Erin Watkins
Educational Resource Developer
604-822-4623
erin.watkins@ubc.ca

About

I'm currently an Educational Resources Developer at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology where I am accountable for the following responsibilities:

Information Architecture

Websites are quite easy to make, especially with the myriad of tools already available. At UBC, we use WordPress as our content management platform (CMS) where a university mandated common look and feel (CLF) is available for anyone can use. At the same time, there is a need to take time and plan the experience of visitors to your website.

Information architecture is the process of designing the structure of a website by taking into account usability, accessibility and content management. My responsibility is to develop resource websites for any of CTLT's projects and programs based on the following questions:

What do visitors WANT to know?
What do visitors NEED to know?
How will they easily FIND the information they need?

My process in determining a site's architecture requires:

consultation with the clients and/or stakeholders about their need, vision, and the kinds of resources they want or are willing to share
determine where the resource/website fits in relation to already available resources
draft proposals using a variety of tools such as wireframes, mindmaps, sitemaps
constant iteration based on user feedback

Program Planning

CTLT offers a variety of programs and events to support the professional development of teachers and learners. I contribute to the planning of events and conferences, especially those related to educational technologies.

I'm interested in learning the particular learning goals of a group or organization and how can we achieve them by through workshops, seminars and exercises. An event's design is a balance of fulfilling your specific needs, the event's time constraints, and the facilitator's own experience.

Programs will be continuously assessed and changed accordingly based on participant feedback.

Below are examples of events I've helped design:

EDUCamp 2010
Mobile Devices Lunch n' Learn, CTLT Institute 2011
WordPress Basics II: The Deep End

Facilitation

I also facilitate sessions about the supported learning technologies at UBC as well as emerging technologies that the community might be interested in.

Examples of sessions I've helped facilitate are:

WordPress Basics I (Learning Technology Institute)
WordPress Basics II (Learning Technology Institute)
Digital Photography Basics (Tech Express)
Collaborative Office Applications: Google Docs (Learning Technology Institute)