Dr. Brian Beatty
Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies and Instructional Technologies, San Francisco State University
Our synchronous connection tools have to do a better job of supporting the ability for asynchronous students to get some value from this experience and in-class students as well. Make it easier for faculty to use these web conferencing tools while they're actually teaching in a classroom.
Key Interview Takeaways
The COVID and racism pandemics have made the need to support students in different modes of learning more compelling. They exposed gaps in technology access for students, the heavy reliance on classroom teaching, and the underuse of instructional technology by faculty.
Institutions of higher education need to focus not only on business continuity but also on academic continuity and preparations for different ways of carrying out their educational ventures.
As problem solvers, instructional designers are well positioned to bring change by emphasising a variety of best practices, having a range of solutions and developing ‘design stories’ to introduce new ways of instruction to faculty.
Biography
Dr. Brian Beatty is Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies and Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Brian’s primary areas of interest and research include social interaction in online learning, flipped classroom implementation, and developing instructional design theory for Hybrid-Flexible learning environments. At SFSU, Brian pioneered the development and evaluation of the HyFlex course design model for blended learning environments, implementing a “student-directed-hybrid” approach to better support student learning.
Previously (2012 – 2020), Brian was Vice President for Academic Affairs Operations at SFSU, overseeing the Academic Technology unit and coordinating the use of technology in the academic programs across the university. Brian received his Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2002. Dr. Beatty has more than 25 years experience as a classroom teacher, trainer, and instructional designer at high schools, higher education institutions, and in the United States Navy.