She is a nationally identified leader in her field of educational design and style and a revered teacher
Jill Stefaniak, affiliate professor in the section of workforce education and learning and educational technological innovation inside of the Mary Frances Early University of Schooling, has been awarded the 2023 Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for On line Instructing. Stefaniak is a nationally acknowledged chief in her field of tutorial design and a respected teacher who results in significant on the internet discovering ordeals.
“Dr. Stefaniak’s contributions commence with direct influence on each of her pupils and lengthen to colleagues each inside and past the campuses of UGA,” explained S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for tutorial affairs and provost. “She is genuinely invested in creating an partaking on-line learning surroundings that results in material mastery by means of authentic software of the study course content. Her efficacy and excellence in on-line instruction are the factors she is really deserving of the Instructing Excellence Award for On the web Instructing.”
Stefaniak is recognised among her colleagues and pupils for her commitment to high quality on the internet instructing. She strategically types her courses to inspire her college students to attain their plans, and she incorporates provider-finding out initiatives, so her learners can utilize program articles to true-planet eventualities in their very own communities. On best of this, Stefaniak is recognised for her capabilities to interact with her college students to inspire interaction, collaboration and feedback. In a recent class evaluation, a person scholar wrote that “she promotes an atmosphere, even on line, the place you just want to soar in and take part.”
“Dr. Stefaniak is identified as an outstanding trainer,” claimed Lloyd Rieber, head of the Section of Occupation and Data Studies. “She strives to create a learner-centered ecosystem in which learners set their personal finding out objectives and reach them. All over the system, she supports her pupils to replicate on their finding out, notably on the uncertainties which are inherent in instructional structure follow.”
She is also regarded as a mentor and advisor who helps any college student operating on investigation or projects in educational layout. She fortunately guides any doctoral students implementing for systems in her field, and she also shares her expertise in online instruction with college students organizing to develop into educators themselves.
Stefaniak has been given numerous accolades for her study that focuses on layout methods to improve the qualified development of beginner educational designers. Her study has been posted in the prestigious journal, Educational Technological know-how Analysis and Enhancement, and a single of her papers was awarded the 2019 Excellent Design and Enhancement Paper by the Association for Training Communications and Engineering. Most recently, Stefaniak was awarded the 2022 Finest Paper from the American Schooling Analysis Association for her do the job, “Examination of Systemic Variables that Effect Educational Designers’ Procedures in Increased Schooling.”
Stefaniak applies her investigate throughout her instruction, and she teaches her graduate-degree students the worth of bridging analysis and follow. In her on-line State-of-the-art Tutorial Layout program, her pupils understand how to evaluate study article content to contemplate how distinctive contexts affect the implementation of instructional style.
She successfully works by using Good quality Matters Better Training expectations and the rules of Common Design for Discovering (UDL) to create her instruction and guide her students. These instructive procedures permit Stefaniak to develop a learner-centered ecosystem that is interactive, pertinent and supportive for her students in their long run work as educational designers.
In the expanding virtual earth, Stefaniak has labored intently with the Office of Online Discovering, and, in 2020, she acquired a Mastering Systems Grant to produce on the web resources for incoming university initially-yr students. Stefaniak was also a member of the 2019-2020 Support-Understanding Fellows cohort with the Office environment of Assistance-Studying exactly where she created a training course to engage graduate learners in furnishing effectiveness evaluations for non-profit organizations. In 2020, Stefaniak was picked to be a Chancellor’s Mastering Scholar by the College Process of Georgia, wherever she supports school in creating authentic digital mastering encounters for their pupils.
“I am honored and humbled to be the receiver of this award. When providing instruction on the internet poses its individual set of issues for instructors and learners, the alternatives to access a greater audience and learn from pupils who are geographically dispersed is genuinely worthwhile,” claimed Stefaniak. “As instructional designers, we are educated to aid mastering and improve effectiveness. I truly feel quite lucky that I get to do this on a daily at UGA operating with students who will be impacting schooling throughout all disciplines and industries.”
