Case Study
Sonya McChristie
Senior Learning TechnologistI am a Senior Learning Technologist with CELT, responsible for leading a team of six content developers, together working with academics to produce high quality learning materials for use in their teaching. I am also the module leader for 'Designing Learning and Assessment in Higher Education', a postgraduate module offered as part of our PG Cert in Academic Practice.
Following completion of the CELT's own Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in 2017, I gained first Fellowship and then Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and have also sucessfully completed a second Postgradute Certificate with the University, in Leadership and Change. In 2016 I gained a Masters degree in English from the Open University with a dissertaion on the concept of abjection in the works of Kafka and Orwell, for which I recieved a Merit. This followed from my award in 2012 of my Bachelors in Humanties and Philosophy, also from OU. I have been a Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology since 2012, and became an assessor for ALT after my sucessful portfolio review in 2016.
I joined the University of Sunderland in 2014, having previously spent six years at Northumbria University, four of which were with their learning technologies team providing second line customer support, principally for Blackboard Learn and PebblePad. Prior to my specialisation in learning technology, I worked on Northumbria Univeristy's IT Service Desk for a year after moving to the North East from Blackpool where I was an ICT Officer at Blackpool Council.
Teaching and supervision
- Module Leader for EDPM11: Designing Learning and Assessment in Higher Education
- Bespoke CPD programmes and sessions delivered by the Learning Technology Team
- Instructional design of the University's MOOC portfolio
- Assesor for ALT, the Association for Learning Technology
Areas of expertise
- VLE system administration (particularly Canvas, Blackboard Learn, and LearningStudio)
- A wide variety of learning technology tools, apps, and services, and thier pedagogic value
- Learning materials development and content creation
- Customer support
Research
- Any and all digital technologies which can be used to support and enhance teaching, learning and assessment
- Virtual, augmented and mixed reality systems and their application for educational purposes
Publications
Esteem Indicators
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2018)
- Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology (2012)
Contact:
0191 515 3820
sonya.mcchristie@sunderland.ac.uk
Centre for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching (CELT)
CELT, Second Floor, St Peter’s Gate, St Peter’s Campus, Charles Street, Sunderland, SR6 0AN