CREATING
A significant part of my career has been spent creating learning experiences and developing the materials and systems necessary to enact the designs. As an academic, I am also expected to publish scholarly work, another creative activity (see my profile page on Google Scholar to view some of my work. Acting as a critic while reviewing for many journals and research organizations has allowed me to investigate new ideas and approaches to teaching and learning. I have also been successful at obtaining funding for a number of projects, as well as maintaining a consulting practice where I design and create in settings outside of the university. I take pride in the diversity of clients and products I have helped to create.
Academics:
Competency-based education
Involved in campus-wide strategic planning to implement competency-based education courses and programs.
Rapid Development Model
Assisted in creating a new design and development model for our course development projects, featuring Agile methods for producing online courses.
Online Course Design
Designed and delivered a course design seminar for faculty at SIUE.
GameLab
GameLab providde opportunities for SIUE student teachers to gain experience teaching students from diverse backgrounds at the East St. Louis Charter High School using game design as an instructional strategy.
Studio Teaching
At my urging, the SIUE Instructional Technology Program instituted a design studio approach, emphasizing real-world situations and design thinking to accomplish emergent goals in design contexts.
Teaching in Second Life
Introduced students to the environment and its tools, and observed as they created their own learning environments as well as "wandering" the worlds available for learning in Second Life.
Teaching with Podcasts
Working with the director of the Cyberville exhibit at the St. Louis Science Center , we created a series of audio podcasts that elaborated on various aspects of the exhibit.
Engaged Learning Institutes
Designed and presented more than 30 Engaged Learning Institutes in Illinois and Missouri during the late 1990's.
Research:
Open Educational Resources
Conducted evaluation research as eleven SIUE faculty members and more than 300 SIUE students participated in a pilot project using Open Educational Resources (OER) in their courses.
iPads for Autism
Launched a program that brought iPads and specially-designed apps for children with autism to the Illinois Center for Autism.
Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers
Proposal author and project director for $1,600,000 grant designed to help K-12 teachers, SIUE student teachers, and SIUE faculty integrate technology into their teaching.
Consulting:
Triangle Associates of St. Louis (View)
Designed, programmed, and manage an online survey system that provides 360-degree feedback to administrators.
Disney Nature (View)
Work on design team to develop educational materials for several films including Born in China, Bears, Chimpanzee, African Cats, Monkey Kingdom, and Wings of Life. We also designed for other Disney products, including Frankenweenie, Finding Nemo, and games for learning that appeared in the Club Penguin online community
Disney Connected Learning (View)
Member of design team developing a curriculum, games, and a parent reporting module for an ambitious attempt to integrate iPad games with a comprehensive personalized learning system. A prototype was developed which served as the basis for the current iteration called Disney Imagicademy.
Learning Code
Captured and documented the design model and processes used to design effective learning environments at Human Code in Austin, TX. The project culminated in a design review by national experts and a television program produced in cooperation with the University of Texas.
Teaching With Technology
Along with a large team at Human Code in Austin, TX, I helped to design and deliver a comprehensive technology integration program for K-12 teachers in Idaho, funded by the Albertson Foundation.