SONJA BURROWS, PhD | instructional design | e-learning | language training

SONJA BURROWS is a learning design architect working at the intersection of design and engineering who creates and develops high impact digital and online learning experiences using a variety of technologies and innovative approaches. She leads cross-functional instructional design partnerships specializing in creative uses of educational technology in service of learning, engagement, and community-building. With a background in linguistics and language pedagogy, she is dedicated to the transformative power of language learning.  

A long-time language and cultural immersion scholar, Sonja Burrows has researched, developed and taught digital language-learning curricula that aspire always to cultivate learner agency, improve the lives and opportunities of those learning languages, and expand learners’ understanding of themselves and the world. She earned her Ph.D in Romance Languages from the University of Oregon, as well as Master’s degrees in Spanish literature from the University of Oregon and in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the School for International Training. 

Sonja Burrows is devoted to teaching and learning, both in-person and in digital environments. While her professional experience is cross-disciplinary in nature, her background, scholarship, and training have revolved around language pedagogy in particular, a focus which brought her overseas as a language educator and scholar for many years. More recently, she has had the opportunity to bring her expertise in language pedagogy and digital design to her work as an instructional designer at Middlebury College where she partners with faculty, leadership and programs to design, implement, and assess digital learning projects, practices, and spaces. In addition to her work as an instructional designer, Sonja serves as a learning expert for EdTech companies, with a particular focus on content writing, strategy, and training.

Sonja Burrows lives and works in Middlebury, Vermont.

SONJA BURROWS

is a learning design architect working at the intersection of design and engineering who creates and develops high impact digital and online learning experiences using a variety of technologies and innovative approaches. She leads cross-functional instructional design partnerships specializing in creative uses of educational technology in service of learning, engagement, and community-building. With a background in linguistics and language pedagogy, she is dedicated to the transformative power of language learning.  

A long-time language and cultural immersion scholar, Sonja Burrows has researched, developed and taught digital language-learning curricula that aspire always to cultivate learner agency, improve the lives and opportunities of those learning languages, and expand learners’ understanding of themselves and the world. She earned her Ph.D in Romance Languages from the University of Oregon, as well as Master’s degrees in Spanish literature from the University of Oregon and in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the School for International Training. 

Sonja Burrows is devoted to teaching and learning, both in-person and in digital environments. While her professional experience is cross-disciplinary in nature, her background, scholarship, and training have revolved around language pedagogy in particular, a focus which brought her overseas as a language educator and scholar for many years. More recently, she has had the opportunity to bring her expertise in language pedagogy and digital design to her work as an instructional designer at Middlebury College where she partners with faculty, leadership and programs to design, implement, and assess digital learning projects, practices, and spaces. In addition to her work as an instructional designer, Sonja serves as a learning expert for EdTech companies, with a particular focus on content writing, strategy, and training.

Sonja Burrows lives and works in Middlebury, Vermont.

ON INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

AN INTERVIEW WITH SONJA BURROWS

I strive always to see what is beyond the walls of the immediate reality, to understand how vast and different and wonderful and often uncomfortable the world can be outside of the familiar.

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