“Aung was informative, clear and very easy to talk to and made me feel that any question was acceptable and meaningful. Fabulous instructor!”
This is one of many pieces of positive feedback Aung Phyo has received for his Instructional Consulting sessions. During his three years as an Instructional Consultant at 2U, Aung has been empowering educators to excel as instructors in their online learning environments.
What is your role at 2U, and how do your values align with your work?
As an Instructional Consultant, I meet with educators and help them become better leaders in the digital learning community. I specialize in integrating tools to improve the student experience and outline metrics for success.
Education has always been a huge part of my upbringing. I come from a culture of education where there is a lot of respect for educators. When I came to the US, I really liked the approach to education here, where you are taught critical thinking and problem solving skills. I’ve worked with a lot of different populations of learners (first graders, child care providers, recently arrived refugees) and now, here at 2U, I appreciate how much education and technology complement each other.
What is one thing that may surprise educators about what you do?
No matter where your confidence is in your abilities (digitally or pedagogically), I try to meet you where you are and upskill you to where you want to be. I think one thing I do differently is an informal needs assessment when we meet, and I tailor my approach on what YOU want to get out of the consultation with me.
How can educators best utilize your services?
The exploration of technology tools to gauge where you are is really important. When faculty come to me with questions, topics, and objectives, our time is more efficient. However, I don't want to discourage faculty if they are not prepared with all of that, because sometimes it's hard to have questions for something you don't know. Coming in with an open mind to new technology is always appreciated.
I want educators to understand that our objectives are very much aligned. My ultimate goal is to ensure your success as an educator by increasing your competence and confidence in the learning space so that you feel empowered to be the best instructor you can be.
How do you integrate technology with purpose? Do you have a tool that you recommend educators use?
Technology is sometimes viewed as the “monster under the bed,” and we’re afraid of being overwhelmed by learning new tools. Change is scary. I’ve felt that way before, but I had to get used to the idea that educational technology is a tool, not a barrier. Personally, I use AI tools regularly, whether that’s for spell check or to get diverse answers and perspectives to questions that I didn't really consider myself. I tend to gravitate to perplexity.ai for personal use. I even used it to plan my honeymoon!
Professionally, my favorite part of using technology in the workspace is the opportunity to collaborate. With the tools we now have, collaboration can happen seamlessly. For faculty, I encourage them to use Padlet because it’s so multifunctional. Padlet can be a collaborative doc in itself or a way for students to take formal or informal assessments…tons of options.
If you would like to schedule a consultation with Aung or any of our other dedicated Instructional Consultants to enhance your Canvas learning platform expertise (or to get Aung’s coveted Korean BBQ dip recipe) click here!
Aung has helped me many times. He is a great asset to the people he works with!
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