New for OLC Accelerate 2018 - Presenter Services

Lawrence C. Ragan, Ph.D. recently retired from Penn State University after serving in a variety of leadership positions over his 34 year career in higher education. Dr. Ragan was a part of the creation and management of Penn State’s World Campus since its inception in 1998. From 1995 through 2012 Dr. Ragan served as Director for Instructional Design and Director of Academic Outreach Faculty Development. From 2012 to 2016 Dr. Ragan served as the Co-Director for the Center for Online Innovation in Learning (COIL) at Penn State.

From 2009 to 2017, Dr. Ragan served as the Co-Director of the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL). In partnership with the leadership at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), IELOL addresses the operational and strategic leadership on the design and development and preparation of the next-generation of leadership in online learning. Dr. Ragan has also served in as co-director and faculty of the EDUCAUSE Learning Technology Leadership Institute (2005-2007). He is also active in the design and delivery of national and international leadership development workshops and institutes. Most recently Dr. Ragan served as facilitator for the Maryland Online Leadership Institute 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland.

Doug Geier is the Director of eLearning and Instructional Design at Golden Gate University. He plays an active role in the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence as co-chair of the Academic Technology and Pedagogical and Student Learning Challenges workgroups. He also leads the instructional design team and oversees faculty development opportunities related to effective online instruction and teaching with technology.

In 2012, he completed the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning and in subsequent years has served in a variety of capacities with OLC as a conference volunteer, track chair and presenter. In 2018, he is Engagement Co-Chair for the OLC Accelerate Conference, focusing on the areas of Diversity, Inclusion and Leadership and Presenter Services. In previous roles, Doug has held positions in educational software publishing and online learning as a producer, content developer, and instructional designer.

GGU is a private, nonprofit university located in San Francisco, California that offers undergraduate and graduate programs to adult learners in business and management, taxation, and law. Many programs are offered both in-person and entirely online.

Beth Rubin is the Dean of Adult and Online Education and a professor of Psychology at Campbell University. She has been developing, teaching and leading online learning since 1999 at both non-profit and for-profit universities, such as Miami University of Ohio, the School for New Learning at DePaul University, DeVry and Cardean Universities. Dr. Rubin earned her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Michigan State University and received the Associates Award for Teaching Excellence at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. Beth is an active researcher of online teaching methods, focusing on topics such as cheating in online courses, the effect of the Learning Management System on online teaching, and how to create an online Community of Inquiry. She has given more than 40 presentations at academic and professional conferences, is a senior assistant editor at the Journal of Online Learning, and co-chairs the program committee for the Online Learning Consortium’s annual OLC Accelerate 2018 conference.

Jason Gildner joined Echo360 in 2017 as a Training and Development Specialist to help drive ongoing training efforts with new and existing customers. In October of 2017 Jason was promoted to his current role of Customer Success Manager for the south territory. Jason has spent the last 15+ years working at Alfred State College and most recently at Coastal Carolina University, managing audio/visual, capture, faculty education, and adoption of Echo360 and other instructional technologies within the university setting. Jason’s experience with Echo360 as a former client and his instructional technology background provide a unique set of skills that give him a deep understanding of the Echo360 client user experience. Jason is a graduate of Alfred State College – SUNY College of Technology.

Dr. Sherri Restauri joined the Coastal Office of Online Learning as Director in 2016; this fall she is starting her 18th year serving in online learning. Her research focus is on improving the teaching and learning process across all teaching modalities through the use of technology, with specific interest in pedagogical practices to increase student engagement, and best practices in online pedagogy. Sherri is heavily involved in digital accessibility, OERs, and integrating quality standards into the T/L process for faculty across all modalities of teaching. She also serves as a teaching associate in the Department of Psychology at CCU, specializing in Developmental Psychology. She has served in the planning and steering committees with OLC Innovate and Accelerate for a number of years, serving in the 2018 year as Program Co-Chair for Accelerate and Workshops Track Chair for Innovate 2019. She is the Editor of the Professional Coaching board for MERLOT, as well as a long-time board member in the Psychology Editorial Board for MERLOT.

Emily Baxter is a Learning Designer in the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University. In her role, Emily collaborates with faculty to design online courses for a wide range of learners, including Penn State undergraduates and returning adults in the fields of meteorology, materials science, and geography.

Emily has presented frequently at local and national conferences including the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, Distance Teaching and Learning, and OLC Accelerate. She has experience presenting in a variety of formats, including posters, digital discovery sessions, and education sessions.

Megan Kohler is a Learning Designer with the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute at Penn State. She has presented at international conferences such as Open Ed 2010 in Barcelona, Spain, the International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Online Learning Consortium in Orlando, Florida. Megan relies on her training and over 12 years of experience as a professional actor to bring a unique element of fun to her presentation design, making it a fun and engaging experience for all who attend.

Among her professional accomplishments, she is recognized for her work as the lead instructional designer and project manager on Penn State’s highly rated Epidemics MOOC. She conceptualized the MOOCs by Design Webinar series and served as the pedagogical lead for the Penn State Digital Badges Initiative. She continues to explore interesting opportunities focused on improving the online learning experience for higher education.

