Chris Hallum, M.Ed.

After completing a master’s degree in music composition at the University of Texas at Austin, I served for two years as a music instructor at Armstrong Community Music School. My aptitude for curriculum development flourished in this position, as it not only required me to teach from existing materials, but also to create my own learning resources for students whose needs were not met by the texts we were using in our lessons. Students often expressed interest in learning about topics for which there were no age-appropriate learning materials, and so I routinely created exercises and assignments to teach specific concepts. Since then, I have been fascinated by learning design, and the creation of specific content for a person or group of people has kept me busy on several side projects.

Building off my experience with technology and digital media as the director of undergraduate music admissions at the University of Georgia, three years ago I accepted a position at the University of South Carolina’s University Advising Center. My time at UofSC can be characterized by steady growth in the field of learning design. In my role as Communications Associate, I honed my project management abilities, and collaborated with a diverse team to develop high-quality training materials and resources. I have created and contributed to a wide range of content—from short announcement videos to longer form training videos, as well as visual guides and e-learning modules—some intended for advisors and some for students. To track the many moving parts involved in project development, I have established a meticulous project management system in Trello, ensuring that we stay ahead of schedule and never miss a deadline.

To develop learning materials, I have utilized a diverse set of technology platforms including TechSmith’s Camtasia and Snagit, the Adobe Suite, Pixelmator, Articulate Rise 360, Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Studio One Pro, Blackboard, Canvas, and the Microsoft 365 Suite. Combined with my previous experience at the University of Georgia where I gave primarily in-person Information Sessions, this position has allowed me to become proficient in working with a team to combine instructional design best practices with strong visual communication principles to make outstanding training content. At the University Advising Center, I was eventually promoted to Coordinator of Educational Technology where I continued to make high impact content for a number of months. 

In March 2022, I was hired as an Instructional Designer by the Office of Research at the University of Georgia where I create and maintain e-learning products for the Research Integrity & Safety Support Services division. Given my passion for instruction, I have been working on the M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technologies at the University of South Carolina, a program that I completed in May 2022. My projects for the degree program primarily centered around my interest in learning technology, and have included performing needs assessments, creating podcast episodes, and developing how-to content for faculty and staff on using Camtasia and PowerPoint to create high quality instructional videos.