Jason McDonald

I am a native of Provo, UT. Currently I live with my wife and youngest son in Spanish Fork, UT. Professionally, before coming to teach at BYU I worked in the instructional media industry, most recently as the director of digital products for the Deseret Book Company and a media portfolio director for the LDS Church.

I have taught both graduate and undergraduate university students. I have also taught in industry settings, both corporate and non-profit. Topics I have taught include:

• Instructional design processes (introductory and advanced)
• Integrating technology in the classroom
• Product management
• Project management
• The history of instructional design
• Instructional simulations
• Human-computer interactions, user interface design, and usability practices
• Using stories and film for culture change
• Theories of learning
• Theories of design

In my research I study instructional design and educational technology in higher education. I worry they haven’t lived up to the promises they’ve made, and in my research I’ve shown how instead of transforming the university for the better they’ve offered us a “plastic” facsimile of education that’s lifeless and uninspiring. Along with this, I’m also studying if there’s anything we can do to reverse this trend. We live in a world where technology and design are deeply embedded in our lives. We can’t eliminate them, nor do we really want to. But are there at least things we can do to withstand their downward gravity, and rehear the call to experience education as a place of awe and wonder, that draws us into higher and nobler forms of life?