I enjoy working with students, teachers, and school leaders and have had a range of experiences helping educators get more from their technology investment. My areas of expertise include:
Technology integration. The bulk of my professional career has centered on helping educators at the school, district, and state level better integrate existing and new technologies to support teaching and learning. I can
- Provide short- or long-term services related to technology planning, including
- Collecting and interpreting needs assessment data
- Facilitating discussion related to technology planning with education and community leaders
- Writing or evaluating technology plans
- Working with schools or districts to implement and monitor school improvement or technology plans
- Provide professional development to teachers and school leaders on a range of topics including
- Using commonly available technologies to support teaching and learning
- Incorporating social networking tools, such as wikis, Nings, and webconferencing, in teaching and learning
- Universal Design for Learning and using technology to differentiate instruction
- Developing and delivering online or blended instruction
- Instructional design
- Using technology to support English language learners
Online professional development. I have been involved in the growing field of online professional development since attending Virginia Tech in 1996. To date, more than 9,000 educators across the Southeast have benefitted from professional development I have developed or delivered. My work goes beyond more traditional presentation of courses online and may include a range of Web 2.0 tools, including podcasts, webcasts, and webconferencing. I can
- Investigate and determine the best technologies, models, and processes to support online professional development efforts
- Develop content for online delivery and teach others how to develop content
- Deliver online professional development through a variety of tools
- Train facilitators to increase engagement and interaction in online courses
Instructional design. I apply my formal instructional design training to a variety of settings. I have created successful products and services for a range of audiences and in a variety of media. What does an instructional designer do? I can
- Conduct a needs assessment to inform the development or revision of products and services
- Conduct an audience analysis to better match products and services to client needs
- Conduct or help facilitate an instructional analysis so learning products and services have clearly articulated outcomes, follow an appropriate sequence and scope, and include appropriate learning activities and assessments
- Incorporate research-based strategies that support learning
- Evaluate products and services in development and provide feedback to strengthen them
Research and evaluation. I spent more than ten years working in an educational research laboratory where I not only used research to inform my work but conducted research and evaluation, including directing part of a federal contract researching new and emerging technologies with an annual budget of more than $1 million. I understand and use a range of research and evaluation strategies and can
- Conduct research and literature reviews to inform the development of grant applications, white papers, position briefs, training, and new or revised products and services
- Create evaluation plans and conduct program or product evaluations, including evaluating grant-funded projects
- Write or review grant applications or facilitate grant-writing teams to ensure the appropriate use of research in their development
- Write research briefs, white papers, chapters, or other print or web-based products that rely on findings from research and theory
Facilitation. With more than ten years as a classroom teacher, I found the move to facilitator of small and large groups a natural progression. I have facilitated internal and cross-organizational meetings and brainstorming sessions, hosted a multi-year national conference on technology-supported assessment, and led panel discussions with nationally recognized education experts both in both face-to-face and online settings. I can facilitate
- Visioning, needs assessment, and other information-gathering sessions, including internal meetings and focus group meetings
- Brainstorming sessions, especially as they relate to product or process development and implementation using processes such as goal-oriented design or user-centered design
- Panel discussions at conferences or other meetings
- Conference moderation or hosting
- Online discussions and meetings
- Television, webcasts, or other broadcast venues
For more information about me, download my resume or view my portfolio.
You can use, remix, and build upon any of my work for non-commercial purposes as long as you give me credit and license your new creations under these same terms.
