I am an award-winning educator focused on the design, development and implementation of student-centered learning experiences for academic and professional audiences. I have proven success with a wide range of educational technologies to support learning in online, in-class and blended environments. I am an effective manager of cross-functional teams that deliver on high-visibility initiatives in aggressive time frames.
I currently work for the University of California, where I manage the design practice for UC Online. My team partners with undergraduate campuses throughout the UC system to design, develop and deliver for-credit online and hybrid courses that utilize a broad range of tools and platforms in synchronous and asynchronous environments.
I lead stakeholders in strategic conversations to identify needs and articulate solutions. My deep understanding of digital pedagogy and the ed tech landscape enables me to effectively communicate within and between functional groups to drive execution. I am adept at uncovering end-user biases, priorities and needs. I synthesize insights into product visions.
I rely on a backwards-design methodology to align activities, assignments and content with intended program (and course) outcomes. My design work focuses on student-centered and constructivist models, which often requires unconventional instructional methods in and out of the classroom.
I combine elements of visual design, information architecture, cognitive psychology, and learning theory to design compelling user-centered products and experiences. I apply ethnographic methods to understand audience needs, biases, and environments. I document designs through flow models, personas, user stories, wireframes, and mock-ups.
For 15 years I taught at the high school and adult continuing-education levels, in both traditional classroom and online environments. I taught courses related to Spanish as a non-native language (ELE), Spanish for heritage learners, and Spanish literature. I also directed curriculum as department chair (modern languages).
Highlights from a career at the intersection of education and technology. Click here to open my resume in a new browser window.
Opportunity: Educate a million students on climate change mitigation.
Solution: A multi-modal curriculum on climate change solutions that targets a cross-disciplinary undergraduate audience through the following:
My Role: Working as the program designer and manager for this education initiative, I am responsible for the following:
Opportunity: Develop a textbook to support the intended learning outcomes for a course on climate change solutions and publish the book as an open-educational resource. (Book found here: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6kr8p5rq)
Solution: A peer-reviewed 19-chapter digital textbook that is freely available to the public from the California Digital Library.
My Role: Working as a multimedia producer and project manager, I was responsible for the following:
Opportunity: An organization that serves many of the world’s leading life science and pharmaceutical enterprises engaged us to help its clinical team develop competency in guiding difficult conversations to successful outcomes in the patient recruitment process.
Solution: A digital simulation consisting of scenarios that reflect authentic job contexts; complex pathing and rich feedback provide opportunities to explore unique approaches in a low-stakes practice environment.
My Role: Working as the learning experience designer for this project, I was responsible for the following:
Opportunity: Respond to a request from the Regents of the University of California to report out on the state of online education at the University.
Solution: Trailer video that includes testimonials from students and faculty as well as examples of representative activities and experiences from digital learning environments.
My Role: As the manager of the instructional design practice at UC Office of the President’s Innovative Learning Technology Initiative, I was ideally positioned to craft the message and select artifacts from our catalog to tell the story. As executive producer of this video, my responsibilities included the following:
Opportunity: Design a training solution that enables pharmaceutical sales representatives to develop fluency in gaining access to drug formularies at hospitals and medical clinics.
Solution: An engaging, performance-based blended curriculum that helps end users develop the knowledge, skills and behaviors required for success in high-stakes negotiations that can lead to lucrative multi-year deals; curriculum includes foundational knowledge self-study, just-in-time performance support, and digital simulations.
My Role: Working as the learning experience designer for this education initiative, I was responsible for the following:
Opportunity: The client, a manufacturer of equipment that healthcare facilities rely on to protect patients against infection, faced ongoing challenges following an FDA-mandated recall and subsequent re-launch of one of its sterilization products. the client engaged my employer and a partner firm to conduct an analysis of customer touch points and report back on opportunities to optimize the customer experience.
My Role: I was one of three consultants on the project. I conducted research and designed a strategy to address deficiencies related to internal and customer education on all aspects of the product life cycle.
Output: Insights gathered during research, interviews and audits informed the recommendations that appeared in our final report presented to the client steering committee. In addition to the current-state audit of all education collateral, I developed three additional outputs to support the report and presentation:
Opportunity: Hewlett Packard assembled a team of eight third-party vendor organizations to collaborate on an immersive learning environment that connects the dots between learning and practice for an enterprise sales team. My team was charged with designing a mastery-level simulation built in the context of preparing for a meeting with a simulated customer, which then culminated in a final “master class” live session as a final exam.
My Role: I was the primary point of contact from my organization for both the Hewlett Packard team and the design leads from the other seven vendor organizations. Within my organization I created the concept for the simulation, then worked with our art department and technical team to build out the wireframes and prototype. I also collaborated closely subject-matter experts to develop all content needed to seed the simulation with. I produced program requirement documentation for my internal teams to ensure our deliverable would integrate well with other program elements.
The Solution: Our simulation relies on end users to be both the consumer and the producer of content. The simulation mimics a live workspace where the candidate meets the customer team virtually, does some research and prepares for a customer meeting. Interactive elements, such as text messages, phone calls, and emails pulled users in multiple directions at once, which lent an air of authenticity and stress to the exercise.
I am a volunteer instructor in the construction department at City College of San Francisco. I primarily support the furniture-making program, where I develop instructional activities, lead hands-on demonstrations, assist students with assignments and original projects, and maintain the shop's tools. I enjoy supporting the California community college mission, and I appreciate the opportunity it to deepen my own woodworking practice. (Click here to peruse my furniture and cabinetry portfolio.)
Use the form below, or email me directly: contact AT scottfriese DOT com
