Assuring Graduate Capabilities, Deakin University, Allison Miller, Helen Chen, Christian Wernert, Tracy Penny Light, Nancy Wozniak, Kate Coleman a Deakin University presenting on Graduate Capabilities and Portfolios.

In a Sentence
My success is derived from helping others become successful.

My 15 years as an Instructional Design and Technology professional, along with my traditional and online teaching experience, more than qualifies me for this position.  Currently, I am the Learning Architect and ePortfolio Program Manager at Stony Brook University.  My higher education experience began in distance and online education, and I have years of experience with online course design.  I creatively performed as an online multimedia designer for the SUNY Learning Network and am actively involved with online course design at Stony Brook.  As an early initiator of video and social media in online course design, I’ve demonstrated the value for the use of interactive media to create course learning communities that continue long after the completion of the course.

Through my prior experience in broadcast and cable television production, I believe, strongly, in working in project teams.  The evening news does not air without the united efforts of every member of the production team; and, the implementation and support of instructional technologies and pedagogies will fail without the united efforts of every member of the pedagogical team.  My current success at Stony Brook and SUNY (State University of New York) has been to coordinate teams of faculty, instructional and technology support staff, career and student service staff, librarians, advising staff, students, and administrators with the implementation of integrative learning and professional eportfolios s Stony Brook and across the SUNY System.  Building a strong support team that embraces learning is key to the successful implementation of educational technologies that enhance learning and engagement with ALL students.  It truly does take a village.  Stony Brook is recognized as a global leader in documenting learning outcomes and professional competencies through eportfolio use.   I recently served as a Visiting Fellow with the Assuring Graduate Competencies Project at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia and conducted workshops on the value of folio thinking and eportfolios .  I was asked, repeatedly, why the Stony Brook Student-Driven ePortfolio Model is successful.  Why?  Because, throughout the model are layered levels of peer to peer support and feedback.  Through this successful eportfolio initiative, I’ve confirmed that it’s vital for the end users to share a leading role in the strategic planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional models and technologies.  Clearly defined learning outcomes are first and foremost in the process.  Those involved in the support of these technologies must be aware of the learning outcomes and pedagogical design.

Our students are no longer customers, they are makers.  They brainstorm in the cloud and learn best in open, collaborative places.  An exciting project I’m working on with our Engineering and Business faculty involves Design Thinking and flipped classroom designs that utilize experiential, makers activities and spaces.  The gamification of content delivery, social media exchanges, and team concept mapping are used to ignite creative inquiry and understanding.  With the Writing and Rhetoric faculty, I’m helping to plan and facilitate multimodal media strategies, such as digital storytelling, infographics, and blogging, to enhance composition and digital expression.  This involves researching emerging technologies and shifts in the paradigms of learning.   I accomplish this by brainstorming with the faculty, studying the blogosphere, reviewing education journals, and teaching.  I find seeds of future technology trends by interacting with students.  Listening is one of my strengths and this is how I’m able to achieve success with the implementation and management of student-centered classroom designs and educational technologies.  I listen to and respect the needs of our campus learning community.

Currently, I supervise a team of graduate students that I’ve trained as instructional designers and technologists.  In the past, I’ve supervised support staff and I value working in project teams.   I study, research, and practice intrinsic motivation based on Ryan’s and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory.  Both staff in my office operations and students in my classrooms are encouraged to take ownership of their projects, design in teams, and experience relatedness and self-efficacy through their ideas and projects.  I know how to facilitate and support a strong, productive team.

Nancy McCoy Wozniak, Learning Architect and ePortfolio Program Manager
Stony Brook University
nancy.wozniak@stonybrook.edu