Services
- I provide a range of services in each of my areas of expertise.
- I’m happy to focus on just one piece of a larger picture (e.g., designing a single stand-alone e-learning module) or, at the big-picture level, to assist with redesigning an entire course or transitioning to a new curricular program.
- I am always ready to adjust the scope of my work; my clients often appreciate that, while focusing on one piece of a larger picture, I can provide suggestions and advice about related improvements in other areas.
E-learning design typically overlaps to some extent with curriculum development & redesign.
It may involve designing e-learning modules and materials from scratch, or it may aim to augment or transform already-existing curriculum.
As with my other services, I am a big proponent of close and frequent consultation with my clients, especially during the early stages of a project. Experience shows that detailed consultation early on saves time and yields superior results down the road.
My e-learning design services include the following:
- Detailed consultation to clarify your needs, requirements, and starting point (e.g., Is there existing curriculum that needs to be augmented or transformed, or is entirely new curriculum being developed from scratch?).
- Clarification of desired learning goals and what you consider to be acceptable evidence of completion and/or achievement.
- Development of a detailed storyboard comprising a script, descriptions of graphic elements, descriptions of any additional audio elements, and descriptions of user-interaction and assessment features.
- Production of your e-learning materials using Adobe Captivate (or similar software).
- Production of any specially customized elements (e.g., a voice-over featuring your voice or the voice of a teacher at your institution).
- One or more rounds of end-user review and feedback on completed drafts via the ReviewMyElearning platform.
- Follow-up review and fine-tuning of your e-learning materials after a specified period of initial use (e.g., at the end of the first semester in which an e-learning module is used with students).
My services include:
- Detailed consultation to clarify your needs and requirements.
- Clarification of desired learning goals and—for videos that will track user actions and/or contain assessment items—evidence of completion and/or achievement.
- Development of a detailed storyboard comprising a script, descriptions of graphic elements, descriptions of any additional audio elements, and descriptions of embedded user-interaction and assessment features.
- Production of your video using Techsmith Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, or similar software, including graphic elements, animations, and user-interaction and assessment features.
- Production of any specially customized elements (e.g., a voice-over featuring your voice or the voice of a teacher at your institution).
- One or more rounds of end-user review and feedback for completed drafts via the GoVisually platform.
- Follow-up review and fine-tuning of your videos after a specified period of initial use (e.g., at the end of the first semester in which videos were used with students).
- When I receive your initial inquiry, the first step for any e-learning design project is to schedule time for an in-depth consultation for us to clarify your needs, requirements, and starting point (e.g., Is there existing curriculum you want to augment or transform, or will the project involve developing entirely new curriculum from scratch?).
- Once we have clarified the scope of the project (which we can always adjust later on), a first stage of work is to clarify (a) the desired learning goals and (b) what will serve as acceptable evidence of completion and/or achievement of those goals by your learners.
- With learning goals pinned down, we can then proceed to developing a detailed storyboard that includes a script, descriptions of graphic elements, descriptions of any additional audio elements, and descriptions of user-interaction and assessment features.
- Once you are satisfied with the storyboard, I will start creating your e-learning materials using Adobe Captivate (or similar software).
- If your e-learning materials involve any specially customized elements (e.g., a voice-over featuring your voice or the voice of a teacher at your institution), we will get that done at this stage.
- As soon as I have a rough draft ready, I will invite you to review and provide feedback via the ReviewMyElearning platform or the GoVisually platform.
- With your feedback in hand, I will finalize a revised draft and return to you for a second round of review and feedback.
- We will do as many rounds of feedback and revision as we need to until you are satisfied with the final product.
- When you have approved the final draft of your e-learning materials, we will schedule a date for follow-up review and fine-tuning of your materials after a specified period of initial use (e.g., at the end of the first semester in which an e-learning module is used).
- Your initial consultation meeting is free.
- The overall cost of a project will of course depend on its scope and length (e.g., Is it a series of three 5-minute lecture segments augmented with a few interactive features and knowledge-check questions, or is it a multi-module professional-development e-course comprising original graphics, interactive activities, animations, and quizzes?)
