Tech

From Learning Designer to Associate Provost of Digital Learning

Whenever someone from the learning design community takes on a leadership role in an organization, I take note. In this case, the story becomes familiar. My friend and colleague (and new boss) Erin DeSilva has been named the first vice president for digital and online learning at Dartmouth College. While Erin instinctively wants to draw attention away from herself and instead emphasize her own work and team, I believe that the broader learning design community will support her new role and career. I convinced her that she would benefit from learning about the path.

Q: Your new role combines leadership in digital and online learning. Why was it important to you that the residential class initiative be integrated with Dartmouth's online learning portfolio?

A: Because we are a community at Dartmouth that deeply values interpersonal relationships and immersive learning experiences, it is important that we work to support online and residential learning at Dartmouth as one core team. I think there is. By working across programs, departments, and student groups, our team is able to bring shared lessons and values into every conversation and project.

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As educational technologists, media professionals, and learning designers, our work always spans boundaries, and we understand what it takes to bring the world together. The team's portfolio focuses on faculty development, program development, course design, and instructional technology support, enabling faculty to teach in innovative and effective ways, no matter where their students are located.

Through a deep understanding of faculty relationships, effective teaching practices, technical knowledge, and problem-solving approaches, this team enhances student engagement, personalizes the learning experience, and fosters a deeper understanding of the material. You can experiment and implement educational practices. Controlling the technology used in this education can improve teacher performance no matter where the classroom is.

Our team is also well-trained in a set of principles and practices that are core to all Dartmouth College educational offerings, including creating an accessible and inclusive pedagogy. Our mission is to enhance Dartmouth College's educational excellence through the pedagogical and technical expertise needed by all faculty.

Finally, these worlds need each other. Online learning communities have much to learn from the intimacy and community that residential learning fosters, and residential learning communities have much to learn about the flexibility and inclusiveness available in online environments. Our team is committed to making these learning communities mutually beneficial here at Dartmouth.

Q: Working as a learning designer may be one of the most rewarding jobs in all areas of higher education, but the role comes with many challenges. These include long-term career paths that take on broader organizational responsibility and influence. Can you share your own career journey?

A: Yesterday I was talking with an undergraduate student who plans to work in higher education teaching and learning, and I could tell she was going to make a huge impact. I didn't have that much confidence at her age, and I didn't see a clear path forward for her at all.

I experienced teaching in an informal setting and then taught high school for a year, which remains the most difficult job I have ever held. She then worked in education at the Boston Museum of Science, where she developed the approach she still uses today: inspiring learners and engaging colleagues with enthusiasm.

Non-formal education and higher education have many things in common. There are cycles of deep learning experiences that allow you to apply what you learn from one experience to the next, regardless of content area. Providing teacher professional development has been a special passion of mine. When returning to Massachusetts from the Ohio Educational Technology Agency, the director of academic technology told K-12 teachers and higher education faculty that she needed similar professional development. Gave me a chance.

I entered higher education in 2008, when there was a trend to change the name of educational technologist to the title instructional designer. However, the job description remained largely unchanged. So between workshops, I was changing clicker batteries and running SQL queries on Blackboard databases, learning how online learning works at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is another great school with a long history of distance learning, and I had a lot to learn. Project-based learning.

It was such a gift to be able to start working in higher education in that environment and with that particular team. I've found that I particularly love the design part of this job because, as you say, it's the most rewarding part of higher education. And I met you! At the time, I went back to graduate school for further formal studies, which was a challenge with my girlfriend's one-year-old twins, but I was very lucky to have a great support system.

When it comes to the broader organizational responsibility part, I have another friend to thank. We had opened a Course Design Institute here at Dartmouth a while back, and while he was working hard and devoting his valuable time to providing a good learning experience for his students, he asked: “This is what Dartmouth expects of us, right?” Do leaders believe this? Of course, I assured him that his efforts were worth it, but at that moment I thought I needed to confirm that what I was saying was true. I wanted to make sure that Dartmouth leaders understood what it took to build a quality curriculum, so I had to sit down at several tables.

So when I've been asked to take on leadership roles, I've said yes. While that means fewer opportunities to work directly with faculty and students, being able to support talented, talented and dedicated team members in return is well worth it.

Q: What advice would you give to colleagues in the learning design community who aspire to leadership roles in universities? What skills, networks, and experience do they need to develop?

A: Never stop learning. If your comfort zone is technical, reach out to the world of pedagogy and ask questions. If you have a lot of experience as a teacher, find ways to develop your technical talent. You never know what the gateway will be in a particular relationship. Being able to pivot and leverage diverse skill sets as needed is extremely helpful.

Meet everyone on campus and ask them what they do, what their challenges are, and specifically how they are tackling them. Build connections with others. Often our superpower is knowing that we are not problem solvers.

Designers are natural translators, and this is an important skill in higher education. When it comes to networking, my advice is to not stick to just one network. We've found what we need at different times in different communities, including Educause, OLI, POD, and UPCEA. And for those of us living in the Northeastern United States, NERCOMP has something for everyone. I strongly recommend it.

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blogs/learning-innovation/2024/04/23/learning-designer-associate-provost-digital-learning

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