I’m passionate about
Designing A Better (Virtual) World
I had the pleasure of transitioning out of an interim manager position and passing the torch on to Laura, who became the manager of five instructional designers. During this time, I observed Laura provide a supportive and stable work experience for the team, do people development, and partner in ways with the team that provided a space of exploration, confidence, and growth. She is so out-of-the-box as a problem-solver, that I was often awe-stricken at the creativity, boldness, and effectiveness of her approach. Laura is not only delightful but also impressive. Laura is a vibrant, brilliant change-maker and I would recommend her for any opportunity that would allow her to lead, establish stability, build a sense of community and streamline processes.
I have been continually impressed by the productivity and urgency of Dr. March’s research. Her work reveals the importance of developing research-driven digital literacy programming for emerging information professionals. She is writing and leading conversations important to our field and beyond. I’ve also observed Dr. March meet the moment by extending her expertise in hybrid, face-to-face, and remote teaching. Leveraging her many years of experience designing effective online courses, she met with administrators, faculty, and students to guide them through moving their course content into a LMS in a thoughtful way that felt true to their pedagogical inclinations. Her expertise proved to be invaluable. It’s been a joy to work with Dr. March, and I hope I get to do so again in the future!
Everyone who knows Laura March will tell you that she’s smart, Mensa-smart. But that’s not the whole story.
She is resourceful, agile, and quick to adapt. She can handle anything you throw at her. She sincerely cares about great instructional design, project-based learning, and achieving the highest standards in education. She understands the value of digital technology, and she is definitely not afraid to use it.
She also understands how to collaborate well – how to build partnerships at work. She’s a joy.
Laura is a genuine pro. She is competent, organized, and efficient. As a speaker, she is thoroughly engaging. As a leader, she is both powerful and disarming – she has an expert way of interacting with clients and colleagues. As a coworker, Laura is an incredibly congenial, fun, and lively member of our team. Her confidence is stellar, communication skills superb, and she leads a tight meeting. Laura’s knowledge on instructional design is beyond impressive; she brings a creative and fun energy to every course she designs. She loves learning new things and is eager to share what she has learned. Laura is a shining role model for positive leadership – she is truly the best.
Laura brought invaluable vision, expertise, and creativity to our group as the senior instructional designer, and after a few months took on a management role during a period of transition. A lightning-fast thinker and developer, she seems to have an endless capacity for solving problems on the fly. Laura gets it done. During the time we’ve worked together she has, in addition to her regular course projects, created robust tools for curriculum design and instructor training, managed complex partnerships, and expanded our use of the LMS, while always including and valuing the ideas of others. Given what I know about Laura’s ethical and professional interests, I will definitely track her future research!
Laura was my manager during my time at the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning at AU. I had no formal experience is instructional and web design, but she had faith in my ability and taught me everything I needed to know to be successful. Laura’s management style is supportive and collaborative. She made sure I knew that she had an open door policy and that she was always available for guidance or feedback. That, in turn, created a working environment that allowed our team to more effectively engage with the students, faculty, and staff that we served. Laura is a synergistic team member, thoughtful manager, and considerate friend. I can only imagine the impact she will have in the world of education.
I’ve been privileged to work with Laura for nearly two years at American University’s Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning. As manager of the university’s training course for online instructors, Laura has implemented programmatic changes to offer the course several times a year for beginners as well as experienced online professors – all while facing stagnant budgets and periodic bureaucratic hurdles. She encourages faculty to explore best practices in technology-enhanced instruction while challenging entrenched teaching assumptions. Laura’s sunny disposition combined with her strategic vision make her a standout colleague, and she would be a terrific addition to an instructional design team seeking a leader.
I closely collaborated with Laura for two years on training and outreach initiatives for online instructors at American University. Laura is a great facilitator who patiently and enthusiastically engages an audience with a wide range of personalities and technical skills. I was most impressed by her ability to provide individualized, detailed, and constructive feedback, customizing and deepening the participants’ learning experience. Laura’s graphic design and web design skills further enhance her effectiveness as a communicator and educator. I hope we’ll have opportunities to collaborate again in the future!
Laura March is an extraordinarily gifted and talented young woman. She seems endlessly resourceful and creative; there is literally nothing she has not been able to handle. And in the office, her demeanor is always pleasant, cheerful, and totally professional. She has my very highest recommendation.
Laura is an incredibly skillful instructional designer with an eye towards an effective student learning experience. With targeted and integrated solutions to instructional challenges that AU’s faculty members face, she helped launch some truly innovative projects with the University’s honors program and the faculty online teaching certification program. Laura is an invaluable asset to American University.
Laura March’s passion for teaching, knowledge of educational technology, and drive to make higher education the very best it can be is unmatched. I was always impressed by Laura’s management style because her enthusiasm is infectiously motivating and she has the ability to use her staff’s skills to their full potential. Any team would be lucky to have Laura as an educator and a manager.
Laura is an extremely hard-working researcher, artist, and collaborator. She is particularly self-motivated and always eager to offer suggestions and be part of a team. Along with an attitude of professionalism, Laura is detail-oriented and organized, allowing her to successfully juggle multiple projects simultaneously. Her research is cutting-edge and timely and I expect many great things from her in the future.
Laura stands out for all the right reasons. She is intelligent, motivated, personable, and capable in addition to possessing a technological skill set that is tremendously important in the digital age. Laura combines the social justice mindset of an educator with the drive of a young professional and the intellectual curiosity of an academic. I recommend Laura without reservation and would work with her again given the chance.
