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Director of Academic Technology

Employer
Akilah Institute
Location
Washington D.C.

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About Akilah

Are you ready to revolutionize global education? We’re on a mission to create a global network of university campuses that prepare students for the careers of today and of the future through transformational, personalized learning experiences. Our unique model leverages leadership development, competency-based education, and personalized learning to offer a radically different academic experience that puts graduates on the fast track to success.

Our vision is to educate 1 million students across a network of campuses in Africa and Asia by 2030. Our team has spent a decade building the award-winning Akilah Institute, the only college for women in Rwanda. Ninety percent of our alumnae are employed within six months of graduation, and they earn, on average, 12x Rwanda’s national median income.

Our pillars (21st-century skills, personalized learning, innovation, ethical leadership, and sustainability) underpin all of our academic programs and serve as our guiding light during this phase of rapid expansion. We’re committed to equipping students with the knowledge and skills to balance vibrant economies with a healthy environment to create a future of abundance for all. Will you join us?

 

The Position

Akilah Institute is seeking an energetic and motivated Director of Academic Technology to administer, manage and support the organization’s Learning Management System (currently CANVAS) and support Akilah faculty, academic staff and students in the best use of educational technology to enhance student learning and improve student access to high quality courses in various modalities (e.g., F2F, online, blended, etc.).

This is a highly collaborative position that will work closely with a global and culturally diverse team of administrators, faculty and staff to ensure that Akilah’s academic technology systems are well-supported and being used optimally. This position will have an initial emphasis on administering Akilah’s new learning management system, Canvas, and on developing and facilitating Canvas related training and preparing and maintaining related documentation.

In addition, the Director will provide oversight in all aspects of academic technology in the areas of operational planning for new instructional technology applications, faculty academic technology initiatives and support services, and the evaluation and assessment of various initiatives as they relate to the effective assessment of student learning.

 

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Learning Management System Administration and Product Management

  • Act as technical expert providing support to students, faculty and academic support staff using the Canvas LMS. This will include creating instructional how to videos and documentation for for Canvas related issues and implementation.
  • Address help requests submitted via ticketing system, as well as respond to escalated issues and resolve or refer to specialized expert as needed.
  • Identify system issues requiring escalation to the outside vendor; serve as a liaison with the outside vendor and internal technology team contacts to troubleshoot, research and resolve issues related to system functionality; works to resolve time sensitive technical concerns in active and inactive courses.
  • Process all content management & coordination requests; assist with the software integration of courses; complete all import/export and content copying tasks for effective and timely delivery of courses and services.
  • Provide input on process improvements, user experience issues, feature gaps and contribute to the technology roadmap.
  • Perform trimester course management tasks; tracks course revisions and history.
  • Generate appropriate e-Learning reports for internal and external users; performs database creation, querying and data mining functions.
  • Stay current with learning management and other related computer technology and integration software.
  • Create and provide training workshops/sessions on the use and features of the system to faculty, students and staff.
  • Upload/maintain/review/update csv files for account, terms, courses and SIS ID.

Other

  • Provide individual consultation and facilitate group learning experiences to faculty, academic staff and students on best use of academic technology in physical and virtual classrooms.
  • Provide leadership for project management for short and long-term academic technology related initiatives (e.g. application evaluations, pilots, learning communities, committee participation, mini-grant projects, etc.).
  • Support efforts to develop and offer innovative instructional experiences and academic programs including online and hybrid courses.
  • Perform additional duties and tasks as assigned by supervisor.

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree in education, information systems or related field required; Master’s degree preferred

Experience:

Three years of technology experience in higher education, of which at least two years involved the administration of a learning management system (such as: Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Pearson Learning Studio, etc) and basic exposure to HTML and CSS.
At least one year of experience working with geographically dispersed teams.

Additional Qualifications:

  • Clear and balanced vision of how technology can be used to support learning, teaching, and research with strong familiarity and experience with both physical (classroom) and virtual (online) learning environments
  • Extensive knowledge of best practices in technology applications in teaching and learning, trends and future direction of academic technology support services
  • Experience with installing and configuring LTI tools
  • Advanced level expertise in diagnostic techniques for problem-solving and troubleshooting
  • Strong attention to detail and ability to learn new technologies quickly
  • Strong organizational, time and project management skills with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to juggle and manage multiple, competing priorities and deadlines.
  • Exceptionally motivated by the idea of building a global community of lifelong learners
  • High level of emotional intelligence and the ability to earn the trust of your team and peers
  • An enthusiastic proponent and impeccable user of all available systems in order to continually drive improvements in operational efficiency; proficiency with Google Drive applications, Asana and Microsoft Office applications strongly preferred
  • Relentless resourcefulness, refusing to be slowed down by real or perceived obstacles
  • Excitement about working in a vibrant and evolving startup environment, with a willingness to accept new responsibilities as needed

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