About
Miguel Drayton is an eLearning Specialist on the COE team. He’s lived a few previous lives: screenwriter, filmmaker, educator, administrator. Other indulgences include social science research, non-profit leadership, and videogame narrative design. He’s hooked on stories and passionate about employing narrative to ignite engagement in digital learning platforms. His obsession with interactive storytelling led him to UCLA Health in 2019, where, among other things, he scripted live-action and virtual learning scenarios at the UCLA Simulation Center. He also coordinated and ran high fidelity clinical simulations and designed instructional innovations with Extended Reality (Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration. He managed the design, development, and deployment of the “TeamCARE–Finding Your Voice” eLearning curriculum to train UCLA Health Medical Chaperones to combat sexual harassment and abuse in healthcare facilities. This was the first time UCLA Health deployed an eLearning curriculum that integrated Unity game engine virtual simulations and natural language processing AI.
Miguel’s research interests lie at the intersection of virtual learning environments, gamification, and narrative storytelling. His endgame is to push the boundaries of gamified eLearning and create innovative experiential learning solutions for digital platforms. He holds a BA in Communication from Stanford University, an MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and an MS in Instructional Design and Technology from CSUF’s MSIDT Program. When he isn’t working, he’s doting on his teenaged daughter, wife, too-many kick scooters, and Brompton folding bike. He’s sometimes sighted chasing sunsets on the Ballona Creek bike path.
