Andrew Smyk is the Program Coordinator for the Interactive Multimedia post graduate program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.
My educational interests lie in information visualization, interface design, user-centered design and human computer interaction as it applies to information retrieval and retention in e-learning environments. Education no longer happens solely in the classroom and adult learners’ demand for lifelong learning is pushing more and more content into online environments. As a learner and teacher, I am interested in how technology augments learning outside of the traditional classroom and how the web presentation of course material is processed and retained by learners. In my opinion, each learning management system that I have used has shortcomings from the perspectives of the student, faculty/instructor and web designer / developer. This perception has led to my interest in studying collaborative environments for e-learning and knowledge transfer.
“Creating involves making; making interactive stuff involves technology.”
Specialties
- User Experience (UX)
- Interface Design
- Information Architecture
- User-Centered Design/Usability
- Mobile Web Design
- Online Learning and Collaborative Environments
- Instructional and Curriculum Design and Development
- Agile Project Management
He has worked on a college-wide academic strategy initiative for increasing interdisciplinary and interprofessional learning experiences for students. In the past four years, Andrew has been researching and implementing ways to increase student engagement through technology and social media, with a focus on mobile learning (mlearning) and communication. Education no longer happens solely in the classroom and adult learners’ demand for lifelong learning is pushing more and more content into online environments. He is interested in how technology augments learning outside of the traditional classroom and how the web presentation of course material is processed and retained by learners.
Past client work includes Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, Alliance-Atlantic, Molson Canadian and the Royal Bank of Canada. Andrew writes about how kids adapt and use technology on his blog and has spoken at FITC:Screens; Web Conference at Penn State (PSUWeb), IxDA Toronto, Editors’ Association of Canada, Full Stack TO, DevTO, PSEWeb, HighEdWeb Region and National conferences.
Andrew has a Master of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto and is an educator & user experience designer with a focus on mobile design, computer-mediated learning and communication, a coffee aficionado, avid cyclist and HTML5 Evangelist.