Technical Documentation
Emerson College

• Digital Accessibility Resources at Emerson (2021)
• Hosting Accessible Remote Meetings (2021)
• Creating Accessible Videos (2021)
• Creating Accessible Documents (2019)
• Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to Your Canvas Course (2019)
• Creating Accessible Canvas Content (2019)
• Getting Started with Panopto (2018)

Blog Posts

Triumvirate Environmental Blog
Triumvirate Environmental, Inc.

• A Deep Dive Into the Sea of EHS Training Requirements (2024)
• No Train, No Gain: Fall Protection Safety (2023)
• Designing EHS Training for Retention (2023)
• 3 Methods to Make Training Memorable (2023)

Instructional Technology Blog
Emerson College

• Building An Escape Room With Google Forms (2021)
• How to Run Your Course Like a Game of Dungeons & Dragons (2021)
• Three Strategies for Building Online Community (2021)
• How to Help Students Become Digital Storytellers (2019)
• In A Nutshell: Canvas Announcements (2019)
• Emerson.build: Rule Your Domain! (2019)
• In A Nutshell: How To Use The New Canvas Scheduler (2018)
• Introducing Deep Embeds: An Easier Way To Show Videos In Canvas (2018)
• Reading and Remixing: Teaching the Self-Generating Poem (2017)
• Teaching Video Composition: The 30-Second Ad (2017)

Hell’s Printing Press: The William Blake Archive Blog
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Blake’s Aniconic Arboreals (2017)
• Sisyphus and Consistency (2016)
• A Woman Washed Away (2016)

Creating Accessible Videos

This is a video tutorial for faculty on finding captioned videos and adding captions to existing videos. It covers the difference between subtitles and captions, automatic versus human captions, correcting auto-captions in Panopto, and using auto-captions in Zoom.

Creating Accessible Documents

Created in collaboration with Rachel Levin. This is a video tutorial for faculty on recognizing and adding accessibility features to documents created in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. It covers types of digital documents, heading styles, alternate text, descriptive hyperlinks, list formats, colors, and graphics.

Public Webinars

Using Technology to Level-Up Your Training Program

This webinar, presented in September 2024 during my time at Triumvirate Environmental, covers applications of technology tools, including generative AI, to adult learning design and development processes. Topics addressed include Learning Management Systems (LMS), customized self-paced modules, digital accessibility features, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), WellSaid, and Articulate Storyline.

Access the recording

Making Training Memorable: How to Build EHS and Compliance Training That Sticks

This Triumvirate Environmental webinar, co-presented with Mei Rockwell-Postel in May 2023, explores ways to build an environmental health and safety/compliance training program that is engaging, scalable, and relevant to the work employees perform on a daily basis. Topics addressed include the time-saving and data-centralizing benefits of a Learning Management System (LMS), applications of adult learning theory to compliance training, and the importance of tailoring e-learning to specific audiences.

Access the recording

Journey Through the Dark Forest

This is an educational escape-the-room puzzle created using Google Forms. It’s designed as an interactive demo for my hour-long synchronous workshop “Building Online Community: Gamification,” which I delivered in several iterations to Emerson College faculty in 2021.

Play the game

PDF Remediation Trello Board

Emerson College’s Instructional Technology Group (a 7-10 person team of designers and technologists) remediates documents and media for 20+ fully-online courses each semester. To optimize and project-manage the team’s remediation workflows for PDFs, I created a Trello board on which cards, representing individual documents, can flow from “New” to “OCRed” to “Tagged & Added to Course.” The board also includes a “course card” for each course and instructor that contains links to Google Drive folders for uploading finished documents. To increase efficiency, I used If This Then That (IFTTT) to automate card creation. When an instructor uploads a document to their “Original PDFs” Drive folder, IFTTT applets automatically generate a card in the Trello board’s “New” list containing identifying info about the document and a link to download it. This process led to the successful remediation of all submitted documents for online courses.

Explore a demo

Syllabi, Activities, & Assessments

English 105: Rhetoric & Composition

• ENGL 105 Spring 2016 Syllabus
• Conference Proposal Unit
• Conference Paper Unit
• Video Article Unit
• PIT Journal (online publication for students to showcase their research)

English 137: Literature in a Digital Age

• ENGL 137 Fall 2016 Syllabus
• E-Poem Creation Assignment
• WWI Poster Close Reading Exercise (PowerPoint)

English 125: Introduction to Poetry

• ENGL 125 Fall 2015 Syllabus

Learner Testimonials

LITERATURE IN A DIGITAL AGE, ENGLISH 137 (FALL 2016)

“Adam has been an incredible teacher this semester. He is overly-understanding of anything that may come up and has never turned down the opportunity to help. He welcomes new ideas and encourages us to be creative. He offered creative options or unique ideas as projects rather than the essay prompts provided in case someone wanted to express themselves differently.”