Megan received her master’s degree in instructional technology and her bachelor of liberal arts, with a dual major, from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Jane Sutterlin has collaborated with content experts in K-12 and Higher Education since 2005 designing courses that utilize technology as a tool for learning while implementing current learning science research strategies. Jane joined Penn State University in 2012 and is currently a Learning Designer in the Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Jane earned a Master’s Degree in Learning, Design and Technology. She has presented at both local and national conferences on incorporating new technologies and pedagogy into a variety of teaching and learning environments.

Kate Miffitt is the associate director of the Office of Digital Learning in the College of Arts & Architecture at Penn State. In this role, she identifies and evaluates new online programs and opportunities, leads strategic digital projects, and oversees the learning design and programming teams. She’s previously served in different roles in instructional design at Penn State – in the College of the Liberal Arts and in Teaching and Learning with Technology. She holds a B.A. in English from Stonehill College and an M.A. in education in instructional technologies from San Francisco State University. Her interests are in pedagogies in the arts and humanities, digital fluencies, and interdisciplinarity.

April works in close partnership with her college’s academic units to design, develop, and manage online courses and programs that use the latest research in education and technology to develop cutting-edge online educational resources that are unparalleled in their quality. She has over twenty years’ experience partnering with faculty to design, develop, and deliver course materials, information technology training, cocurricular learning modules, and online courses for both undergraduate and graduate students at Penn State.

In the past twenty years, April has presented at many different conferences including OLC many times on a wide range of subjects including copyright clearance in higher education, blended training, mandatory online cocurricular learning programs, the instructional design process, rubrics, academic integrity, use of video in instruction and presented workshops on various education technology tools.

Rita-Marie Conrad is an online educator, award-winning author and pedagogical consultant. Over her 25+ years in online education she has assisted in the development of several online degree programs and taught numerous online courses and faculty development sessions on digital course design and facilitation. She is a frequent keynoter and conference presenter on the topic of digital learning and is currently the digital pedagogy consultant in the UC, Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Conrad has co-authored several books: The Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips*, Engaging the Online Learner* which received the 2012 IAP Distance Education Book award, Continuing to Engage the Online Learner and Assessing Learners Online. Rita-Marie received her Ph.D. in instructional systems from Florida State University.

* listed in “48 Books Every Aspiring Chief Learning Officer Should Read”: https://www.talentlms.com/blog/books-every-aspiring-chief-learning-officer-should-read/

Dr. Laura Sliwinski is the Executive Dean of the College of Health, Human Services, and Science at Ashford University where she provides leadership for all operations related to online degree programs and faculty development and support in the college. Outside of academia, Dr. Sliwinski has extensive experience in healthcare management and organization development, and has served as a consultant, presenter, and keynote speaker in the healthcare industry for over 15 years.

Kathryn Surchek is the Associate Director of Instructional Design and Assessment at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She manages the development of effective online learning experiences, including three specializations on Coursera as well as many single courses and Executive Education course offerings. Prior to joining Darden she worked at two education startups. Before that, she taught English language arts at the local high school. Kathryn loves figuring out how to help people learn in the online environment.

Blair Stamper currently works at Washtenaw Community College as the Creative Manager in the Center for interactive Teaching and Learning (CiTL) and has been in this position since 2017. As Creative Manager, she oversees the instructional designers on her team as well as works as an instructional designer herself. With her team, Blair provides guidance in the development and implementation of innovative, effective, and diverse online learning strategies. As an instructional designer, she works in partnership with faculty to deliver engaging and effectively designed online and blended courses. Since taking her position, Blair has created a set of design standards and rubric for designing online and blended courses that has been adopted by the college. In addition, she has created innovative ways for creating instructor resources and has built a website for new faculty developers to gain the knowledge they need to work with her team.

With more than 20 years experience in both the academic and business world, Jodie Hemerda has found success as a business owner, instructor, instructional technologist, instructional designer, and leader. Her passion for learning is evident as she actively facilitates dialogue that empowers people to become active participants in their lives, in both the classroom and board room. Dr. Hemerda works to connect people to others through dialogue, striving to find resolution to personal, professional, and organizational challenges. Dr. Hemerda has found that students learn best when their passions are ignited. To light that fire, adult learning needs to break down the barriers of stale learning models and leverage interactive, participatory, experiential, problem-based learning. Adults come to the classroom with life experiences that changes their perceptions and warrants acknowledgement. Everyone has something to teach in the adult classroom. Dialogue creates an environment where adults succeed. With this mindset, Dr. Hemerda has a proven track record of interdepartmental collaboration for innovative curriculum design, new technology implementations, system upgrades, and operational processes. Specialties: * Online Higher Education – Faculty training, course facilitation, office management, curriculum and instructional design, instructional technologies, technical operations.

Dr. Merillat’s experience and skills represent a union between technology, education, and interaction design. In the course of her career she has played many different roles: programmer, systems analyst, business analyst, interaction designer, program manager, project manager, consultant, trainer, educator, instructional designer, researcher, author, and entrepreneur. The common thread running throughout has always been the challenge of how to successfully use and integrate the latest technology into an organization. She currently holds a faculty position with the role of instructional designer at the Washburn University School of Nursing.

