Educational Technologist

General Summary:

Enhances online and blended learning environments through effective administration and support of the Canvas learning management system, Course Catalog, Credentials, and other integrated technologies. Promotes the creation of accessible, responsive, mobile friendly content across all supported tools and services. Keeps up to date with new products and educational technology tools supported by the university. Collaborates with faculty and staff to ensure a seamless learning experience for students, as well as maintaining institutional resources and providing training on best practices in educational technology.

Examples of Duties:

• Canvas Administration:

Working closely with the administration team, manages, configures, and optimizes the Canvas learning management, educational technologies, and other integrated systems (Catalog, Credentials) system to align with institutional goals.

• Technical Support:

Provides ongoing support and training for faculty and staff on Canvas and educational tools such as Turnitin and VoiceThread.

• Works closely with faculty and vendors to help integrate and support a wide variety of LTI tools.
• Answers support tickets. Troubleshoots problems and provides assistance. Contributes to Learning Design Service Knowledge Base.
• Provides administrative support for UMass WordPress Blog System. Creates blogs for campus community. Troubleshoots issues with blog sites. Assists campus community with the use of supported plugins. Communicates with CampusPress vendor regarding technical support and site security issues.
• Promotes responsive and accessible web and mobile design, with knowledge of HTML5, and CSS3. Stays up to date with new developments.
• Provides classroom polling (iClicker) support, and integration with Canvas support. Creates documentation. Assists faculty with LMS integration. Troubleshoots issues with polling programs, both in class and remotely. Communicates with vendor and classroom technology support staff regarding product updates and issues.
• Training and Workshops:

Develops and facilitates professional development sessions and workshops on Canvas and other educational technologies for diverse skill levels.

• Trains and supports faculty in the use of a variety of learning environments and tools used for teaching and learning (Canvas, Turnitin, iclicker, Wordpress, Respondus, etc.)
• Assessment and Evaluation:

Monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of educational technologies, using data to inform decisions and enhance practices.

• Produces/generates periodic reports on the usage and adoption of Canvas LMS and related apps.
• Documentation and Resources:

Creates and maintains user guides, tutorials, and instructional materials to support the effective use of Canvas and other tools.

• Website and Knowledge Base Maintenance:

Maintains the institution’s Learning Design website and knowledge base, ensuring resources are current and accessible.

• Stay Current:

Keeps abreast of emerging trends and best practices in educational technology and online learning, implementing updates to enhance offerings.

• Attends demos and conferences to keep up to date with product updates, new services and educational technologies, such as WP Campus, Adobe MAX, etc.

Qualifications:

• Education:
  Bachelor’s Degree; and relevant experience in Instructional Technology or an education-related discipline and a minimum of three-five (3-5) years of relevant experience in instructional technology.  Experience with Learning Management Systems, such as Canvas, is required. Knowledge and application of skills in instructional design theory, principles, and practices is preferred. 

 

Master’s degree in Educational Technology, Instructional Design, or a related field preferred.

• Experience:
• Proven experience in administering and supporting Canvas LMS.
• Prior experience in LMS administration, instructional design and technology integration in higher education is highly desirable.
• Technical Skills:
  Proficient in using Canvas, with familiarity in educational technologies such as Wordpress, Turnitin and VoiceThread, as well as web development tools.
• Ability to demonstrate the requisite knowledge and skill using a variety of authoring technology tools and new and emerging technologies, i.e. MS Office, Adobe eLearning Suite, Web 2.0 tools and HTML, CSS, JavaScript;
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