- Cost will also depend on whether you provide me with display-ready graphics, a polished script, and other elements, or whether part of my work is to develop these elements myself (a) from rough drafts you provide or (b) from scratch.
- I will provide you with a rough estimate of the cost of your project after our first consultation meeting and a more detailed estimate once we have sketched out the storyboard. At the storyboard stage we can also discuss elements that you might consider keeping or cutting to fit your budget.
- The cost of your project includes a follow-up check-up to fine-tune your e-learning materials based on initial feedback from your users.
Professional development can take many different forms, from guiding a deep dive into a core instructional practice (e.g., formative assessment and feedback) to facilitating teachers’ exploration of an identified area of interest (e.g., supporting teachers in figuring out how they can best take advantage of a new technology at their particular grade level to improve the learning of their students).
Whatever our focus, I aim to provide high-quality, impactful PD, which means avoiding the drive-by, knowledge-dumping PD format of the past, and instead working closely with you and your teachers to ensure PD is responsive to current needs, mindful of the challenges of figuring out how to apply new learning in the classroom, connected to your teachers’ prior knowledge and current curriculum, and extended over time.
To achieve this kind of high-quality PD, I will advocate for close consultation with you and/or your teachers, especially early on as we develop our PD plan.
My professional development services include the following:
My services include:
- PD focused on individual digital tools of interest and the ways they can enhance teaching and learning (e.g., tools teachers can use to layer questions, reflection prompts, and other features onto YouTube videos and other videos, thereby transforming passive watching of video content into an active and interactive learning experience that moreover provides teachers with useful data about what students have understood so far, where they’re confused, etc.).
- PD focused on growing the skill set and mindset that will empower your teachers to become increasingly confident, independent, and judicious investigators and adopters of digital tools and digitally informed pedagogies that can boost learning.
- PD focused on leveraging digital tools and resources to make learning experiences and materials as Universally Designed as possible (i.e., to remove barriers to access and participation, and to ensure that all students have the learning tools and supports they need to engage fully in learning activities and achieve to their potential).
- PD focused on a broader technology-connected challenge or strategy, such as the COVID-informed challenge of designing lesson plans in ways that make them versatile and flexible across in-person, remote, and hybrid formats.
- PD focused on advancing a technology-dependent school-wide initiative, such as starting or expanding a digital portfolio system.
My services include:
- PD focused on text structures and genres, with emphasis on the ways that, starting in the elementary grades, awareness of structure and genre can advance reading comprehension and sharpen students’ writing skills.
- PD focused on graphical literacy—the knowledge and skills that are involved in making sense of the graphical elements commonly encountered in informational texts (e.g., timelines, histograms, cross-section diagrams, etc.).
- PD focused on developing teachers’ appreciation of the unique challenges of reading informational texts, the importance of exposing young readers from an early age to a mix of informational genres alongside narrative fiction, and the importance of continuing to develop adolescent and young adult readers’ skills for informational text throughout middle school, high school, and college.
- PD focused on developing teachers’ understanding of how children learn new words and expanding teachers’ skill set for effective vocabulary instruction.
My services include:
- PD on Project-Based Learning (PBL) explores the PBL framework for organizing and motivating learning around student-designed investigative and/or creative projects. Solo or with peers, students address a real-world need or solve a real-world problem, with deep learning happening at a point of need, rather than according to a preset schedule. PBL PD can have a narrow or broad focus and can be introductory (e.g., introducing the PBL approach and developing a sample PBL unit together) or more advanced (e.g., working with a group of teachers to develop several aligned PBL units for students to experience across consecutive grade levels).
- PD on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) explores the importance of intentionally nurturing our students’ social-emotional growth. SEL PD can be introductory (focused on foundational concepts and best practices to promote self-awareness and self-regulation) or more advanced (focusing on the connection between SEL skills and mindsets and the ability to tackle challenging academic tasks).
- PD on reflective learning explores the benefits of growing a classroom and school culture that centers students’ capacity not just to do a task but to describe and reflect on how they did it, what they learned from doing it that way, and how they might consider doing it differently next time. Reflective-learning PD can be introductory (e.g., how to weave simple and engaging reflection activities into daily lesson plans) or more advanced (e.g., how to support students in “documenting their learning” throughout the various steps and stages of their work and cultivate students’ awareness of the learning strategies they are using—and their curiosity about other strategies they could use).
