April 6, 2013
Roberta (Robin) Sullivan
7125 Strickler Road
Clarence Center, New York 14260
(716) 741-2196
email:
Re: Sr. Instructional Designer
SUNY Learning Network
State University of New York
SUNY Plaza, Albany, NY 12246
Dear Search Committee,
Please consider my application for the position of Sr. Instructional Designer with the SUNY Learning Network to assist faculty to develop engaging and interactive online courses. I am very interested in exploring the opportunity to become a member of the SLN collaborative team that is poised to implement the expanded vision of Open SUNY.
My experience as an Instructional Designer for the past 15 years includes support for schools and departments from a variety of disciplines resulting in the design of effective face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments to help students achieve desired learning outcomes. My responsibilities as Online Learning and Distance Education University Support through the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) at the University at Buffalo include:
· Facilitate the implementation of university online learning initiatives.
· Act as a resource for faculty and departments seeking to supplement instruction through the development of high quality online and hybrid courses.
· Provide instructional support through faculty and departmental consultations.
· Develop training materials and provide professional development workshops.
· Convene a faculty-led, campus-wide Online Learning Workgroup to share best practices and review results of research related to online learning.
· Facilitate the UB Instructional Design Group to encourage communication and collaboration among support staff.
· Encourage a culture of exploration and dialogue regarding online education.
My years of experience in faculty development include serving as Associate Director and Instruction Program Coordinator of the TLC. Serving as Interim Director I helped create and transform the TLC into a center that balances pedagogical needs with the meaningful integration of instructional technologies.. The TLC is a gateway providing direction and guidance regarding the myriad of instructional resources available. IT support at UB is shared between centralized and de-centralized units, which requires strong interpersonal skills in order to effectively navigate a rich set of service offerings.
I have a solid understanding of educational theory gained through a Master’s of Art with an interdisciplinary degree combining Education and Communication Design. A second Master of Library Science degree enabled me to further explore the changing world of education and information technologies. A Bachelor of Art in Communication Design provides a strong foundation in design and development of rich multimedia-based training and instruction. This background allows me to assist faculty in the design of engaging instruction.
I am a committed lifelong learner continually striving to advance my level of understanding regarding how and why people learn. It is towards this end that I have engaged in a variety of research projects, scholarly publications, and funded grant projects related to pedagogy and instructional technologies. In addition to teaching online in various formats I have been enrolled in a number of online classes. Being a student in an online environment enables me to authentically share insights and pull directly from personal experience from a student perspective.
My teaching experience includes offerings through the UB Graduate School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences. The course, “Introduction to Information Technology” provides knowledge and skills for information professionals to support the effective and ethical use of information technologies. This hybrid course format included online self-paced discovery-learning activities. The positive response from students was the inspiration behind the IITG-funded Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP), a cross-campus collaborative being piloted to assess the effectiveness a professional development model to strengthen digital literacy skills of faculty. The TOEP Team has already published a journal article about our preliminary findings. TOEP is well positioned to become a SUNY-based Open Educational Resource. If my position within SUNY were transformed to a central support role it would help facilitate the propagation of this model of instruction to assist faculty and students to acquire necessary 21st century digital literacy skills.
I offer extensive knowledge regarding Learning Management Systems as the result of close involvement in UB’s Blackboard implementation. I was involved in the initial campus evaluation committee that selected Blackboard as the recommended university LMS and continue to serve on the UBlearns/Blackboard Support Team and the Faculty Advisory Committee. My efforts have also been instrumental to develop in-depth online help documentation, training workshops, and faculty training and consultation models.
If provided the opportunity to work with the SUNY Learning Network, I would welcome the opportunity to work even more closely with faculty who are dedicated to enhance teaching and learning to help SUNY achieve its vision relating to Open SUNY. I can be reached for an interview at your convenience to provide greater detail about my skills and experience. My online portfolio http://buffalo.edu/~rrs provides additional details regarding my background, and I would welcome the opportunity to further discuss with you at your earliest opportunity. Thank you, in advance, for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Roberta (Robin) Sullivan