Grace's Portfolio

Designing for Accessibility Design Challenge: Solution: Learning Objectives: Story: blog: https://www.smartsparrow.com/2018/11/09/how-to-make-your-lessons-accessible/

Educational Resources I co-designed a user-facing educational resource called the Pedagogical Practices Library. Please see an entry I wrote below and explore the entire website  here . Please note: This is the first version of this website and it is still going through an editing process.

Case Study Lessons I have written case studies that have been used as the foundational materials for lessons.

Skills-based Student Success Lessons and Instructor Guide I designed several skills-based student success lessons and wrote an  instructor guide  with follow-up exercises and discussion pieces for instructors and advisors who use these lessons. In addition, I wrote content for  the website  promoting and explaining these materials.

Below is a short sample of one of the lessons that I have designed. Due to a paywall and privacy settings I am unable to share you on a lesson directly. If you would like a closer look at this lesson I would be happy to walk you through it on a video call.   Scope and Intention:  I designed this lesson to be used in introductory community college courses. My intention was to create a personalized interactive experience that would teach students how to effectively communicate with professors and access the resources they need to achieve their academic goals. I included student stories (such as Genesis's story) to create an approachable narrative. Also, I used diverse widgets and interactions to promote active learning. My client's guidelines for this project were open-ended and they provided very little source material. Therefore, I wrote all the content and designed all the activities. The Learning Objective:  By exploring the available resources at community college...

Scope and Intention: After creating five lessons on student success, I was asked to write promotional materials to introduce these lessons to community college professors and administrators. The content I wrote is specifically directed towards seven community colleges that use these lessons, but is also used to promote these lessons to new potential clients. My intention behind the "Why Teach" page was to succinctly introduce these lessons and explain how they can help educators and students reach their goals. In addition, I wrote an instructor's guide to assist educators who may want to use these lessons, but are unsure about how to integrate them into their classrooms. The guide includes discussion questions and activities that instructors and advisors may use to facilitate blended learning. Please see the promotional "Why Teach" page here . Please see the entire Instructor's Guide here .  

Succinct Lessons for Mobile Phones I designed Smart Sparrow's first lessons for mobile phones. I worked together with my client, California State University East Bay, to find a quick, but engaging way to meet students where they are (mostly on their phones) and teach them student success skills. I interviewed administrators and advisors to better understand the university's tone and then wrote all the content for this lesson. "These mobile student success lessons are centered around an extensive decision tree structure. The student must go through a decision tree that simulates the college experience, making choices about what classes to take and when. There are no incorrect answers, but their choices do have consequences as they continue through the lesson." Bllog entry about the pedagogical practice used in this lesson : Lifelike Decision-Making Guided Exploration in Lessons I designed a lesson that used a guided exploration to teach students ab...