“Adam was excellent at relating to the students, as he made an effort to talk to each student individually at some point in the semester. His presenting skills were excellent, as he kept the students engaged in the topic at hand.”

“The teacher should continue to bring the enthusiasm to the class that he has brought every day to this one and continue assigning the unique assignments that give the student a hands on chance to work with the material in a completely new way.”

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY: DRUGS, SEX, AND DEATH, ENGLISH 125 (FALL 2015)

“Poetry is truly an art, and for someone who hasn’t analyzed an art piece since high school art class, analyzing poetry was not only fun, it conjured a side of my intelligence that I do not use on a daily basis. As a math/science major, being able to be in this class (and excel in it) was a pleasure.”

“Adam is a fantastic teacher. The themes he chose to cover in this course have been extremely challenging, but he has done a wonderful job of engaging our class in discussion and helping us chip away at difficult texts.”

ENGLISH COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, ENGLISH 105 (FALL 2012, 2013; SPR. 2013, 2014, 2016; SUM. 2016)

“I think this class did a fantastic job in getting me involved with different media. For one, I like that the second assignment had to be an oral presentation; this gave me practice with an audience, as well as having to write an entertaining, yet educational piece that others could understand. Also, the third unit was very unconventional and new to me, I like how out of the box the assignment was. It was so much more interesting having to do a video essay, than actually writing a traditional one. This class was very hands on and I appreciate the difference—it was not the same old boring english class!”

“I learned how to write long papers effectively and manage my time wisely. I also learned that writing a research paper I care about is a lot less daunting than imagined and it inspired me to do research on other subjects in my spare time.”

“This was the most helpful class I’ve taken thus far at Carolina. Mr. Engel was awesome at giving me feedback and I feel like I’ve grown so much as a writer.”

“Class time was highly organized and at the same time, laid back. It was a very low pressure environment that allowed me to learn well.”

SHAKESPEARE, ENGLISH 225, 2 SECTIONS (FALL 2014, RECITATION LEADER)

“I think that I can say [Adam] is one of the best section leaders that I have had in my three years here at Carolina. He made coming to recitation a joy and a delight. His incorporation of multimedia, outside references to pop culture, as well as his always pleasant attitude allowed me to gain a lot of perspective on the material and made Shakespeare’s works seem a lot less ‘boring’ and deeper than the surface level.”

“I loved this class. I’m a junior at UNC, and Adam Engel is my favorite teacher I have ever had (including professors). I wish I could take more courses with Adam, but unfortunately I’m a Business major. With that said, I’ve never been a huge fan of Shakespeare or poetry, but Adam always made coming to recitation exciting and intriguing. I learned so much and I’m so thankful that I took this class.”

“Recitation was great – best recitation I’ve had at UNC. Adam was wonderful at facilitating discussion and making sure that we all felt like our comments were valued. He was really helpful when it came to helping us shape an idea that we had.”

Articulate Rise Course

Multiple Means of Representation in Canvas (asynchronous, self-paced)

Explore the Rise course

This 3-module experience enables faculty to incorporate Multiple Means of Representation, a principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), into their Canvas course design. Topics include:

• Module 1: Principles of UDL
• Module 2: Practical Applications in Canvas
• Module 3: Knowledge Check & Further Reading

Learning Objectives

By practicing Multiple Means of Representation, faculty will be able to design online content that supports learners who differ in how they perceive and derive meaning from information. To reach that goal, participants will:

• Reproduce a digital version of a course syllabus in Canvas.
• Use the Canvas Pages tool to build a page with text, an image, and a video.
• Populate the Canvas calendar by adding an assignment with a due-date.

Canvas LMS Course

Remediating PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Pro (asynchronous, 3-week)

Explore the Canvas course

In this 3-week online course, learners engage with best practices and technical tools for creating digital documents that can be processed by assistive technology. Through a series of hands-on activities and assessments, participants learn to assess digital texts, add information to files, and enable successful navigation in Acrobat Pro. Topics include:

• Week 1: Assess PDF Quality
• Week 2: Add Metadata
• Week 3: Build a Tag Tree

Learning Objectives

Remediators will be able to create and edit PDFs to maximize all learners’ ability to engage with their content. To reach that goal, they will:

• Determine whether a PDF is a suitable candidate for remediation.
• Create metadata for a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Construct a tag tree for a PDF containing searchable text and images in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Canvas Course Descriptions

