Instructional Designer and EdD Mentor

The Okanagan School of Education (OSE), located in Kelowna, British Columbia, is part of the University of British Columbia's (UBC) Faculty of Education. UBC is one of the world's leading universities, with distinct campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna. UBC's Okanagan campus, located in the city of Kelowna on the unceded territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) Peoples, has strong undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, and graduate programs, with more than 10,000 students in seven faculties.

The position will support instructional design and online learning resource development, as well as writing and scholarly communication with doctoral students. EdD courses will be primarily delivered through an online format, with the summer intensive taking place in the July.

As an Instructional Designer and Mentor, you play a pivotal role in coordinating resources and providing pedagogical support to promote cultural safety, anti-racism, and relationship-based care. You will also provide support in designing, developing, and delivering educational materials to enhance learning experiences and streamline educational processes. In this role, you are tasked with researching, monitoring, and evaluating educational developments to improve program outcomes, accessibility, interactivity, and inclusivity.

Collaborating with the EdD team, you will participate in strategic planning to enhance existing learning materials and resources. You will also develop and deliver writing circles, presentations, and workshops to orient students towards fostering positive relationships and meeting the program milestones.

Organizational Status
Works closely with the EdD Faculty Team, the various instructors and supervisors in the program, staff, and EdD students. For reasons of operational functions in the department, the position reports to the Director of Graduate Programs and the Program Manager.

Work Performed

• Coordinate resources and provide pedagogical support towards cultural safety, anti-racism, and relationship based care with an emphasis on examining racism, power, privilege, and unconscious bias. Makes decisions impacting program and curriculum design.
• Provide consultative support in the design, development, and delivery aimed at enhancing learning experiences and streamlining educational processes.
• Research, monitor and evaluate EdD developments to enhance program outcomes and educational objectives, accessibility, interactivity and inclusivity. Identify, anticipate and conceptualize long-term and immediate program requirements and manage resulting instructional design opportunities and priorities.
• Develop and deliver writing circles, presentations, workshops and training materials to students, faculty and staff for the purpose of orienting participants towards being in good relation.
• Participates in the strategic planning for improvement of existing learning materials, learning activities, e-Learning systems, processes and resources as well as the expansion, overall direction and development of the learning management system and related systems. Work as part of the EdD learning design and support team providing continuous improvement support, subject matter expertise, and technical expertise.
• In collaboration with the EdD team, design, test, and implement online learning modules and resource materials on various high-demand topics related to writing instruction and learning support for distance learners.
• Apply instructional design and adult education principles to the design and evaluation of educational resources and technology solutions.
• Utilize project management expertise to develop and track projects timelines through to completion.
• Develop and deliver co-curricular and writing circles using strong public speaking, learning design and facilitation skills.
• Build scholars individual capacities and confidence to overcome writing barriers and strategize on how to support them through strong coaching and mentoring skills.
• Build collective capacities for cultural intelligence, cross-cultural communication skills and diversity to establish respectful and mutually productive relationships.
• Center and amplify the voices, lived experiences and perspectives of historically marginalized groups.
• Focuses on collective solidarity and co-creation of justice-centered, equitable and inclusive communities.
• Guide students to develop an appreciation of the personal, professional, and external factors that influence the process to support them in role of researcher and scholar practitioner.
• Develop positive authentic relationships with students, staff and faculty.
• Work in collaboration with multiple stakeholders to set and support milestones, timelines, scope, processes, manage communication among students, identify obstacles, track timelines, evaluate outcomes and prepare and disseminate reports.
• Monitor and mitigate risks associated with milestones and learning activities and ensure Scholars receive appropriate training. Document and report on risks as necessary.
• Establish learning objectives and assess learning outcomes through the delivered writing programs.
• Facilitate assessment and evaluation tools for internship placement partners/stakeholders and provides ongoing communication with all stakeholders regarding the logistical and learning program elements.
• Conduct needs assessment, literature reviews and environmental scans as required in order to understand needs of EdD distance learners and scholar practitioner.
• Conduct educational needs assessments to design and implement feedback practices to assess students' uptake and response to all resources developed, and evaluate and maintain learning materials.
• Conduct assessments, prepare reports and analyses based on learning data, make recommendations for change. Develop methods to determine the value/effectiveness of technology solutions.
• Participate in on-going knowledge sharing and professional development with other stakeholders across campus.
• Other duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The performance of the Instructional Designer and EdD Mentor has significant impact on the success of the EdD program. Poor performance would result in EdD students being less likely to connect with the School, complete their research projects, and graduate. The incumbent keeps the EdD Faculty Team and Director of Graduate Programs informed through ongoing communication. Errors in judgement or failure to work cooperatively will impact program development, reputation, and quality. Lack of tact, diplomacy, or sensitivity when dealing with program partners could potentially result in missed opportunities, damaged relationships, and loss of credibility for OSE. Inadequate lack of consultation and planning could adversely affect the viability of the program.

Errors, incorrect work or decision, or poor judgement could result in lost opportunities, damage to the reputation of the recruitment/retention activities, or other serious disruptions to engagement.

Supervision Received
Works independently against set objectives. Reports to the Director of GPC and works closely with, and under the general direction of, the EdD Faculty Team. This position is granted broad latitude and autonomy in fulfilling the duties of the position as outlined above and is responsible for recommending and implementing policy in areas of responsibility outlined.

Supervision Given
n/a

Minimum Qualifications
Master's degree in Education. Minimum of six years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own

Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Education or related discipline or EdD.
• Experience in the design, development and delivery of mixed-mode education courses and programs or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Extensive experience working within enterprise-level and open-source learning management systems such as Canvas, familiarity with learning object repositories, curriculum management technologies and learning technology system architecture is an asset.
• Ideally the candidate will have experience in the areas of project management, analytical and organizational skills; adult education, facilitation and presentation skills; excellent oral and written communication.
• Extensive experience in needs assessment/requirements analysis, technical solutions analysis and design, and liaising with internal and external stakeholders.
• Sound knowledge of usability and user experience design, educational technology standards and protocols, and educational metadata standards; experience proactively promoting and supporting the use and application of educational technologies in a rapidly evolving context of digital instructional technologies.
• Ability to exercise initiative, diplomacy and judgment; ability to work effectively under pressure and manage multiple projects simultaneously to meet deadlines. Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a team environment; knowledge of and comfort in working with technology and technological teams, as well as a diverse set of stakeholders of variable technical competencies.
• Extensive experience creating learning activities, learning modules, courseware, and learner assessments; experience with user experience and user interface design; extensive experience with e-learning authoring software applications such as Articulate Storyline, Raptivity, Lectora, Camtasia, Adobe Creative Suite; experience with assessment and quizzing technologies.
• Strong work ethic with excellent interpersonal and time management skills.
• Ability to effectively manage changing and competing priorities is essential.
• Thrive in a team setting in a diverse, complex, distributed and fluid environment.
• Compose correspondence, reports, presentations, workshops and other materials using clear concise business English in a way that maintains accuracy and attention to detail.
• Analyze and interpret data, determine implications, and provide recommendations.
• Think conceptually. (i.e., use creative, conceptual, or inductive reasoning or thought processes to identify patterns in complex data, and identify key or underlying issues in complex situations).
• Make decisions and recommendations involving highly complex issues.
• Effectively use job-related design and analysis applications.
• Mentor, coach and act as a resource for students, staff, and faculty members.
• Analyze problems, identify key information and issues, and effectively resolve.