Justin joined the eLearning team in 2014 and holds master’s degrees from Grand Valley State University in both Educational Technology and Adult and Higher Education. Prior to coming on board at GVSU, Justin taught social studies at the k-12 level. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member in Grand Valley’s College of Education since 2018, teaching and developing courses in educational technology.

As an instructional designer, Justin enjoys working with faculty members to design streamlined, effective courses, and to find innovative ways to utilize technology in the classroom. One example of this innovation includes Justin’s pioneering of the lightboard at GVSU. The lightboard, effectively a glass chalkboard that allows instructors to write while facing their students, gives faculty the opportunity to create engaging visuals that will help drive home instruction while engaging their students. In 2015, Justin built the university’s first lightboard, and he has worked with more than 40 faculty members to incorporate the technology into their course designs since that time.

Justin believes that technology has the power to build community in the classroom and enrich the educational experience for instructors and learners alike when used appropriately. Specific technologies should be chosen only when they meet the needs of both the instructor and the learner and make the educational environment more effective and efficient.

Education and Experience

• M.Ed. Grand Valley State University: Educational Technology
• M.Ed. Grand Valley State University: Adult and Higher Education
• B.S. Grand Valley State University: Group Social Studies

Interests and Specialties

• Designing courses with adult learners in mind
• Media use in online/hybrid learning
• Flipped Learning
• Online/Hybrid course orientations
• The impact of aesthetics on course design