Paul Smit Email and Phone Number

I worked together with our General Managers and my fellow directors in the business to foster healthy, trusting relationships between 2U and key stakeholders, especially faculty members, at leading global universities during the ideation, production and iteration of our online short courses. During my time at GetSmarter/2U, I was very fortunate to know and collaborate with phenomenal people at MIT, Cambridge, UCT and several universities in SA, the US, and Mexico.In my role, I… Show more I worked together with our General Managers and my fellow directors in the business to foster healthy, trusting relationships between 2U and key stakeholders, especially faculty members, at leading global universities during the ideation, production and iteration of our online short courses. During my time at GetSmarter/2U, I was very fortunate to know and collaborate with phenomenal people at MIT, Cambridge, UCT and several universities in SA, the US, and Mexico.In my role, I supported our Lead Learning Designers in meeting internal and University Partner quality standards and ensuring consistency of excellence in academic content. Part of this entailed facilitating alignment amongst production teams on the academic ethos of the university and its approach to continuing education.Within my portfolio, I collaborated in the design of new processes and the refinement of quality standards. I reviewed key documentation and outputs (Learning Design Plans, Handbooks, style guides, etc.) to ensure consistency across courses within the same university portfolio, and reviewed and approved all Learning Design Plans for new courses in development with the assigned University. For a while I was also accountable for the contracting and management of Subject Matter Experts, who provided subject matter guidance to Learning Designers during course production.As part of ensuring continued quality, I work closely with our Course Iterations unit to drive the ongoing maintenance of courses, and played a leading role in the recruitment and establishment of that team and the definition of its processes. Show less

I started as the University Portfolio Lead for the entire ZA portfolio of university courses, which was GetSmarter's largest and oldest portfolio at the time. That included oversight of courses with the University of Cape Town, the UCT Graduate School of Business, the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB-ED), and WITS. The business was growing rapidly at the time and it wasn't long before my portfolio expanded to include American universities: UC Davis, University of Dayton, and… Show more I started as the University Portfolio Lead for the entire ZA portfolio of university courses, which was GetSmarter's largest and oldest portfolio at the time. That included oversight of courses with the University of Cape Town, the UCT Graduate School of Business, the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB-ED), and WITS. The business was growing rapidly at the time and it wasn't long before my portfolio expanded to include American universities: UC Davis, University of Dayton, and Tec de Monterrey. In this role, which I was part of establishing, I was accountable for the consistency, academic integrity, and the quality of the learning experience across and within the academic products that we created and ran with the University Partners. I ensured alignment amongst production teams in new course development and course maintenance on the academic ethos of the university and its approach to continuing education. I was a liaison between the business and the universities. Building and facilitating trusting relationships with faculty and key university stakeholders as well as collaborating closely with internal team members across the business was a core part of the role and critical to ensuring the growth and continuation of the portfolios.Internally, I was a senior member of the growing Learning Design department, managing and supporting managers within a very high-functioning team. Show less

I was head of the Learning Development team. My main job was to manage a team of e-learning and training content developers and to take overall responsibility for all learning development projects. This required having a good knowledge of technical, creative and cognitive requirements, designing and compiling a training solution that combines all of those aspects, and communicating it to stakeholders in a way that makes business sense.Depending on the projects, and often across multiple… Show more I was head of the Learning Development team. My main job was to manage a team of e-learning and training content developers and to take overall responsibility for all learning development projects. This required having a good knowledge of technical, creative and cognitive requirements, designing and compiling a training solution that combines all of those aspects, and communicating it to stakeholders in a way that makes business sense.Depending on the projects, and often across multiple projects at the same time, my day-to-day would include:> Meeting and working closely with clients (often including senior management) to first analyse their needs, and later to report on progress.> Producing a cost analysis and project plan, and adapting to changing requirements.> Researching and designing a training programme or solution that will meet the needs, on the basis of sound instructional design and adult learning principles.> Managing the client, the subject matter experts, and my team throughout the project cycle.As part of senior management, I was a key partner in every aspect of the business, including determining the high-level and strategic direction of the company, and defining our services and market, as well as inward-facing functions, such as people and office management.In short, this job was a healthy blend of business management, project and account management, and hands on creative and technical design and development. Show less

> Course and assessment development - turning scripts into interactive and engaging e-Learning courses, using Articulate Studio, Adobe Captivate and PowerPoint> Graphic editing in Photoshop. > Course scripting / storyboarding in line with Instructional Design principles> Content delivery via our Learning Content Management System (LCMS).> Additional research where required.