Office of Learning Technologies
Mission
As part of the Office of Academic Affairs, and in support of SVA’s mission, the mission of the Office of Learning Technologies (OLT) is to enhance student and faculty engagement, learning, and communication at SVA. OLT supports members of the faculty in effectively using contemporary pedagogy and technology-based tools to increase student engagement, drive active and collective learning, ensure timely and effective assessments, build inclusive classrooms, and strengthen students’ skills and confidence in communicating across different modes and technologies.
Services
OLT relies on ongoing communication with faculty, as well as staying abreast of new teaching and learning technologies, to offer recommendations for SVA. The OLT staff collaborates with departments such as IT and the College’s academic departments to pilot new digital tools and programming. Additionally, OLT supports an array of SVA stakeholders through its work developing new online courses and training tools. Finally, the OLT staff ensures faculty and students have ongoing support in effectively using any of the college’s teaching and learning tools by providing daily office hours, one-to-one meetings, regularly scheduled workshops, and video-based tutorials.
Research and Advocacy
OLT researches and vets new teaching and learning technologies — staying abreast of new tools and practices in higher ed, while remaining grounded in the unique needs of the SVA community. The Office liaises among faculty, department chairs, and senior academic administration to gather and share feedback from end users and offer recommendations on procuring new technologies that support quality teaching and learning practices. This process often includes conducting pilot studies to gather input from SVA community members to improve the success of implementing new teaching and learning tools at SVA.
Developing and Implementing New Programming
OLT creates professional development resources for faculty and staff members, including complete training programs and standalone video tutorials. Additionally, OLT collaborates with other departments and subject matter experts to develop new online learning experiences for students from SVA’s graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education programs.
OLT also creates an array of online resources and video tutorials accessible via the Faculty Knowledge Base in Canvas as well as SVA’s Mediaspace, an internal media platform. Video-based resources include instructional videos for using classroom tools like the Canvas LMS, Ally, Lucid, SimpleSyllabus, and TurnItIn, to name a few. Additionally, OLT produces SVA’s Teachers on Teaching series, which features SVA faculty members sharing their classroom experiences and advice about teaching, and the Faculty Ignite series, which features instructional designers responding to the most commonly asked questions from faculty members.
Providing Ongoing Support and Professional Development
OLT is committed to supporting faculty in effectively implementing technology, classroom pedagogy, and course development. OLT staff are available daily via email, phone, and in an online office space to promptly answer questions, meet for more in-depth consultations, or simply connect faculty members with other SVA offices and resources.
OLT regularly hosts a variety of faculty training sessions and workshops. These live events cover a wide range of topics in education, from delving into learning theories and best practices for the classroom to exploring educational tools and ways to effectively navigate new technologies such as generative AI. Visit OLT’s events page for a listing of upcoming sessions.
OLT Pedagogical Foundation
The School of Visual Arts prides itself on preparing emerging artists to become successful as creative professionals. Therefore, a basic goal for faculty is to expand pedagogical practices that support students’ engagement with and mastery of course content. A second high-level goal is to prepare students for success beyond college, which includes developing communication and collaboration skills, the ability to critically assess information from various sources, as well as an entrepreneurial spirit supported by multiliteracy, and research and organizational skills.
As an alternative to relying solely on lectures and rote memorization, we know that engaging students in discussion and project-based learning drives critical reflection, and yields a deeper understanding of key concepts, as well as the ability to apply the learning to various situations. We also know that it is imperative that we honor students’ prior knowledge to better assist them in constructing new meaning.
A way of accomplishing these goals is to develop multimodal courses that embrace various methods of communication between students and create opportunities for project-based learning and collaboration. These are not new concepts in education, but today’s technologies give learners fresh and innovative ways to engage in each of these practices.
Adding online discussions and rich media content to traditional classroom teaching helps ensure opportunities for all students to comfortably raise questions or arguments driven by their unique perspectives. OLT strives to provide faculty members with a variety of channels through which to engage and support the varied learning approaches of their students.
Additionally, online tools can facilitate deliberation and participation in ways that develop critical thinking skills, and model “real world” actions through online communities. Such interactions can help students develop the confidence to share and defend their ideas and collaborate effectively.
Finally, today’s learners expect to access course texts, assignment guidelines, and schedules at any time, from any location. They also deserve online access to their classmates — to ask questions, share ideas, and collaborate on challenging problems. As an institution, we must accommodate the ways by which students access and exchange information and knowledge.
Staff
Jennifer joined SVA in 2007 and became the director of OLT in 2012. She fosters collaboration and curiosity to drive innovation in education, blending her experience in design thinking, leadership, and communication.
With a background in journalism and media, Walter has collaborated with students, faculty members, and staff on content that showcases their skills and valuable contributions to the SVA community. He joined OLT in 2014.
Brad, a former freelance cinematographer and editor, joined OLT in 2010. An alumnus of SVA’s BFA Film program, he collaborates with faculty, staff, and students on media projects that enhance and enrich the SVA community.
With an MA in Instructional Technology, Julian has supported SVA faculty since 2013 by designing training, promoting effective tools, and fostering creativity in teaching to enhance engagement and learning experiences for the SVA community.
Tom joined SVA in 2015 after earning a PhD in Learning Technologies. As an instructional designer and Humanities & Sciences instructor, he advocates for thoughtful teaching, lifelong learning, and curiosity about new tools and ideas.
New York, NY 10011