About Me

Near the end of my senior year in high school, my school received a brand new TRS-80 computer. I wasn’t allowed to use it. There was only one and no one knew how to do much more with it than write programs in BASIC that scrolled their names across the screen. And except for playing a few computer games on my roommate’s Commodore 64 in college (remember Lode Runner?), I rarely saw computers until Dr. Bob Duke, my thesis advisor, introduced me to the new Mac Classic the University of Texas Department of Music had just purchased. I was hooked.

Computers were a common component of my classroom. Besides the “computer teacher,” I think I may have been the only teacher in Clute Middle School in Texas, where I began my teaching career, that had a computer—not to mention a digital piano keyboard. As a high school teacher in Yorktown, Virginia, I purchased my own computer and digital keyboard and was known as the go-to guy for a lot of the teachers when it came to using the new computers that were entering our school in labs and classrooms. I used computers to create a gradebook program, write marching band drill, format newsletters and concert programs, create handouts, arrange music for my students, and many other things. Technology was always a part of my classroom.

My life has been a series of fortuitous events, like attending the All-Virginia band clinic and concert in Blacksburg and being offered an assistantship in Virginia Tech’s music department while being able to study instructional design and technology. Music may have been my first love, but music also helped me to figure out that what I do best is teach. I enjoy teaching and approach most projects as a teaching assignment. Teaching is like a puzzle, except the pieces can change over time and there’s often no one solution. Good teachers use a variety of strategies to get all their pieces together for the best solution. Nowadays, that often involves technology, or at least it does for me.

For more than 10 years I have been working various education stakeholders to address effective technology integration. I have helped to train thousands of teachers and administrators how to better use technology in their schools and used technology while I did it. I have helped inform the development of school and state technology plans, and have created web-based resources that educators across the nation access to support their school improvement planning. I have hosted national conferences of experts in technology and education and facilitated expert panels both virtually and face to face. I’m a writer, a presenter, a researcher, but above all, a teacher.

My passion is working with teachers and school leaders who support students. Together, we learn how to use technology to support teaching and learning across content domains. Strong teaching skills and knowledge help educators harness existing and new technologies to best meet the needs of their schools.

For more information about me, download my resume, view my portfolio, or review My Areas of Expertise below.

My Work

What makes me different? What are the differentiators that set me apart? A few of these are:

Experience. I have more than ten years teaching experience and another ten years at the state and national level in many areas related to successful technology integration. Those experiences have resulted in a number of products and services used by thousands of educators across the nation from classrooms and schools to state and the U.S. departments of education.

Proven record. I have a long record of publications, products, and services on a range of topics that relate to effective technology integration. I have written research briefs and co-authored the first textbook to address the new National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. I have presented at several state and every major national technology or staff development conference, including some international conferences.

Knowledge and use of research. I have not only conducted research using a variety of qualitative and quantitative designs, but I have helped other educators better understand how to be good consumers of educational research to make the best decisions for their schools and students. I keep abreast of new findings and trends in educational technology research through print and electronic publications and have added to the body of knowledge through my publications and presentations.

My Areas of Expertise

I enjoy working with students, teachers, and school leaders. There are many powerful technologies available to help engage students and teachers and encourage greater achievement by individuals and groups of students, teachers, and schools. My areas of expertise include:

Technology integration. The bulk of my professional career has centered on helping educators at the school, district, and state level better integrate existing and new technologies to support teaching and learning. I can

• Provide short- or long-term services related to technology planning, including
  • Collecting and interpreting needs assessment data
  • Facilitating discussion related to technology planning with education and community leaders
  • Writing or evaluating technology plans
  • Working with schools or districts to implement and monitor school improvement or technology plans
  • Providing professional development to teachers and school leaders on a range of topics including
  • Using commonly available technologies to support teaching and learning
  • Incorporating social networking tools, such as wikis, Nings, and webconferencing, in teaching and learning
  • Universal Design for Learning
  • Developing and delivering online instruction
  • Instructional design
  • Using technology to support English language learners

Online professional development. I have been involved in the growing field of online professional development since attending Virginia Tech in 1996. To date, more than 9,000 educators across the Southeast have benefitted from professional development I have developed or delivered. My work goes beyond more traditional presentation of courses online and may include a range of Web 2.0 tools, including podcasts, webcasts, and webconferencing. I can

• Investigate and determine the best technologies, models, and processes to support online professional development efforts
• Develop content for online delivery and teach others how to develop content
• Deliver online professional development through a variety of tools
• Train facilitators to increase engagement and interaction in online courses

Instructional design. I apply my formal instructional design training to a variety of settings. I have created successful products and services for a range of audiences and in a variety of media. What does an instructional designer do? I can

• Conduct a needs assessment to inform the development or revision of products and services
• Conduct an audience analysis to better match products and services to client needs
• Conduct or help facilitate an instructional analysis so learning products and services have clearly articulated outcomes, follow an appropriate sequence and scope, and include appropriate learning activities and assessments
• Incorporate research-based strategies that support learning
• Evaluate products and services in development and provide feedback to strengthen them

Research and evaluation. I’ve spent more than ten years working in an educational research laboratory where I not only use research to inform my work but conduct research and evaluation, including directing part of a federal contract researching new and emerging technologies with an annual budget of more than $1 million. I understand and use a range of research and evaluation strategies and can

• Conduct research and literature reviews to inform the development of grant applications, white papers, position briefs, training, and new or revised products and services
• Create evaluation plans and conduct program or product evaluations, including evaluating grant-funded projects
• Write or review grant applications or facilitate grant-writing teams to ensure the appropriate use of research in their development
• Write research briefs, white papers, chapters, or other print or web-based products that rely on findings from research and theory

Facilitation. With more than ten years as a classroom teacher, I found the move to facilitator of small and large groups a natural progression. I have facilitated internal and cross-organizational meetings and brainstorming sessions, hosted a multi-year national conference on technology-supported assessment, and led panel discussions with nationally recognized education experts both in both face-to-face and online settings. I can facilitate

• Needs assessment and other information-gathering sessions, including internal meetings and focus group meetings
• Brainstorming sessions, especially as they relate to product or process development and implementation using processes such as goal-oriented design or user-centered design
• Panel discussions at conferences or other meetings
• Conference moderation or hosting
• Online discussions and meetings
• Television, webcasts, or other video-based products