Behind the Cube: Risks & Change

Meet the Teachers, Learners, and Innovators of McGraw-Hill Education

Today’s Highlight: Anne Haws, Executive Director, Design and Development

We often say we’re #RedCubeProud. That’s because we’re an ever-adapting, forward-thinking group of learners, teachers, and creators with roots in a square logo that is evolving into a “cube”, in reflection of our dimensional, learning science-based approached to EdTech.

Perhaps what makes our team so passionate about our work is that we genuinely care about teachers, students, and fostering productive learning communities. Many of us have been teachers ourselves, and ALL of us are life-long learners.

To give you some insight into our team, we’re taking you Behind the Cube, one #RedCubeProud team member at a time. Today’s highlight:

Anne Haws, Executive Director, Design and Development

What influenced you to enter your current role?

In 2003–2006, I was the Director of Academic Publishing for Apollo/University of Phoenix. I managed a team that was responsible for the University’s acquisition, production, and upload of academic content for all Colleges and Programs, and interfaced daily with publishers, Deans, and Curriculum Development Managers. We were actively involved with multiple groups across UOP tasked with developing innovative learning tools and assets and distributing a variety of academic content and learning tools in a digital format.

Enter McGraw-Hill. While I worked closely with all of the major educational publishers, the service (thank you Chris Perlee), the people, the content, technologies, culture, and the vision of McGraw-Hill made it stand out from all the rest. Being a part of UOP, it was clear that the Education Industry was in for a major shift, and with that came the certainty that as Education changed, so must educational publishing. I could see a future of major disruption and rapid change. I could see the need for transformation within two traditional industries. I wanted to play a role in that transformation. I wanted to be a part of McGraw-Hill.

What do you like about working at McGraw-Hill Education?

I joined McGraw-Hill Higher Education in May 2006. Eleven years and several roles, managers, and leaders later, it remains one of the best decisions I have ever made. McGraw-Hill has changed my life in every way, both personally and professionally. I have found that it is relatively easy to take risks, push limits, and accomplish what others might think can’t be done, when you are surrounded by intelligent, supportive, and creative teams, colleagues, and leaders, who quite simply, want to do the right thing. To not only unlock the potential of our students and teachers, but to make a difference in their lives, as well as our own.

Today I am privileged to lead McGraw-Hill Higher Education’s Learning Experience Design and Curriculum Services team. We leverage resources, training, cohesive service offerings, and expertise aligned with learning principles and customer educational needs across multiple products, platforms, and initiatives. Our Learning Experience Designers (LXDs) focus on the macro level of instructional design and overall pedagogy, ensuring alignment of learning outcomes, content, and assessment, while our Curriculum Service Managers (CSMs) develop custom courses, curriculum support, faculty support, and digital integration materials. We also have team members managing custom LSP adoptions within McGraw-Hill Higher Education, and members dedicated to research and academic innovation.

Why are you passionate about the work that you do?

When asked why I am so passionate about the work I do my response is simple. I am passionate about improving student learning, and passionate about being a part of McGraw-Hill’s transition from publishing to learning science. Eleven years later, I am still excited to turn on my computer in the morning (and often in the evening), interact and learn from amazing colleagues, and to do everything I can to move the needle of progress a bit each day.

Find more Behind the Cube by following our Series or past posts here.