I sometimes work with clients who have a PD topic in mind that does not match up with any of my areas of content expertise but who want help with planning and facilitation. If this is your situation, please use the Contact form to inquire about my PD planning and facilitation services, which include:
- Researching PD topics and resources and providing you with information about best practices and PD options.
- Pre-PD surveying of teachers to ascertain areas of interest, relevant prior knowledge, and PD format preferences.
- Assistance with identifying and hiring a subject-matter expert.
- Assistance with articulating PD learning goals and figuring out what will serve as evidence of completion or achievement.
- Assistance with PD planning and facilitation.
- Assistance with assessing PD impact and planning next steps.
- When I receive your initial inquiry, the first step for any PD project is to schedule time for an in-depth consultation for us to clarify your needs, requirements, and starting point (e.g., Have you already identified the topic, audience, and learning goals for the PD, or would it be helpful to devote some time to surveying teachers about their needs and interests?).
- As necessary and desired, I will review existing curriculum, visit your site and meet with teachers, and/or survey teachers to further clarify needs and appropriate learning goals.
- Once we have clarified the scope of the project (which we can always adjust later on), a first stage of work is to articulate (a) your PD initiative’s learning goals and (b) what will serve as acceptable evidence of completion and/or achievement of those goals by your teachers. (Given that the purpose of PD is to support teachers not just in acquiring new knowledge but in actually applying what they have learned, it may make sense to set clear goals and expectations for an implementation phase as well as an initial PD learning phase.)
- With the PD initiative’s learning outcomes pinned down, I can then proceed to developing a detailed plan and timeline that includes topics and sub-topics we will cover, PD session learning activities, application activities for teachers to engage with between PD sessions, and so on.
- Once you have approved the detailed plan and timeline, we can proceed with in-person or remote PD sessions (or some combination of in-person and remote that suits your needs and teacher preferences.) Depending on the constraints of your school calendar and the topic we are delving into, PD sessions and follow-up work might extend over just a few weeks or an entire semester.
- We will schedule at least one check-in meeting after the completion of the planned PD to review evidence of impact and, as desired, discuss possible follow-up or next-step PD.
- Your initial consultation meeting is free.
- The overall cost of a PD initiative will obviously depend on its scope and length (e.g., Are we looking at a series of 2-4 workshops on a well-defined topic you have already identified—how to do more and better formative assessment, for example—with teachers already primed to take advantage of the learning experience, or are we looking at a broader topic—growing a school culture of reflective learning, for example—that will entail more extensive set-up work and more involved planning).
- I will provide you with a rough estimate of the cost of your PD project after our first consultation meeting and a more detailed estimate after I have had time to flesh out a detailed project proposal and timeline. At this stage we can also discuss PD elements that you might consider keeping or cutting to fit your budget.
- The cost of your PD includes a follow-up check-in to review evidence of impact of the initial PD and discuss possible follow-up or next-step PD.
Curriculum development and redesign can have a narrow or broad scope, from developing lesson plans and learning materials for a single unit of study (e.g., a pilot unit to explore the benefits of Project-Based Learning) to assessing the quality and quantity of student learning from an entire course (as a first step toward redesigning the course) to detailed mapping of existing curriculum and exploration of the pros and cons of alternative program designs.
As with my other services, I am a big proponent of close consultation with my clients, especially during the early stages of a project. Experience shows that good consultation early on saves time and yields superior results down the road.
My curriculum development and redesign services include the following:
My services include:
- Reviewing your existing sources of data to assess the quality and quantity of student learning along with other relevant dimensions of student experience (e.g., students’ enjoyment of learning).
- Identifying and/or creating additional tools to collect data on topics of interest to you (e.g., student interest and motivation-to-learn for particular topics and/or content areas).
- Collecting data to inform your assessment of learning via surveys, measures of content knowledge, etc.
- Compiling and analyzing collected data and synthesizing findings, with a focus on distilling actionable insights connected to curriculum design or redesign.
