Laurel Silk

Current

Director of Learning Solutions at Automotive Events
Vice President/co-founder at SilkWeb Consulting & Development

Past

Adjunct Faculty at Axia College
Curriculum Development Manager at University of Phoenix

Education

Arizona State University
NWEC
University of Phoenix

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Recommended

6 people have recommended Laurel

Connections

166 connections

Industry

E-Learning

Websites

Laurel Silk’s Summary

At SilkWeb Consulting & Development we pride ourselves on our ability to assess a customer’s needs and recommend appropriate action. Our training curriculum is custom made for each company and we supplement our custom curriculum with our off-the-shelf programs designed for small and large organizations concerned with cost-effective solutions. We are not a training reseller in that we develop all of our own materials “in-house” using our own innovative approach to creating learner-centered curriculum that appeals to a variety of individual learning styles by using learning activities that blend styles. We employ only professional instructional designers and writers with broad experience in education and business. Our focus is on delivering high-quality content that entertains and educates adults in both training and higher education arenas.

Laurel Silk’s Specialties:

web-based training
rapid development approach
e-learning consulting for higher education
faculty quality assessment in online education

Laurel Silk’s Experience

Director of Learning Solutions

Automotive Events

(Privately Held; Events Services industry)

September 2008 — Present (11 months)

Responsible for instructional design and curriculum initatives in the automotive event industry. Automotive Events remains at the forefront of the events industry by utilizing a blend of traditional and cutting edge learning solutions that enable their clients to exceed expectations.
Vice President/co-founder

SilkWeb Consulting & Development

(E-Learning industry)

1997 — Present (12 years)

SilkWeb Consulting & Development, LLC has been in business since 1997 when it began as a sole proprietorship, called SilkWeb Writing Services. In the beginning the business’ core functions focused on delivering print training materials and offering instructional design services, writing, and editing. As the field of training and development sought out new solutions, SilkWeb’s founders saw the need to expand operations to include Internet technologies that would integrate the company’s instructional design principles and high quality measures with the changing needs of today’s learning organizations. It was in early 2006 that SilkWeb Consulting & Development developed into an LLC and its co-founders Dr. Michael Shaw and Ms. Laurel Silk partnered together to begin offering custom web-based learning solutions for corporate and higher education clientele.
Adjunct Faculty

Axia College

(Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Higher Education industry)

January 2006 — January 2008 (2 years 1 month)

Taught freshman level English, written communication, and world literature.
Curriculum Development Manager

University of Phoenix

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; APOL; Higher Education industry)

2002 — 2006 (4 years)

Developed curriculum in education, business, health administration, and nursing sciences. Oversaw changes in curriculum materials and managed budget projects for curriculum development in respective programs. Selected, supervised, and evaluated work of Subject Matter Experts and course writers while working closely with faculty in locating and acquiring materials for course reserve readings. Conducted research using EBSCOhost, Thompson Gale PowerSearch (formerly InfoTrac), CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, and Ovid databases among others to locate peer-reviewed materials to supplement web-based curriculum. Assessed institutional effectiveness through the development and implementation of surveys, and analysis of related data. Assisted the Dean of Doctoral Studies and external publisher in the development of the University of Phoenix's first peer-reviewed journal on leadership.

Laurel Silk’s Education

Arizona State University

B.A. , English , 1997 — 2000
NWEC

1986 — 1991
University of Phoenix

M.A. Ed. , E-Education

Graduated with 3.98 GPA.
Earned 15 post-graduate credits in ESL.
Master's Project:Teaching English Language Skills Through Internet Technologies.

Additional Information

Laurel Silk’s Websites:

Laurel Silk’s Interests:

E-learning, online learning solutions, business consulting, education consulting, higher education, training, web based training, instructor led training, book editing, copy editing, instructional design, curriculum, public speaking

Laurel Silk’s Groups:

ASTD, ASBA, Arizona Technology Council (ATC), Moodle, Greater Arizona eLearning Association (GAZeL), Society for Technical Communication (STC), American Library Association, Women for Women International.