1. Ryan Anderson
Director of Instructional Design and Development
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Ryan Anderson has excelled in bringing cutting-edge, “next wave” technology and
instructional design approaches into the online classroom since he joined the University
of Wisconsin-Extension in 2012. As the Director of Instructional Design and
Development, he is focused on developing innovative, media-rich learning experiences,
and his work has led to a paradigm shift in the way students learn, leading to a
redefinition in higher education’s role in transforming the American workforce.
Ryan continues to reimagine the possibilities of higher education and views it as an
integral part of cultural and economic advancement on a local and global scale. To meet
his goal of bringing students the best possible online experience, Ryan’s team partners
with faculty on a rigorous design process grounded in the latest instructional design
theory. He facilitates the integration of a myriad of tools and strategies including
competency-based education, virtual reality, gamification, adaptive learning, scenario-
based learning, and micro-credentialing. The result: innovative yet affordable online
educational experiences that can be accessed anywhere, anytime, by anyone.
Previously, Ryan held a leadership position in the private sector where he led the e-
learning design team for Epic—the nation’s leading healthcare software vendor. They
provide services for some of the most well-respected healthcare organizations in the
world. That experience gave Ryan hands-on opportunities to develop cutting-edge
instructional resources in a corporate setting. He also brings classroom experience to
the job as a former English teacher and an adult continuing education instructor at
Madison College in Wisconsin. Ryan earned a BS in Secondary English Education
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; an MS in Curriculum and Instruction, and is
currently a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at Edgewood College.
Ryan frequently presents at national and local conferences on the latest technology and
pedagogical trends disrupting the field of instructional design. He sits on the advisory
committees for the University Professional Continuing Education Association’s annual
conference, UW-Madison’s Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning,
and D2L’s Fusion conference. UW-Madison recognized him for his contributions to
online learning by awarding him the Shauna Schullo Best Distance Teaching Practices
Award, and his team’s work on competency-based education earned it the Brightspace
Excellence Award. His research focuses on how self-regulation can be used to improve
retention and academic achievement.