Assistant Director, Digital Language Lab

About the role

The Assistant Director, Digital Language Lab leads the integration of technology into teaching, learning, and/or research activities connected with foreign language programs. This role provides operational leadership for the integration of technology into teaching & learning, in support of the Stanford Language Center and works with faculty to integrate technology into Language courses, pedagogy, academic programming/events, and teaching & learning activities, including placement testing and language assessments.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Stanford Language Center leadership in the planning and development of a new and more efficient process for administering the SOPI and WPA assessments to over 500+ students in a reduced testing period.
• Succeed in leading and managing the administration and delivery of the SOPI and WPA assessments.
• Manage student access to assessments and coordinate with the Canvas development team on the verification and troubleshooting of student responses, etc.
• Lead creation and maintenance of placement testing Canvas sites. Provide technical support for students and instructors related to these Canvas sites. Escalate issues to Canvas Tier 2 team as appropriate.
• Oversee management of the Digital Language Lab learning spaces; Live25 admin for the spaces. Coordinate access management for spaces with the Stanford Language Center and Registrar’s Office.
• Develop a vision and plan for upgrading the Digital Language Lab including new/upgraded AV equipment and the selection of flexible furniture to support multiple learning arrangements, etc. Collaborate with the VPSA LTS AV Design & Engineering team on the build out of the plan.
• Lead the development of resources, seminars, courses, or workshops to disseminate information about uses of technology.
• Provide language instructors with orientation and classroom training on the use of the Digital Language Lab learning spaces.
• Actively encourage and support the use of computer-based tools by developing and implementing new tools and resources for instructors or students, assisting them with the tools, disseminating knowledge of these tools throughout the program or university, and creating and supporting an infrastructure that allows use of the tools in research, teaching and/or learning.
• Serve as Canvas Local Administrator for the Language Center engaging with VPSA LTS and Canvas local administrators to stay abreast of emerging features and instructional technologies.
• Provide Tier 1 Canvas and instructional technology support connecting instructors to Canvas Tier 2 or specialized resources as appropriate.
• Initiate and lead projects to develop innovative uses of technology for research, student learning and/or community building.
• Consult on development of software applications, or work with on- or off-campus resources to develop or adapt software solutions.
• Continue to provide direction/input to drive the technology road map for SOPI/WPA software development.
• Provide key stakeholder input to prioritize the SOPI and WPA app feature enhancements for the Canvas team, which would best support the new processes for administering SOPI and WPA assessments.
• Consult with and help instructors and/or departments to incorporate technologies into faculty research projects, course design and curricula and/or co-curricula in support of student learning goals.
• Consult regularly with language instructors regarding optimal use/integration of technology into their courses.

Qualifications

• An advanced degree in world languages, second language acquisition, or language teaching & learning plus seven years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Strong understanding of data design, architecture, relational databases and data modeling.
• Demonstrated experience in designing applications or tools; thorough understanding of software development life cycle and quality control practices; demonstrated experience with object oriented programming, scripting, and/or relational databases.
• Ability to define and solve logical problems for highly technical applications.
• Outstanding communication skills with both technical and non-technical clients.
• Demonstrated experience leading activities on structured team development projects.
• Ability to recognize and recommend necessary changes in user and/or operations procedures.
• Demonstrated expertise with instructional design methodologies, pedagogical issues, and best practices for classroom, online, and hybrid learning.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a complex workload, prioritize tasks, and use good judgment in providing services based on goals.
• Excellent leadership skills.