I built this with a desire to acknowledge that we are learning all the time we are browsing the web. I wanted to design a tool specifically for adult learners that enabled their sense of control and created space for self-directed learning.
This project supports a graduate-level Chekhov class at the University of Iowa.
An instructor teaching creative writing graduate students in a Zoom-based literature seminar found students reluctant to engage with a work of Anton Chekhov's that he and many contemporary writers believe to be seminal.
A standalone, free, web-based module based on Knowles's principles of adult learning, prioritizing learner control, relevant content, and timely feedback
Designer & Developer
Coded in HTML and JavaScript, coding help by generative AI
Launched Spring 2024; the module has been adopted by an adult eLearning literature course.
LMS systems are great at traditional assessment, but we can do so much to help learners engage by offering choice, interactive schemas, and gamification. I tried to imagine ways for learners to play inside these academic ideas.
Undergraduate creative writing students are required by the institution to receive 3 hours of instruction but are not best served by additional lecture or discussion time. They need the opportunity to experiment creatively and find the inspiration for class projects.
An asynchronous Writing Lab consisting of a series of 24 interactive exercises embedded in the class LMS (Canvas) that let students engage with and practice new ideas in a hands-on way.
Design lead among a small team of SMEs.
Canvas native functionality plus HTML and JavaScript, coding help by generative AI
Launched Fall 2025; satisfied institutional requirement for added instructional time in creative writing courses. Reviewer response has been positive. Student and instructor feedback forthcoming.
We use text to communicate and absorb information all the time through texts and emails. Can we leverage that textual back and forth for learning? Articulate Rise seems good at this interaction.
Creative writing graduate students who are asked to teach a class often come to the task brand new and without a clear sense of their task (to enable learning) beyond the requirements of the course.
A brief sequence of questions, activities, and examples to seed research-based thinking for TAs planning their first lessons.
Designer & Developer
Articulate Rise and Storyline
Launched Fall 2025; evaluation pending but initial feedback positive
We've learned to expect information to be presented in a few standard formats like PowerPoint, textbook, or a website like Wikipedia. We have so many options to make content interactive, but we hardly ever use them. I created this training module to try to find simple, scalable, meaningful interactions.
Readers are sometimes unaware they are reading a translation, often unaware of who translated a text, or, if they are aware, have little concrete sense for how to recognize and understand the impact of the translator on the text. This can lead to false assumptions about writers, texts, and cultures.
An open module that offers hands-on engagement with the basic problems and questions at the heart of translation and the many choices that a translator imposes on the text.
Designer & Developer
Initially Adobe Captivate, then HTML and JavaScript with coding help from generative AI
Positive initial feedback and reviews from target audience sample
