Hello!
Recently while traveling by air, packed tightly into my coach-class seat, the traveler seated next to me and I began to converse. As the flight wore on, our conversation turned to family, hobbies, and occupations. (It was a rather long flight.) What follows is the gist of my half of the conversation.
I live in Fort Collins, Colorado: a wonderful, outdoor-oriented city known for bikes, craft beer, dogs, students, entrepreneurs, and home of Colorado State University, where I earned a MA in History. Throughout my life I've lived in several places: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida, and New Mexico, but since I first set foot in the state to attend the University of Northern Colorado as an undergrad, Colorado has called to me the loudest. It's a tough place to beat!
Most of my family live in Florida, with the remainder spread from New Jersey to Montana and Arizona. As an animal-lover, my "at home" family consists of three dogs: Oscar, Bits and Fiona. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to maintain a bit of lawn in the wake of three rowdy beasts. I'm fortunate to be able to spend time hiking, biking, camping, fishing, and enjoying my friends and neighbors.
I worked for several years in local history museums and historic preservation, where I learned to create exhibits, educational materials, and activities that connected with visitors and school children on a personal level, making history and old buildings intimately meaningful. My love of teaching with objects, documents, and media led me to the field of instructional design and online learning. You might wonder how teaching with "things" is like teaching in digital environments! Creating online learning is much like creating museum exhibits: the digital environment lets us use educational artifacts in many formats and invite learners to actively participate in shaping each learning experience.
In recent years, my passions for animal welfare, humane education, and conservation have blossomed. I am currently a volunteer grant-writer for a local no-kill shelter. In 2013 I authored a children's book about bats entitled Max's Adventure in the Wonderful World of Bats, to be published in 2014 by the Sichuan University Press. Designed specifically for children in China who have little knowledge of bats and therefore fear them, Max's Adventure engages readers in the story of a day in the life of two adolescent bats.
On a personal note, I am a "foodie". I have loved to cook since I was tall enough to reach the knobs on the stove. My love of food, entertaining, and parties has served me well through the years. I operated my own catering company for six years and have enjoyed creating special events for groups as large as 2,500 people. Managing online learning projects is a lot like managing special events: they both take thorough planning, a multitude of components, excellent communication, hard work and commitment to superior results.
I'll soon begin a new career in the field of online learning. I'm very excited to begin developing innovative and engaging learning opportunities that help others learn and grow. The digital age has brought us a whole new world of teaching and learning and I'm thrilled to be a part of this sea-change.
Recently while traveling by air, packed tightly into my coach-class seat, the traveler seated next to me and I began to converse. As the flight wore on, our conversation turned to family, hobbies, and occupations. (It was a rather long flight.) What follows is the gist of my half of the conversation.
I live in Fort Collins, Colorado: a wonderful, outdoor-oriented city known for bikes, craft beer, dogs, students, entrepreneurs, and home of Colorado State University, where I earned a MA in History. Throughout my life I've lived in several places: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida, and New Mexico, but since I first set foot in the state to attend the University of Northern Colorado as an undergrad, Colorado has called to me the loudest. It's a tough place to beat!
Most of my family live in Florida, with the remainder spread from New Jersey to Montana and Arizona. As an animal-lover, my "at home" family consists of three dogs: Oscar, Bits and Fiona. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to maintain a bit of lawn in the wake of three rowdy beasts. I'm fortunate to be able to spend time hiking, biking, camping, fishing, and enjoying my friends and neighbors.
I worked for several years in local history museums and historic preservation, where I learned to create exhibits, educational materials, and activities that connected with visitors and school children on a personal level, making history and old buildings intimately meaningful. My love of teaching with objects, documents, and media led me to the field of instructional design and online learning. You might wonder how teaching with "things" is like teaching in digital environments! Creating online learning is much like creating museum exhibits: the digital environment lets us use educational artifacts in many formats and invite learners to actively participate in shaping each learning experience.
In recent years, my passions for animal welfare, humane education, and conservation have blossomed. I am currently a volunteer grant-writer for a local no-kill shelter. In 2013 I authored a children's book about bats entitled Max's Adventure in the Wonderful World of Bats, to be published in 2014 by the Sichuan University Press. Designed specifically for children in China who have little knowledge of bats and therefore fear them, Max's Adventure engages readers in the story of a day in the life of two adolescent bats.
On a personal note, I am a "foodie". I have loved to cook since I was tall enough to reach the knobs on the stove. My love of food, entertaining, and parties has served me well through the years. I operated my own catering company for six years and have enjoyed creating special events for groups as large as 2,500 people. Managing online learning projects is a lot like managing special events: they both take thorough planning, a multitude of components, excellent communication, hard work and commitment to superior results.
I'll soon begin a new career in the field of online learning. I'm very excited to begin developing innovative and engaging learning opportunities that help others learn and grow. The digital age has brought us a whole new world of teaching and learning and I'm thrilled to be a part of this sea-change.
