About
me
I am currently completing my dissertation in the University of Florida’s College
of Education with a focus on using social media to support teacher professional
development.
Prior
to this position I served as the Director of Distance Education at the University of Florida’s College of Education,
where I oversaw the planning, development, management, budgeting, and
evaluation of online learning courses and programs.
Prior to this I served as the Director of Distance Learning in the Office of
Distance, Continuing and Executive Education. This centralized office was established
in 2001 to provide resources and support to professors and administrators interested
in creating distance learning courses and programs.
As Director of Distance Education I assisted staff, professors, department
chairs, and deans in co-authoring and coordinating business and marketing
plans, developing self-sustainable budgets, and securing faculty and
administrative buy-in to insure the success of each program being launched. My
duties also include working closely with key university personnel, familiarity
with state and university policies, familiarity with intellectual property laws
and guidelines, and advising clients and colleagues on the variety of assessment
modalities for measuring both financial and academic endeavors.
In 1989 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the
University of Florida's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences with a specialization in poetry writing working with Debora Greger and William Logan. I earned
enough credits to acquire a minor degree in philosophy and classical studies.
After graduation, I spent two years in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in 1/16
1st Infantry Division (fwd) (aka the Big
Red One) serving as a platoon radiotelephone operator and unit armorer
in Boblingen,
Germany.
Upon completion of my Army hitch, I took a job as a graphic artist in a local
publishing company in Gainesville,
Florida where I worked for four years utilizing the then latest desktop
publishing software including Adobe PageMaker, Aldus Freehand, and Adobe
Photoshop.
After much consideration, I decided to take on a new challenge and enrolled in
the ProTeach program in the University of Florida's College of Education in 1997 where I
earned a master’s degree in Secondary English Education (6-12) under the
tutelage of Drs. Robert Wright, Ben Nelms, and Jane Townsend.
I took a job at the University’s Developmental Research School, P.K. Yonge, where I taught twelfth grade
English, managed the school yearbook, and taught media studies. After two years
in the high school, I applied for an opening in the middle school where I
taught seventh and eighth grade language arts.
Realizing that middle school was not for me, I re-enrolled in a Ph.D. program
at the University of Florida in the School
of Teaching and Learning. My interests
have since gelled around teacher professional development, educational
technology, social media, reflective thinking, critical pedagogy, and
inquiry-based learning.
I am currently honing my research agenda and completed my qualifying examinations
in the summer of 2006. My doctoral committee chairs are Dr. Tom Dana, professor and Associate
Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Education (UF) and Dr. Nancy Dana, professor of
Education and Director of the Center for School Improvement at the University
of Florida.
Committee members include Dr. Rick Ferdig from the Educational Technology, and Dr.
Tracy Irani from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I receive
valuable counsel from a number of professors including Dr. Greg Ulmer in the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences, Drs.
Dorene Ross, Kara Dawson from the School of
Teaching and Learning, Dr. David
Miller from Research Evaluation Methodology group, as well as the hundreds
of Edubloggers world-wide.
I am the father of three children and married to my wife, Lynn, since 1989. When
I am not at work, in class, or studying, I can be found playing guitar, drums,
and bass, playing disc golf, reading, writing, and enjoying good wine
with family and friends.
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