I am a sessional university facilitator with a combined 18 years of experience as a university and college facilitator, in addition to two years as a corporate instructional designer. I maintain a constructivist, learner-centred approach to facilitation and instructional design. My teaching interests are varied and I enjoy the challenge of taking on new education courses and viewing these from the the learners’, facilitators’, and instructional designers’ perspectives. Invariably, this leads to course modification, and, with feedback from learners, I attempt to create or modify courses that meets their needs while working within the online collaborative problem-based-learning model that underpins the philosophy of Ontario Tech University’s Bachelor of Education’s programs.
At Ontario Tech, I regularly facilitate four different online courses. These synchronous/asynchronous courses rely heavily on problem-based learning, social interaction, and collaboration in the online environment. The weekly tutorials (classes) are highly interactive, and bring together learners from across the country and around the globe to form a supportive learning community of practice.
Prior to joining Ontario Tech in 2014, I briefly taught at the University of Victoria in the Faculty of Education’s undergraduate program. I began my teaching career at Seneca College in Toronto in 2002. Over the following eight years at Seneca I explored and expanded my facilitation and course design skills and developed a deep-seated curiosity to understand and cultivate these skills.
In 2021, I earned by Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Victoria. My dissertation explored the reflections of university educators when they used open educational resources in their teaching practices. I used reflective lifeworld phenomenology research methodology to interview university educators and analyze the interview transcripts, and then I viewed the results using self-determination theory’s regulatory styles and the tripartite taxonomy.
My research interests include exploring facilitators’ barriers to educational technology, motivation/demotivation to use educational technology, and social connectedness in online learning environments. I have presented my research at conferences across Canada, including the 2014 and 2013 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences and ETUG (Educational Technology Users Group) in 2015.
I am fascinated with personal stories and experiences of how people perceive phenomena; thus, my research and interests often lead me to ask why educators choose to use, or not use, specific technologies. In the vein of Roger’s theory of innovation (2003), I attempt to explore the tipping point that brings educators to embrace or abandon the technology.
My research interests continue to evolve in a variety of areas, such as:
- Integration of educational technology in higher education facilitation (online and face-to-face)
- Open educational resources use and development
- Curriculum and instructional design practices
- Facilitators’ support of learners’ online social collaborative environments
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 dogs, exploring Canada on long road trips, and watching CFL football (Saskatchewan Roughriders).
