Mrs Tamsyn Smith
Senior Learning Designer Team Lead
Tamsyn began her career in education as an adult basic skills tutor before teaching English and Media Studies in local schools and colleges for nearly a decade. Her interest in the potential of Technology Enhanced Learning grew as she worked as a Learning Technologist in Higher Education, and she joined the University of Southampton in October 2012.
As Senior Learning Designer Team Lead, Tamsyn manages a small group of Learning Designers working on a wide range of projects across the University. She also offers specialist expertise and support in Technology Enhanced Learning, curriculum design, content creation, and development opportunities to enable staff to be confident and competent users of technology and embed evidence-based TEL approaches into their practice. She shares good practice in relation to the development of blended courses. In relation to this, she has project-managed MOOCs in various faculties and supported their learning design.
A reviewer on the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program for a number of years, Tamsyn was the key author of the University's Blackboard Baseline. She has also written guidance on hybrid and hyflex teaching. Tamsyn stays up-to-date with and disseminates new developments and good practice in the fields of learning technology and curriculum design, both locally and nationally/internationally.
Tamsyn’s interest in accessibility has led her to work as co-chair of the Digital Accessibility Community of Practice at the University of Southampton, to be the iSolutions representative on the University of Southampton Disability Equality Self-Assessment Team, and to be responsible for writing the iSolutions submission for the Disability Confident Leader Award in 2021.
An advocate for Universal Design for Learning, Tamsyn was invited to be an expert panellist on UDL at THE Digital Universities 2022. She has achieved the Learning Designed UDL Associate Credential - Level 1 and is currently working on her portfolio for Level 2.
Tamsyn is currently reading for a PhD in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning and is a Microsoft Innovative Educator. She is an Associate Fellow of AdvanceHE (AFHEA) and a holder of Senior Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology (SCMALT).
Tamsyn’s achievements have been recognised with several awards, including:
• Vice Chancellor's Award 2014 for Outstanding Contribution to the University (for her work on MOOCs)
• Vice Chancellor's Award 2020 for In the Face of Adversity (for her work supporting the rapid move to remote teaching)
• Blackboard Catalyst Award 2020 for Training and Professional Development
• AdvanceHE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) 2021 (as part of the MOOC Programme team).