Hey there, I’m Curtis!

I’m a learning designer who loves storytelling, vinyl records, and Philz Coffee.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the evolution of education in all its forms—formal or informal, analog or digital, facilitated or self-initiated. As a by-product of that, I like to imagine what opportunities might arise to improve learning experiences in synergy with domains such as design, technology and entrepreneurship. I’m also interested in understanding the motivations, both supply-side and demand-side side, for engaging in technologically-mediated education, as well as the barriers to entry or persistence.

Currently a doctoral student at University of Southern California, I conduct research around the experiences of instructors who have had to rapidly adapt their teaching approaches amidst COVID-19 emergency stay-at-home restrictions. Most recently, I served as an instructional design consultant at Unincorporated, an agency in Los Angeles dedicated to building capacity in higher education in times of change. I also worked at the USC Price School of Public Policy, where I developed online learning experiences for graduate programs as well as provided technical training for faculty and staff. I also occasionally teach human-centered design at USC and Stanford University.

Before moving to LA, I was an instructional technologist at Stanford for What Works, a MOOC on international development in collaboration with the University of Oslo. I also worked as a product trainer at Zaption (now acquired by Workday).

I completed my Bachelor in Human Biology and Communications double major and a Master in K-12 education both from the University of Toronto, with my Master’s thesis examining technology integration models among K-12 schools in Toronto. I received my second Master’s degree in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford, with my culminating project in the research and design of an informal, social learning web app that promotes metacognition among adolescents as they reflect on their own holistic learning beyond high school curriculums.

In my spare time, I work across various projects in product design, entertainment & media, and blockchain technologies.