Over the last eight years, I have had the pleasure of working in the Center for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. I have spent these years side-by-side designing and developing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and, online and blended courses. In March 2015, I started off as an assistant learning designer, and have since progressed to the role of Senior Project Coordinator and Learning Designer. During my role I have been involved in the development of at least 10 MOOCs, the development of a new online postgraduate diploma, published research on MOOCs and so much more. I consider myself a jack of all trades and have dabbled in many areas including but not limited to marketing, graphic design and video editing.
I have an undergraduate in Bcom (Honours) Information Systems and a Masters in Educational Technology. I just finished my MBA degree. Before working as a learning designer I worked for a year as a user experience (UX) intern, conducting research and design on mobile interaction design for a provincial government unit. Through this UX researcher role, I developed a strong lens of being user-centred throughout the design process.
Apart from formal study and work, I have also upskilled myself with various free online courses and workshops. This includes topics on UX, Project Management, Leadership, Copyright, SEO among others. I have also taken several formal courses, like psychology to keep me up-to-date with the latest student experience at the institution.
In March 2020, UCT officially adopted Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) as the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Africa, where inequality is strife, this offered a huge challenge for the continuation of classes under these new circumstances where students had to study online, despite varying levels of access, constraints while experiencing increasing mental health issues. We developed several responses to ERT, in which I played a significant role. This space allowed me to pause and reflect on my extensive work over many years. Furthermore, this opportunity gave me the space to reflect on the areas I have done well and a moment to look at my weaknesses and opportunity for growth.