Teaching with Technology

An integral part of my teaching philosophy is that I strive to provide students with tools to succeed in writing by making efficient use of technology to improve their writing process and products. Below are some of the ways that I integrate technology into my online writing classroom.

I believe that consistency, and use of color and graphic design principles ease student learning/retention; also, as a teacher of tech comm and visual rhetoric, I practice what I teach. To that end, all of my course materials adhere to a common-look-and-feel/theme:

I provide an Excel template for students to provide each other with feedback on their drafts. This is based off the feedback forms that I used in my technical writing/editing career to provide feedback to contract-writers:

After group work, in alignment with industry best practices for employee annual reviews and assessment, my students fill out “360” feedback forms (anonymously) for their teammates. This 360 feedback which they then receive from their teammates, is then incorporated into their end-of-semester reflection. This enables students to learn the art of giving and receiving–and mindfully implementing–feedback from not only their instructor on their writing, but also from their peers on their leadership and interpersonal skills:

Using techniques from my previous career as an assistant product manager, team leader, and editor, I create and share Excel worksheets to aid students step-by-step in scheduling out their research process tasks:

I maximize LMS (which in my current job happens to be Canvas) functionality to lead students through sequential modules of learning. Because I have previous work experience in designing, managing and training users on content management and publishing systems, I efficiently and effectively harness the latest technological innovations–and help students do the same:

Because I teach students to prioritize their own goals at the beginning of the semester and track progress toward their personal/professional goals through project management techniques, I developed an “ENG 3050 Goals Journal,” which students fill out electronically or preferably hard copy (because it is important to put pen to paper when goal-setting), scan, and submit incrementally. This aids in their reflection and tracking of progress at the end of and throughout the semester.

Finally, I create multimedia and video tutorials to guide students through managing complex tasks/projects: