ANDREW SHAMY
CRAFT EXCELLENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Effective and meaningful learning experiences don’t just happen. They take care, creativity, and wisdom. I help individuals and teams develop excellent learning experiences.
I AM A
Learning Experience Designer
I can help youDevelop innovative and engaging courses, workshops, and classes tailored to your specific needs
Revitalize existing programs and courses to better achieve your goals
Empower your team with the skills and strategies to design effective and creative learning experiencesClick here to learn more about my principles of learning design
To discuss how I might help you email me
I AM A
Coach for Teachers and Facilitators
I help teachers and facilitators hone their craft, working with individuals or teams to help themMaster various learning strategies
Clarify learning goals and objectives
Structure effective sessions and courses
Communicate complex material with clarity
Design engaging, active learning experiences
To discuss how I might help you email me
Testimonials
“One of the best educators I know.”
(Matt Ayers, Founder of Hunch)“This course was the most impactful week of education I have experienced.” (Past student at a week-long course)“More effective than any teacher I've had. I learned more and took more away in this one week than I have in some full semester classes.”
(Past student at a week-long course)
Who am I?
I am a teacher, learning designer, and writer with over 15 years of experience designing and delivering innovative and meaningful learning experiences.I have taught widely in the humanities and theology.I am also a fantasy novelist. Stories, creativity, and imagination are at the heart of my approach to both teaching and writing.I am based in Auckland, New Zealand, but happy to work online globally.To learn more about my writing, subscribe to my Substack, Imagining Otherwise, where I explore ideas about culture, creation, theology, imagination, and story-tellingBooks
• Look at the Birds of the Air
• The Insect and the Buffalo
• The Hare and the Tortoise
Selected Articles
• “A Book is not a Mirror but a Door”
• “Tell Me About Hope”
• “Embrace Winter”
Some Principles of my Learning Design
• Design backward from your goals
• Beauty matters for learning
• Good questions make new thoughts possible
• Prototype. Prototype. Prototype. Fail safely
• Something beautiful can happen
• Don't aim for content coverage. Ask, what do you want the learner to know, do, and care about?
• Find one or two big questions to energise and organise the learning experience
• Consider the wider context in which the learning takes place
• Pay attention to the "hidden curriculum"(What are the unintended lessons being taught?)
• Ask, why will learners care? (Desire is the engine of learning.)
• Don't conflate means with ends
• Scaffold learning
• Tell stories about what success looks like
• Significant learning attends to the whole person—thoughts, feelings, actions, and all five senses
• Map the learner's journey from first contact onward
• Understand your audience. What do they already know, care about, and misunderstand?
• Physical space matters for learning
• We learn by doing and reflecting
• Bring yourself to your teaching
• Don't waste people's time
• Some things can happen in person that can’t happen online; some things can happen online that can’t happen in person
• Begin and end well
What do these principles mean for you in your context? Let’s chat