My services include:
- Researching and reviewing new curriculum you are considering and, as appropriate, comparing alternative options, in order to provide you with an outside perspective on pros and cons.
- Surveying and/or interviewing teachers to assess their needs and perceptions regarding the adoption of new curriculum.
My services include:
- Reviewing and mapping your existing curriculum to provide you and your teachers with a useful representation of the status quo that brings to light both strengths and areas for improvement.
- Identifying curricular issues revealed by the mapping process, such as curricular continuity across a sequence of courses or grade levels, curricular gaps and/or redundancies, and curricular cliffs (i.e., topics, units, or courses that achievement data indicate are unusually difficult for students).
My services include:
- Researching, brainstorming, and drafting of new curriculum at the level of granularity appropriate for your project (i.e., lesson plan, syllabus, unit plan, course outline, etc.)—ideally in close consultation or collaboration with teachers at your school.*
- Researching, brainstorming, and drafting of curriculum to supplement or replace elements of an existing unit or course—ideally in close consultation or collaboration with teachers familiar with the existing curriculum and its strengths and shortcomings.
- Adjusting and augmenting existing curriculum to prepare it for delivery in a new format—such as hybrid, or fully online.
Clients sometimes have new curriculum already in hand but want help planning and supporting implementation. My services in this area include:
- Reviewing new curriculum and, in consultation with your stakeholders, identifying areas of challenge and the sorts of implementation supports are likely to facilitate the implementation process.
- Developing a public, published plan and timeline for implementation, including a schedule of trainings and other resources teachers can access.
- Curating existing how-to and help resources or creating new resources (e.g., FAQs for teachers, tutorial videos) that teachers can access as they familiarize themselves with the new curriculum and navigate the challenges of implementation.
- Organizing and facilitating in-person or online workshops for teachers to familiarize themselves with the new curriculum and solve implementation challenges.
- When I receive your initial inquiry, the first step for any curriculum-development or redesign project is to schedule time for an in-depth consultation for us to clarify your needs, requirements, and starting point (e.g., Are you looking to design new curriculum from scratch, remedy already identified shortcomings of existing curriculum, improve alignment of curriculum across grade levels, or something else?).
- As necessary and desired, I will review existing curriculum and student-achievement data, visit your site and meet with teachers, and/or survey teachers to further clarify needs and appropriate goals for the project.
- Once we have clarified the scope of the project (which we can always adjust later on), a first stage of work is to articulate (a) the learning goals that existing or new curriculum is intended to address and (b) what will serve as acceptable evidence of completion and/or achievement of those goals.
- With learning goals clarified, I can then develop a detailed plan and timeline for the project.
- Once you have approved the detailed plan and timeline, I can dig in to the heart of the work, ideally in close consultation and/or collaboration with one or more of your teachers, or other stakeholders. As the work proceeds, I will provide frequent updates on progress.
- As appropriate, and depending on the scope of the project, it may make sense already now, during the drafting stage, to organize a focus group of teachers and/or students to give feedback on specific pieces of the new or revamped curriculum.
- When a complete draft is ready, I will share it and seek feedback in whatever format or combination of formats makes sense—an in person presentation, a series of workshops, an online forum with invitation for written feedback, etc.
- We will schedule at least one further consultation meeting after delivery of the new or revamped curriculum to discuss the implementation process and possible next steps to support implementation, such as professional-development work with teachers.
- Your initial consultation meeting is free.
- The overall cost of a curriculum-development project will obviously depend on its scope (e.g., Are we developing a single pilot unit from scratch, evaluating the effectiveness of existing curriculum as a first step toward brainstorming possible improvements, or redesigning an existing course to prioritize active and social learning?).
- I will provide you with a rough estimate of the cost of your project after our first consultation meeting and a more detailed estimate after I have had time to flesh out a detailed project proposal and timeline. At this stage we can also discuss elements of the project that you might consider keeping or cutting to fit your budget.
- The cost of your project includes a follow-up check-in to review evidence of uptake and effectiveness and discuss possible follow-up steps, such as professional-development work with teachers, or further revisions to the curriculum.