A self-proclaimed Jane of All Trades, Mariann Hawken is the Director of Instructional Technology, focusing on expanding professional development and online learning. Mariann is an advocate for online learning through quality course design and effective practice, and a strategic partner for creating and promoting professional development that engages the adult learner. She enjoys faculty training and outreach, course development activities, and academic transformation efforts.
Her team supports the learning management system, integrated digital tools, and licensed instructional technologies used to innovate teaching & learning and facilitate student success. The team also supports hybrid and online course design and professional development, including an award-winning program, Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching.
As a member of the Blackboard Community Leadership Circle and Blackboard MVP (2013-2020), Mariann is active in the Blackboard users community and at conferences, sharing information about distance education policy development, faculty development, and online course support, mentoring and training, migrating systems to managed hosting, and other technical experiences. Past activities include developing comprehensive faculty development programs for online/hybrid course development and supporting course redesign projects that reflect Quality Matters and Exemplary Course standards.
With more than 25 years of experience in educational technology, Mariann holds a Doctor of Management; a Master of Distance Education, specializing in teaching and training; a Master of Education in Instructional Technology; and a Master of Arts in English. Currently an instructor in the College Teaching & Learning Science program at UMBC, Mariann has taught traditional, hybrid, and online courses in freshman composition, technical writing, intro to mass communication, and media, technology & society. As one of the campus QM Coordinators, Mariann is a certified Peer Reviewer, Master Reviewer, and Applying the QM Rubric workshop facilitator with Quality Matters.
Select Presentations
- Biro, S., Hawken M., & Wyatt, L. (2023, November). Create your QM vision board! Dialog with colleagues, find your path to scalable QM adoption and quality assurance. [World cafe]. Quality Matters Connect 2023, Minneapolis, MN.
- Hawken, M. & Abrams, J. (2023, July). Spark Joy: Refreshing and Innovating Your Course Designs with Learn Ultra [Conference session]. Anthology Together 2023, Nashville, TN.
- Hawken, M. (2022, July). A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow: Supporting Ultra Adoption via Feature Tracking and Peer Feedback [Conference session]. Anthology Together 2022. Orlando, FL
- Hawken, M., Drabinski, K., O’Brien, E., & Shivnan, S. (2021, November). From Emergency Remote Instruction to Fully Online Teaching: A Peer Mentor PIVOT to Success Model [Conference panel]. OLC Accelerate 2021.
- Hawken, M., & Penniston, T. (2021, July). Scaling Professional Development and Analytics for a Pandemic PIVOT to Online Learning [Conference session]. Bb World 21 Conference.
- Hawken, M., & Kardiasmenos, K. (2020, December) Just Keep Swimming: Preparing Faculty to Teach Online After Crisis [Conference session]. ITLC Lilly Conference: Enhancing Online, Onsite, and Hybrid Teaching and Learning.
- Hawken, M., Biro., S., Braxton, S., & Sullivan, C. (2020, November). Planning Instructional Variety for Online Teaching: PIVOT to Success [Conference session]. OLC Accelerate Conference, Orlando, FL
- Hawken, M., Biro, S., & Sullivan, C. (2020, July). Preparing a GO (Go Online) Kit for Learning Continuity [Conference session]. Bb World 20 Conference.
- Hawken, M., & Penniston, T. (2019, July). (Almost) Everything I Need to Prepare for Ultra I Learned From Data [Conference session]. Bb World Conference, Austin, TX.
- Hawken, M., Owens, H., & Kardiasmenos, K. (2015, July). Sous Chefs & Apprentices: Mentoring & Training Future Blackboard Experts [Conference session]. Bb World Conference, Washington, DC.
- Hawken, M. (2014, July). Winning the LOTTO: The Ticket to Success in Supporting Faculty Online Course Development [Conference session]. HBCU Leadership Summit, Online Learning Consortium Annual Conference, Orlando, FL & Bb World Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
- Hawken, M., & Fink, G. (2013, January). TEAM: Technology, Education, Assessment & Monitoring: Building a Better Online Program to Meet Accreditation Standards [Conference session]. EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Baltimore, MD.
- Hawken, M. (2011, October). Developing a Quality Matters Based Institutional Policy on Distance Education [Conference session]. Third Quality Matters Conference, Baltimore, MD.