Resume

William Jeffrey Swain
209 Wiltshire Drive
Bellefonte, PA 16823
814-880-4114
swain@psu.edu   


Objective

I am seeking a managerial position at a university that recognizes the important role web-based technology plays in today's learning environment. The social and mobile affordances gained through this medium enable us to reach students in dynamic and powerful ways. Partnering a strong course management system as an anchor application along with an adaptable content management process is a critical success factor and an exciting opportunity in which I want to be a part.

Qualifications


Innovation Consultant    Penn State University    January 2006 - Present

I foster the adoption of new educational technologies by partnering with faculty and staff to identify the pedagogical advantages of specific technologies and to incorporate them into their teaching repertoire. Specific initiatives that I work on include the following.

ANGEL, Penn State's Course Management System

  • Moderate an online community featuring in-depth conversation about ANGEL
  • Create video tutorials explaining some of the more complex tools of ANGEL.
  • Create podcasts and vodcasts that discuss upcoming releases and new features
  • Conduct customized training sessions and consultations with colleges, campuses, and departments.
  • Manage the documentation team, an all-volunteer support staff located across several campuses.

The Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Symposium
  • Responsible for planning the event including the selection of a keynote speaker, presentation proposals, and other activities.
  • Manage the budget including approving purchases and negotiating contracts with vendors.
  • Coordinate logistics including selecting a location, assigning duties, managing processes and specifying technical needs.
  • Oversee marketing including the web presence and advertising materials.

The Technology Learning Assistants (TLA) Program
  • Manage a team of undergraduate and graduate students whose role is to assist faculty with learning new educational technologies.
  • Create educational materials for both the TLAs and faculty to use.  
  • Provide learning sessions to the TLAs on new educational technologies such as blogs, podcasts, and wikis
  • Recruit students and faculty to the program via advertising and presentations.

Special Projects
  • Represented the department at university-wide informational events presenting information on various Education Technology Services initiatives.
  • Served as a consultant for other universities interested in adopting ANGEL.
  • Served as a member of the faculty advisory survey team. The goal was to measure faculty adoption and comfort with new technologies.
  • Charter member of the ANGEL Northeast Regional User's Group. The group's charge is assist in building a regional support community around universities using ANGEL.
 
Related Work Experience

New Products Specialist    Penn State University    August 2003  - December 2005

I supported faculty, staff, and student adoption and use of ANGEL on a university-wide level. My duties included:
  • Developing and delivering training events
  • Writing end-user documentation.
  • Overseeing special projects and pilot programs.
  • Providing professional consultations.

Training Program Coordinator    Coventry Health Care    September 1999  - August  2003

I oversaw the development delivery, and evaluation of training programs for claim and customer service representatives in the managed care industry. My duties included:
  • Partnering with the Business Managers in four service centers to determine metrics.
  • Conducting a needs analysis to determine development opportunities for staff.
  • Evaluating the success of various training initiatives.
  • Delivering train-the-trainer learning sessions.

Instructional Designer    United Health Group    May 1995  - September 1999

I was responsible for the development and delivery of both hard and soft skills training programs for claim and customer service representatives in the managed care industry. My duties included:
  • Facilitating the organizational transition to self-directed work teams.
  • Supporting the shift from paper-based manuals to an online repository.
  • Developing and delivering training events.

Professional Development Opportunities

  • Attended the New Media Consortium Conference, Princeton, NJ, May 2008.
  • Attended the ANGEL User's Conference, Cincinnati, OH, May 2008.
  • Represented Penn State at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation Learning Technologies meeting, Purdue, IN, March 2008.
  • Attended the Purdue Teaching with Technology Symposium, Purdue, IN, March 2008.
  • Presented at the ANGEL User's Conference, Indianapolis, IN, May 2007
  • Attended the Sakai LMS Conference, Vancouver, BC, June 2007
  • Presented at the ANGEL User's Conference, Louisville, KY, May, 2006

Related Educational Experience

Ph.D. Candidate    Penn State University    August 2003 - Present

I recently completed my coursework toward my Ph.D. in Learning and Performance Systems in the College of Education at Penn State. I am currently working on my dissertation with a planned completion date of May 2009. My coursework included the following areas of study:

Consulting    Instructional Design Theory    Project Management
Diffusion of Innovations    Learning Theory    Research Methodology

Awards and Scholarships:
2005-2006    Drs. William and Patricia Horton Scholarship for Academic Achievement
2004-2005     Drs. William and Patricia Horton Scholarship for Academic Achievement

A list of scholarly publications and presentations is available upon request.


Bachelor of Arts    Excelsior College    1999

I majored in liberal arts with a concentration on sociology including the following areas:

Gender Roles    Group Dynamics    Socialization Processes


Related Skill Sets

I am very comfortable collaborating with others and developing new materials using web-based applications and social networking platforms including:

Adobe Connect    Flickr    iTunes U    Moveable Type
Drupal    Google Docs    Jing    Twitter

 

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