Educational Technologist

Direct Reporting Line:
Head Academic

Varsity College  is an educational brand of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE). The IIE enjoys the reputation of being at the forefront of private higher education in South Africa and is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to provide higher education qualifications accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE).

The IIE's Varsity College, Durban North Campus has a vacancy for an Educational Technologist.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• To provide training and support to the academic staff (and students occasionally) to promote adoption and development of online mediation skills in on the LMS platform to enhance the student learning experience.
• As a member of the Academic team the Campus Educational Technologist's duties include: Supporting the Academic team and the student body to ensure they are able to participate in a blended learning environment.

Support & Development of Lecturers on campus

• Design of the lecturer development process through the following:
• Analyse LMS analytics and facilitate feedback to lecturers.
• From LMS Analytics, ensure benchmarks are in place to improve lecturer LMS engagement.
• Provide input for peer reviews evidencing continuous Tech development plans.
• Implement training workshops for Independent Contractors (IC's) and permanent lecturers’ development on the LMS.
• Implement On-boarding training for new IC lecturers and permanent academics.
• Implement buddy-system to support new IC lecturers on campus.
• Engage and collaborate with the Ed Tech team, campus Academic team and National Educational Technologist to ensure a planned and effective training strategy.

Quality Assurance of EDTECH Experience on Campus.

• Assess effectiveness of LMS training for students across programmes.
• Evaluate the ability of students to log on, navigate and engage on the LMS.
• Assess level of progress made by lecturers on development plans and report on areas of improvement and risk.
• Evaluate effectiveness of workshop material for student support workshops (LMS, SafeAssign, etc.), and provide updated material where necessary, including material for the Knowledge Base Resource Centre on the LMS.

Promoting Online Engagement Culture on Campus.

• Implements and supports policies and The IIE Teaching and Learning (T&L) strategy regarding Ed Tech adoption.
• Assist in the management of change related to the educational technology strategy.
• Promote online engagement on campus by building communities of best practice.
• Adopts evidenced based decision making and planning.
  
• Drives uptake of contemporary developments in T&L for the lecturers with a focus on blended learning strategies.
• Supports T&L discussion on campus amongst peers through a range of mediums, focusing on the blended mediums but supporting the T&L drives.

Online Facilitation                                                                                                           

• Lecture one module per semester. Facilitates 1 module per year for the Online Centre (optional).

EDTECH Development

• Keep up-to-date with current local and international industry benchmarks (in relation to teaching in Blended Learning environments), attending online courses (e.g. MOOCs, Conferences, etc.), training and reading material related to this.

Research & Scholarship

• The incumbant is required to promote a culture of scholarship within their practice, discipline and campus/team and is also required to contribute towards The IIE’s Varsity College achieving its annual research output targets.

  Competencies Required:

• Effective communication and organisational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage work and self proactively.
• Able to demonstrate a proven track record of effective teaching based on a reflective practice.
• Able to demonstrate the ability to manage relationships with managers and staff effectively in terms of motivation, quality and performance.
• High proficiency in educational applications that can be used with lecturers to promote a blended learning approach.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree (B.Com, B.Ed. or BSc) with either Postgraduate Diploma/ Bachelor's Honours Degree (PGDip with IT related subjects in the curriculum, or PGCE or equivalent) or appropriate experience.
• Higher Postgraduate qualification (Med; MA; Mphil; PhD) ideal.

Minimum Work Experience Requirements:

• If no Postgraduate qualification, Minimum 2 years as Educational Technologist experience, and 3-5 years lecturing/teaching experience.
• Experience with learning management systems.

The IIE's Varsity College  is an Equal Opportunity Employer . However, preference may be given to previously underrepresented groups in accordance with the South African Employment Equity Act.

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