The UMKC Instructional Design & Technology team would like to express a warm welcome to the latest addition: Instructional Designer Mark Orr.
No stranger to the world of online learning, Mark worked as an instructional designer for Cengage Learning. “I come from a 20-year career in higher education publishing at Cengage Learning,” Mark said. There, he held positions in sales, editorial, marketing, and technology solutions training. “The last three years of that time, I designed and developed online courses for college and university clients as an instructional designer.”
Mark earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from Birmingham-Southern College. Mark obtained a Graduate Certificate in Publishing from Emerson College.
“I’m most looking forward to working with faculty to help them accomplish their course objectives in online environments,” Mark said. “I always enjoyed supporting faculty in my publishing roles, and I’m excited about helping them reach their students, perhaps in ways they haven’t before.”
Mark lives in Prairie Village, Kansas, with his wife, Missy, and English Springer Spaniel, Padget. In his spare time, Mark enjoys television, movies, music, podcasts, sports—most things in the popular culture. You might also see him onstage, performing improvisational comedy with the KC Improv Company and ComedyCity. He also teaches improv to adults and holds a position on the board of Seriously Playful’s Operation: Show, Kansas City’s high school improvisation league