Blog Goals

on Sunday, May 31, 2009

I'm going to write and catalog my thoughts on facilitating learning in higher ed thru the use of technology.

I will focus on both technical/programming as well as pedagogy. When relevant I will share source code from projects I'm working on. I primarily use Adobe and Apple products for my projects. Currently, I program in actionscript 3, flex, and cold fusion. I am the first to point out that there is not always a good technological solution for a given situation.

So who am I?

I've been interested in computer technology since I was a kid with an Apple //. My first experience with multimedia was Apple Hypercard followed by Hyperstudio. In high school, I used my first mac to produce a video documentary and went to college wanting to be a communication major. My first year of college the world wide web was in its infancy and I was at point zero in Silicon Valley. Santa Clara U was far ahead other university in terms of the web and I created my first web page in the fall of 1994.

While at SCU, I took courses on technology and society as well as distant learning. I further developed by HTML skills working on some dept websites. In 1998, I continued my studies at the University of Arizona with a focus on communication and technology. I have been instructing college students since 1998 and in each course I have used technology to facilitate learning.

After graduate school, I continued on at the University working in the College of Medicine. For the last 8 years I have been developing continuing medical education courses. In my role as an Associate Specialist for Interactive Learning, I've have been able to combine my interest in online education with a real world laboratory of theory and application. I also teach an evening course in the Communication Department on business communication. It is from these experience that I will write.