Accessible Design: UDL for Your Emerson Course (hybrid, 4-week)

In this 4-week course, faculty work with the Instructional Technology Group (ITG) and their colleagues to redesign a course using principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), with a focus on digital accessibility and organizational strategies that benefit all learners. The course flows through these modules:

• Week 1: Introduction to UDL
• Week 2: The UDL Framework
• Week 3: Accessibility Tools in Canvas
• Week 4: Creating Accessible Documents and Media

Following the four weeks of workshopping, the ITG design team conducts an accessibility sweep of each participant’s course, ensuring all videos and PDFs are accessible. ITG also performs a detailed course review to identify common pain points and areas to improve. This training lays the foundation for a smooth student experience while providing the tools and training to maintain peak accessibility.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the benefits of UDL, identify resources for requesting accessible materials, and tidy up their Canvas course.
• Incorporate the UDL framework into course design.
• Build Canvas content that is accessible by default, rather than adding accessibility features as a response to accommodation requests.
• Recognize and improve the accessibility of documents, videos, and remote meetings.

UDL for International and Multilingual Learners (asynchronous, self-paced)

This self-paced course explores ways instructors teaching in an online environment can apply the principles of UDL to support international and multilingual learners. The course is organized around two central questions:

• How can instructors design courses to reduce or eliminate cultural and linguistic barriers in order to increase engagement for everyone?
• How can instructors approach different ways of being a learner or academic with cultural awareness and sensitivity?

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to provide academic and cultural support for learners by implementing UDL principles in their online courses. To this end, the course develops these skills:

• Module 1, Multiple Means of Engagement: Build-in opportunities for low-stakes reflection and collaboration.
• Module 2, Multiple Means of Representation: Provide equitable means of access to text-based activities.
• Module 3, Multiple Means of Action & Expression: Design assessments that allow multiple tools for composition.

Getting Your Materials Online (asynchronous, 1-week)

This training introduces faculty participants to Fair Use decisions, connects them with librarians who can help source their materials, and covers the basics of creating accessible content. Themes and topics include:

• Day 1: Fair Use & Sourcing Materials
• Day 2: Permalinks, Creative Commons, and OER
• Day 3: Accessible Images & Videos
• Day 4: Accessible Documents
• Day 5: Accessible Canvas Pages

Learning Objectives

After participating in this training, participants will be able to populate their Canvas course with digital content and optimize that content’s accessibility. Each day covers several objectives:

Advanced Canvas (asynchronous, 1-week)

This training walks faculty participants through various Canvas tools that can help them manage their courses efficiently and foster online community. Themes and topics include:

• Day 1: Notifications
• Day 2: Gradebook
• Day 3: Scheduler and Teacher App
• Day 4: Groups
• Day 5: Peer Review

Learning Objectives

After participating in this training, participants will be able to use Canvas to design courses that minimize cognitive load for learners and create spaces for collaboration. Each day covers several objectives:

Hi, I’m Adam! I design, create, and project manage learning experiences that foreground learners’ personal stories and agency.

I became interested in technology’s applications to pedagogy and andragogy while designing the rhetoric, composition, and research methods courses that I taught at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill during my PhD studies in English. My students experimented with new media, pursued term-length custom research topics, and participated in an online peer-review process that spanned several networked classes. Their work and enthusiasm inspired me to dive into the world of instructional design.

While pursuing my doctorate, I worked in the Studio for Instructional Technology in English Studies (SITES). Under the mentorship of Dr. Dan Anderson, I branched out into video poetry and open source e-scholarship inspired by Zen Buddhist practices around mindfulness and compassion. I enjoy coming up with thoughtful new ways to incorporate technology into teaching, scholarship, art, and e-learning.

This empathetic mindset led me to cultivate a focus in digital accessibility and inclusive learning during my time as an Instructional Designer at Emerson College. Facing an unprecedented volume of accommodation requests during the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to online education, I collaborated with librarians and accessibility specialists to standardize the College’s workflows for remediating curricular content using project management and automation tools. To support the College’s online learning efforts, I worked with faculty in fields as varied as media production, business, and communication sciences. These professors expanded my vision of instructional design challenges and how to meet them.

I carried this interest in project management into my work at Triumvirate Environmental, an environmental health and safety company. I worked with subject matter experts and instructional designers to grow a service dedicated to creating memorable, relevant e-learning on crucial safety practices for employees working in labs and hospitals.

The heart of my practice is to ensure that experiences are accessible and engaging for all learners, regardless of physical ability or learning style.

In addition to these things, I’m the proud dad of an adorably goofy dog named Zuko, a jazz musician, and an avid video/tabletop gamer (favorites include Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering).