I am a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, BC. My dissertation is a phenomenological study of the lived experiences of university educators when encountering barriers as they use open education resources in their teaching practices. I have always been fascinated by people’s stories and experiences of how they perceive phenomena, and my research and interests often lead me to ask why educators choose to use, or not use, specific technologies. And much like Roger’s theory of innovation, I attempt to explore the tipping point that brings educators to embrace or abandon the technology.
Although my current research interests focuses on university educators’ motivations to using and adopting different technologies into their teaching practices, my interests have evolved to exploring a variety of dares, such as:
- Integration of educational technology in higher education facilitation (online and face-to-face)
- Open educational resources
- Curriculum and instructional design practices
- Facilitators’ motivation to use educational technology
- Facilitators’ support of learners’ online social collaborative environment
- Barriers and affordances to educational technology
- Social connectedness in online environments
I am currently a limited-term instructor with the Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech University (University of Ontario Institute of Technology), located in Oshawa, Ontario, where I’ve facilitated a five different online courses. These synchronous/asynchronous courses rely heavily on problem-based learning and social interaction and collaboration I the online environment. The weekly tutorials (classes) are highly interactive, and bring together learners from across the country to form a supportive learning community that I have not encountered anywhere else.
Prior to joining Ontario Tech University in 2014, I taught at the University of Victoria and I facilitated and designed instruction at Seneca College in Toronto. UVic provided me with the opportunity to grow my online and blended skills and gain the experience I needed to move beyond face-to-face teaching, which was my forte for eight years at Seneca College.
Although I seem to always be in front of the computer, working on research, meeting with learners, or designing instruction, I make a point to balance my life by going for long walks with my Chinese crested dog, riding my BMW motorcycle, watching CFL football (Saskatchewan Roughriders) , and playing canasta and various board games.