Lenora Ott

Lenora is the Senior Director of Learning Design for Universal Learner Courses within the ASU Learning Enterprise.

Universal Learner Courses (ULCs) are a selection of first-year college courses offered online at ASU and open to everyone. Through Universal Learner Courses, learners can test the college waters, and earn college credit for a fraction of the cost. They pay only if they pass.

ULCs run in multiple modalities including: On Demand, Session-Based, and Classroom Cohort models. These courses are designed for maximum enrollment while maintaining the quality of course experience and instructor feedback and learner engagement described with the term “scaleable”. 

Lenora manages a team of instructional designers and academic professionals charged with developing and launching online courses and providing long-term evaluation, redesign, and support for learning design. Their goal is to create learner-centered, evidence-based, and meaningful learning experiences for learners and instructors. 

Lenora helped develop the design principles for all ULC courses that ensure evidence-based pedagogical approaches, equity in design, and learning at scale to impact as many learners lives as possible. She helps evaluate and determine technology implementation in courses and provides mentorship and design guidance to instructional designers and instructional design associates. She also manages video and cinematography processes for new course builds within ULC. 

She continues to develop and expand her instructional design knowledge in online platforms, in order to advance Learning Enterprise’s mission to provide universal access to education and opportunity, at every stage of life. She has a Master of Science in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University (MSGTD) and a graduate certificate in Educational Technology with a focus on Adult Learning from Northern Arizona University. 

As a Researcher:

Lenora Ott has a Master of Science in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University (MSGTD). She was named Outstanding Graduate Student for the School for the Future of Innovation and Society in December 2017.

Lenora’s MSGTD capstone research explores the integration of folkloric dance and technology and their ability to help nations achieve goals as outlined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Her research specifically focused on education surrounding health issues through the use of folkloric dance edu-tainment and technology.

The MSGTD program at ASU addresses the global disparity in wealth and access to resources and basic needs, both between and within countries. In addition, the program seeks to help students better understand the role of technology in creating wealth in nations, as well as its distribution. Issues of culture, history, religion, and social organization are considered mitigating factors in this process. 

She also holds a B.S. in Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology and a minor in dance from Arizona State University.