Rayan Fayed

2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: Reimagining Faculty Development - A Personalized and Ongoing JourneyLebanon

Rayan Fayed is the senior learning design manager at the American University of Beirut, and is an emergent leader in e-learning, with around 20 years of experience. Rayane led the development and implementation of the institutional E-learning strategic planning, the development of blended and online programs, and managed relationships with E-learning strategic partners.

She has in-depth knowledge of interactive instructional design, technology and instructional systems for developing strategies and approaches that enhance teaching practices. Rayan collaborates with educators to align learning outcomes with instructional activities and assessment methods. She is an expert at bridging academic pedagogy with online delivery formats.

Rayan has a background in computer science, a masters’ degree in online education, and is certified as an online learning leader from the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning. She believes instructional design is the ultimate means to seek excellence in learning. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Reimagining Faculty Development - A Personalized and Ongoing Journey

The aim of this project was to convert the American University of Beirut’s faculty development program for online course design, to a personalized ongoing online experience. There were issues with the old version of the training that this project addressed. The old version of the training featured non-homogeneous cohorts, so that faculty members who joined the training had varying levels of comfort with technology, and different needs related to the nature of the course being redesigned. Formerly, faculty members completed a one-time training and were not required to stay up-to-date with new processes, and new teaching trends or new technology tools. The old system was also very time-consuming for facilitators and took time away from their other duties to run this type of training in a hybrid format.

To address these issues, the project set out to offer faculty members a self-run adaptive learning experience that targets different needs, learning styles and time availability. The aim was to enable faculty to continuously reflect on and change their teaching approaches throughout their life at AUB. The program now suggests training modules that are personalized to the needs of each faculty member, to support individualized learning. The ultimate goal was to build learning communities that allowed faculty members to engage in meaningful discussions with peers about improving student learning through the effective use of technology and to support them as they applied new knowledge and techniques during online lessons and in their classrooms.

These goals were accomplished by recruiting a pilot group of 27 AUB faculty members to test out the new trainings. There were also 5 staff members who underwent a "Train the Trainers" course. Training additional trainers on the updated program and tools ensures that the new knowledge and systems can continue to spread throughout various departments. Each module focused on a different topic, such as student success, facilitation tips and online communications and assessment. These modules were presented through highly interactive media as well as pre-recorded presentations that prepared the faculty to engage in discussion forums, share their work and get access to a toolkit with templates for course design.

"Thank you for all your work and support for all teachers." - Project Participant

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Rayan was a participant in the IVLP Project: The Next Generation of E-Practitioners, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education.

Rayan's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "I was fortunate to learn about the American system and to connect with leaders in higher education. The IVLP program gave me the opportunity to meet with a like-minded group and to become part of a global network."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually 

San Francisco, CA; Washington DC; Indianapolis, IN; Boston, MA; San Antonio, TX

"The [IVLP] program was very enriching and developed my leadership skills." - Rayan Fayed

Country: Lebanon 

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