Skip to main content

Jessica Knott

UX and DesignOps Manager, Gravity Works Design and Development
Speaker

Emergency Instruction While Avoiding Pandemic Despair: Usability and Accessibility as Student Care

The purposeful design behind usability and accessibility of online courses matters beyond aesthetics and can influence student learning outcomes. Joosten and Cusatis (2019) found that certain quality indicators in online course design were directly related to student success, including those associated with user experience design, information architecture, usability, and accessibility. This talk will discuss the pivot to "emergency remote instruction" experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight the importance of information architecture in teaching and learning scenarios, especially those undertaken in times of duress.

Joosten, T., & Cusatis, R. (2019). A Cross-Institutional Study of Instructional Characteristics and Student Outcomes: Are Quality Indicators of Online Courses Able to Predict Student Success?. Online Learning, 23(4), 354-378.

About Jessica 

Dr. Jessica Knott leads the UX and DesignOps team for Gravity Works Design and Development in Lansing, Michigan. A team of design and systems thinkers, builders, tinkerers, architects, researchers, collaborators, fixers, and figurers, their goal is to design experiences that leave you feeling welcomed, valued, and inspired. Knott holds a BA in Journalism, an MA in Education, and a Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, all from Michigan State University and has worked in digital spaces since 1998, spanning the private and academic sectors. She has led nationally- and internationally-recognized networking, professional development, design and facilitation projects, and serves on her local Friends of the Lansing Library board of directors because reading is life.