Chad Swaney: E-Learning Designer and Social Media Advocate

Resume

Work Experience

Leslie’s Poolmart

Instructional Designer | 2007-present

Who they are…

The country’s largest pool supply retailer, with over 600 retail locations and 3000+ employees

What I did there…

Designed all of the company’s internal training programs, including revising the training process for service technicians, implementing new legal compliance programs, and implementing new programs for both soft skills and technical skills for approximately 3000 front-line employees.

Standardized the layout for all training materials to improve comprehension and ease of future revision.

Created a standard content outline for all training programs to closely align with the organization’s mission and established organizational practices.

Developed a corporate intranet using a dynamic CMS. This process included conducting extensive end-user studies, identifying content across the organization, aligning the content to corporate goals, building a modular and extensible information architecture, creating the design and layout according to web standards, and soft implementation with SMEs.

Chad’s assistance with the development of our program brochure and training document for the California pump rebate was outstanding.  His exacting standards, excellent design and style of copywriting were perfect for the audience.  His attention to detail ensured accurate and complete information.

Vice President, Marketing

Apollo Group

E-Learning Designer | 2004-2007

Who they are…

The largest for-profit higher education corporation in the United States, parent company of University of Phoenix.

What I did there…

Re-designed a company-wide web-based supervisor education program with an audience of 1500 learners.

Developed a comprehensive self-study program for newly-hired finance employees. Performed needs assessment, coordinated materials from subject-matter experts, supervised a contracted curriculum writer, used Flash and Captivate to create multimedia experiences, and formulated a comprehensive assessment system to ensure effectiveness. This implementation led to a significant reduction in travel costs, a significant increase in participant compliance, and improved retention of information.

Created enterprise-wide web tutorials that employed web standards, CSS, accessibility features, and multimedia content.

Assisted in the selection and deployment of a new LMS enterprise-wide.

Chad is an experienced and dedicated e-learning practitioner. He was an instrumental contributor as we worked together to start an instructional design team within our department. His passion for developing instruction through various multimedia and desktop publishing applications led to the successful development of enterprise-wide courses.

His professional maturity, work ethic, and initiative to develop instruction to meet the learning needs of our target audience initiated new design standards within our organization.

Instructional Design Manager

Chad demonstrated an ever increasing and evolving skill-set and knowledge base that continually challenged our team in new and exciting ways. His personality and charisma proved to be an invaluable asset during the collaboration process amongst various internal and external clients.

The project deliverables were at all times, and continue to be, well thought out and impeccably executed; Chad is only capable of developing a product of the highest quality, due in no small part to his creative mind capable of delivering cutting-, even bleeding-, edge concepts.

Manager, IT Operations

American Express

Instructional Design Consultant 2006-2007

What I did there…

Created a web-based new-hire orientation that was deployed in domestic and overseas call centers.

Prudential Financial

Instructional Design Consultant 2006

What I did there…

Developed an e-learning global compliance program for international relocation consultants in dozens of global markets, focusing on compliance with US regulations on doing business overseas.

Education

Pepperdine University

Doctor of Education 2010

Currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology. My course of study has focused on social media in the learning process, and my dissertation research is concentrated on the implementation of social media in e-learning.

University of Phoenix

Master of Arts in Education 2006

My degree focus was in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on measurement and instructional design.

Palm Beach Atlantic University

Bachelor of Arts 1998

Communication major, with an emphasis on Behavioral Communication. Thesis on communication differences between men and women.

Technical Skills