Educational Technologist at Varsity College

Job Purpose:

Varsity College, an educational brand of The Independent Institute of Education (Pty) Ltd, is a registered private higher education institution. The IIE's Varsity College Cape Town has a vacancy for a EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIST

Education:

• Bachelors Degree PLUS Postgraduate Diploma/ Bachelors Honours Degree (PGDip with IT related subjects in the curriculum, or PGCE or equivalent).
• Higher postgraduate qualification (Med; MA; Mphil; PhD) Ideal.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 2 years as Educational Technologist experience, and 1 year lecturing/teaching experienc
• Must have experience with working on a Learning Management System
• Must be able to train and develop people on Learning Management System.

Working Conditions:

• Drivers Licence and own vehicle essential
• EE/AA position

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 the Learn space 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 VCLearn analytics and facilitate feedback to lecturers.
• From VCLearn Analytics, ensure benchmarks are in place to improve lecturer VCLearn engagement.
• Provide input for peer reviews evidencing continuous Tech development plans.
• Implement training workshops for Independent Contractors (IC's) and permanent lecturers development on VCLearn.
• 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 VCLearn training for students across programmes.                    
• Evaluate the ability of students to log on, navigate and engage on VCLearn.
• 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 (VCLearn, SafeAssign, etc.), and provide updated material where necessary, including material for the Knowledge Base Resource Centre on VCLearn.        
• 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.                                                                                                                                  

Lecturing                                                                                                                                            

• Lectures 1 module per semester (not exceeding 70 hours in total).               

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'Tes Varsity College achieving its annual research output targets.         

Competencies:

• 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.