the co-chair of a team at PSU that is looking at the PSU-specific "Nessie" data. Our goal is to leverage the data from NSSE to discover opportunities to assist colleges and campuses to foster positive student engagement at Penn State through the use of information technologies.
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