Faculty Training
Skillzy reimagined faculty development through motivational design and immersive storytelling, transforming tool training into a mission-driven learning journey.
Role
Lead Instructional Designer | Learning Strategist
Timeline
6-week implementation (plus pre/post evaluation)
Audience
Higher education faculty across disciplines and tech proficiency levels
Tools
Canvas LMS, Canva, Camtasia, ChatGPT, Zoom, Badgr
My Contribution
Full-cycle design from needs analysis to evaluation. Led experience strategy, learning architecture, tool alignment, and motivational design.
Faculty Development (FD) Wasn't Working Anymore.
Despite growing investment in edtech, faculty engagement in professional development was plummeting. Usage of LMS tools plateaued. Workshops became one-size-fits-all and often missed the mark.
Faculty expressed:
What was missing wasn’t information. It was motivation, relevance, and design empathy.
To redesign PD, I started by diagnosing the real barriers.
Key Insight:
Faculty didn’t need more content—they needed connection, context, and confidence.
Design Frameworks Embedded:
ARCS Model (Keller)
Designed for Attention and Relevance through narrative, choice, and real-life classroom scenarios.
Self-Determination Theory
(Deci & Ryan)
Embedded autonomy, competence, and relatedness in every activity.
Backward Design (Wiggins & McTighe)
Tools were not taught in isolation; each was aligned with faculty-chosen pedagogical outcomes.
Constructivism
Faculty were positioned as problem solvers and creators, not passive recipients.
Gamification Philosophy:
Gamification was not a decorative layer, it was the core instructional strategy. It was used not to “make learning fun,” but to make learning autonomous, socially rewarding, emotionally engaging, and instructionally grounded.
Structure:
Six “missions” over six weeks, each focused on a tool (e.g., Canva, ChatGPT, Camtasia, Zoom, and Canvas LMS features).
Each week featured a real-world teaching challenge (e.g., redesigning a syllabus visually, flipping a lesson, or simulating AI writing prompts).
Immersive Features
Animal Personas
Faculty chose characters (e.g., Clever Fox, Bold Owl) to represent their journey—adding humor and reducing performance pressure.
Narrative-Based Missions
Each module posed authentic classroom dilemmas, prompting tool-based solutions (e.g., flip a lecture with Camtasia, use ChatGPT for feedback scaffolds).
Interactive Learning Zones
Canvas was reimagined as a gameboard—faculty unlocked paths, earned badges, and posted wins.
Recognition Systems
Progress was celebrated through:
Badges (via Badgr)
Leaderboards
Weekly spotlights for creative solutions
Following a SAM (Successive Approximation Model) approach, I refined content weekly based on real-time feedback.
Early Feedback Loops
Pilot faculty tested: Accessibility, Challenge level, and Instructional clarity
Modular Templates
Every tool mission used backward design, aligning to Bloom’s taxonomy and UDL.
Differentiated Support
Weekly Virtual Office Hours, Walkthrough video, Optional help zones, Screencasts, Visual learning maps, and Open discussion boards.
Kirkpatrick Evaluation Framework:
Level 1 – Reaction
96% of participants rated the experience as “very engaging” and “unlike any PD I’ve done before” (Post-course survey, n = 49).
Level 2 – Learning
Participants self-reported a 60% increase in confidence using at least three featured tools.
Level 3 – Behavior
Within two months, 70% of participants had implemented two or more tools in their course design (validated via LMS analytics and post-course follow-up).
Engagement Data:
Completion Rate: 87% (Previous PD averaged ~41%).
Discussion Contributions: Over 200+ peer interactions and collaborative posts.
Mission Completion: 100% participation through Week 3, and 92% course-wide completion rate.
Post-Launch Improvements:
Introduced tiered challenges for novice and advanced faculty.
Created a follow-up Skillzy: AI Edition based on overwhelming demand.
What Worked:
Gamification added structure and fun
Personas built psychological safety
Realistic problems grounded learning
Personal paths drove ownership
What I’d Improve:
Add role-based tracks (e.g., adjuncts, instructional designers)
Include peer review with transparent rubrics
Expand post-course tiers (which I later created)
Skillzy wasn’t just a successful pilot. It became a model, showing how human-centered instructional design can energize even skeptical educators.
My Growth as a Designer
This project solidified my identity as an instructional designer who doesn't just build learning content, I build learning environments. Skillzy demonstrated that with the right strategy, even the most hesitant educators can become confident, creative, and tool-fluent. It sharpened my practice in motivational design, multimodal learning, and iterative evaluation.
Testimonials
Associate Professor
College of Arts & Sciences
This didn’t feel like training, it felt like real teaching again.
Tenured Professor
Agricultural Sciences
I finally used Camtasia and didn’t feel overwhelmed. That’s a win.
Professor
College of Engineering
Every week, I was solving a real problem, not just watching another tutorial.
Assistant Professor
Department of Social Sciences
I’ve done a lot of PD, but this is the first one that actually spoke to my classroom.
Associate Professor
Business School
Skillzy gave me the confidence to redesign my course with purpose.
Adjunct Faculty
School of Media & Design
The blend of choice, creativity, and challenge was perfect.
Adjunct Faculty
Communication Studies
The missions made it fun, I forgot I was learning new tech.
Instrucional Designer
College of Education
The animal personas were silly, and exactly what I needed to feel safe trying new things.
Teaching Fellow
Department of Psychology
Skillzy changed how I see professional development. I wish all PD were designed like this.