Deidre Witan Email & Phone Number

My primary responsibility was driving innovations in the learning experience design. I worked cross-functionally to identify challenges Home Care Aides face, and designed creative solutions using new technologies, training programs, or services. I developed these ideas through a rigorous prototyping and validation process, eventually extending the most successful options into pilot programs.Additionally, I led the Multimedia Team as we design and produce creative videos, animations, illustrations, and voiceover. We worked closely with the instructional design and communication teams to meet their goals and the needs of the learners.

I lead a team of instructional designers in creating online, in-person, and flipped-classroom training courses for home care aides.I designed a 70-hour flipped classroom course for home care aides to learn advanced social and problem-solving skills. The course launched with a small pilot program in October 2016 and then went on to full-scale implementation in February 2017. I built interactive online learning materials, wrote texts and assessments, created diagrams and posters, designed all of the facilitator-led Learning Labs, and led facilitator training sessions. After the success of this course, I was promoted to Lead and given the additional responsibility of hiring, training, and mentoring the instructional design team. Since then, I have been building courses in Articulate Storyline, conducting facilitator training, and leading the development of original videos.

Greater New York City Area

Interactable produces games designed to teach social skills. Our first app was uChoose, an iPad game that simulates social situations. The exercises are designed to help kids with autism practice social skills and explore the results of their decisions.I also worked on the design of Making Faces, a free iPad game where kids build different facial expressions and take pictures of their own interpretations of the emotions.Our most recent product is Customary, a game for adults to teach social skills of a foreign culture. Our first release was for Columbia business students traveling to Japan, and now we are working with NYU to bring Customary to their incoming class of international students.

Greater New York City Area

I'm in charge of visual and interactive design for a series of e-learning courses preparing teachers to implement the Common Core State Standards. I primarily work in Articulate Storyline, building engaging and visually appealing interactive exercises that reinforce the core concepts of the course. I act as a liaison between the course writers, the video editor, and the marketing team to insure that the courses meet instructional goals as well as remain consistent with the brand image.

I contributed to the design of 72 learning games for a K-7 math curriculum. I also managed the schedule, communication, and organization of the third-party development of these games. I oversaw the production process and maintained good relationships with the many vendors and stakeholders. In a separate project, I also managed the production and review process of over 3000 art assets.

OChemPrep is an educational game studio working on several organic chemistry games. I helped them build a new brand image for the studio, including a new logo and website.

Research related to the design and development of an evidence-based assessment tool that assists teachers and researchers in crafting personalized, qualitative assessments of observed student behavior.

At the MIT Education Arcade, I wrote educational questlines for The Radix Endeavor, an MMO game that teaches high schoolers science and math concepts. The quests are designed to scaffold a student's problem-solving skills. The quests are fully aligned with the Common Core standards for mathematics and the Next Generation science standards.

I assisted Dr. Karen Brennan in her course T-550: Designing for Learning by Creating. I led a group of twelve graduate students through the main concepts of the course, which focused on constructionism, building on the constructivist theories of Piaget and linking to current work at the MIT Lifelong Kindergarten lab.

San Francisco Bay Area

Evaluating the impact of the mobile video game Tunnel Tail on adolescents’ attitudes and perceptions of drug use.

Greater Boston Area

I designed concepts for several games that will be used as assessments in conjunction with existing BrainPop videos and other educational materials.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

At the MIT Education Arcade, I was part of a team working on The Radix Endeavor, which is a multiplayer educational video game designed to teach high school math and science topics. My main job was to create companion curriculum for teachers to use with the game in their classrooms, and to make sure that the game development maintains a strong focus on the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards. I also visited local schools to test elements of the game with high school students.You can see more at http://radixendeavor.wordpress.com/

Greater New York City Area

I taught prospective law school students how to excel at the LSAT, which includes strategic reading, argument analysis, formal logic, and deduction skills. I also tutored and taught ACT, SAT, and PSAT prep to high school students. The courses cover not only the content tested on the exams, but also strategies for approaching each question type.All classes were held both in person and live online using the Adobe Connect platform.

I managed academics for graduate test prep classes in Alabama and Mississippi, which included recruiting, hiring and training new teachers, as well as supporting current teachers. I was responsible for classes and tutoring in ten locations throughout the two states.

Birmingham, Alabama Area

I taught private saxophone lessons to students of all ages and skill levels. I also conducted a jazz improvisation class for students who played various instruments.

Vestavia Hills, Al

I oversaw general operations for the gym, headed up special projects, designed and maintained the company website, and was responsible for the center when the General Manager was unavailable. I was also solely responsible for advertising and marketing to bring in new business.

Huntsville, Alabama Area

I provided both in-person and online support to CEO, CFO, and Marketing VP. I initiated a sales newsletter, managed a CRM database, and designed and maintained the company website.

Central Alabama

I researched and reported on recently deposed civil cases for Birmingham, Bessemer, Anniston, and Pell City.

Master Of Education (M.Ed.), Technology, Innovation, And Education

Activities and Societies: A Cappella ChoirDuring my time at Harvard, I focused primarily on the design of interactive educational.

Dual Enrollment, Games For Social Change

I took Scott Osterweil's Games for Social Change course as part of my graduate studies in education.

B.M.E., Instrumental Music

Activities and Societies: Delta Omicron, Samford Steel, Birmingham Saxophone Ensemble, HypatiaClass B Alabama Teacher Certification.

Dual Enrollment

Activities and Societies: Wind Ensemble