Jeremiah Grabowski joined D’Youville as the Dean of Online Learning in September 2017. At D’Youville, his primary responsibility is to expand the institution’s academic mission through online learning. Prior to joining D’Youville, he held related online learning positions at the University at Buffalo and Trocaire College. His background is in instructional design, online education, educational technology, and faculty development. In addition to his duties at D’Youville, he is an adjunct faculty member at the UB Graduate School of Education teaching courses in online pedagogy and instructional design. Jeremiah holds a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning from the University at Buffalo. His research interests include examining how faculty can integrate gamification, which is the use of game design elements in non-game settings, into the design of online courses.

Do you want to give an effective presentation that will have your audience saying, “I really enjoyed that session, it was great!” If you answered “yes”, then I can help. My name is Dr. Frederica Hendricks Noble and in addition to being a faculty member in Industrial & Organizational Psychology, I am a consultant. I have given presentations at professional international and national conferences for over 20 years. I have helped faculty, graduate students, staff and administrators develop engaging presentations. I would be delighted to help you too!

Dr. Garrett is an authentic leader within the online higher education industry with the savvy for both talent and business assessments involving dynamic situations and challenges while being focused on results and strategic resolutions. Dr. Garrett has been highly successful in the online higher education field, both traditional and proprietary education for the past 20 years as a program administrator, dean, practitioner, as well as faculty. Dr. Garrett has an highly effective management style that delivers an authentic approach to coaching and leadership within traditional and distance learning environments. Extensive experience in both ground and distance learning environments enhances her specializations in adult learning, as well as in start-up functions or corrective operations. She is well versed in contemporary adult learning concepts, instructional and content design, leadership assessment and organizational effectiveness. Her passion for education is not limited to the interactions with faculty and students but also her investment in the human capital that resides in the education experience. Her twenty years as an educational leader has led her to develop a style she refers to as the “pure heart” approach. After several years of experience with developing teams, talent, and turnarounds, she has been recognized as an organizational leader and mentor to both new talent, those needing a change, and in elevating the talents of others.

Kimberly Eke, Ph.D. is the Associate University Librarian for Teaching, Research, and Learning Services at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. She serves as a member of the library senior administrative team responsible for planning, piloting, assessing, and scaling new scholarly and instructional programs; engaging the community to understand changing needs for library spaces, collections, and services; and propelling cutting edge technology initiatives forward that directly and positively impact the teaching and learning continuum at Penn. Before working at Penn, Kim provided strategic oversight for campus learning technologies, MOOC production, course design, and custom educational multimedia development at UNC-Chapel Hill. Prior to UNC, Kim served in a variety of roles including instructional designer, faculty developer, instructor, media developer, and project manager/designer of online courses.

Dr. Kristin Palmer is the Director of Online Learning Programs at the University of Virginia (UVA). In this role, she is responsible for massive open online courses (MOOCs), facilitating pan-university e-learning needs assessment and fulfillment, and conducting research. She represents UVA on the Networked Learning Collaborative of Virginia (NLCVa), is a member of the Accessibility Task Force, Online Education Advisory Committee, Teaching and Learning with Technologies Committee, Bicentennial Committee, and the President’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee (2012-2014). She co-created the annual the Innovation in Pedagogy Summit at UVA. Prior to UVA, Dr. Palmer worked in both education and business on complex technology projects. She has worked at Hewlett-Packard (HP), eBay, Disney, Intuit, and the Children’s Health Council. Dr. Palmer has lived in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. She has backpacked across Europe, sailed down the Nile, taken a train across India, climbed mountains in Nepal, and traveled through the Far East. She met her husband on a rainy evening in the desert and then bicycled with him across Canada. She has three sons, is a yoga instructor, and an avid gardener. She aspires to connect students and faculty to experiences that will lead them on new adventures and make the world a better place.

Dr. Katie Linder is the research director for Oregon State University Ecampus. She has presented research in a range of settings and formats including conference presentations, poster sessions, webinars, and keynotes.

Dr. Marie-Pierre Huguet is the director of Online Learning at Landmark College. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University at Albany in New York. Her research is focused on constructivist instructional design, online and blended learning, and integration of technology in the classroom.

Becky Adams was the Director of Online Faculty Support and Online Course Development for UNM Extended Learning for the past 13 years. She holds a PhD in Education specializing in Instructional Technologies, and a minor in Educational Administration. She holds a Technical Coordinator Certification with the State Department of Education. She has taught online for over twelve years for two universities. Her combination of educational and technical background, as well as experience as an online student, course designer and online instructor, assists her in managing the increasing demand of online courses. As the Director, she works with her staff to facilitate the design and delivery of UNM Online Courses for Main Campus, ensuring quality day-to-day support for online faculty and students, as well as training services for faculty and students utilizing the UNM Learning Management System and academic applications. Becky served on the New Mexico Learning Network’s Statewide initiative for online learning, chairing the sub-committee for Best Practices. She is a Quality Matters Master Reviewer, her OI&LS online course is Quality Matters Certified and she received a 2012 Director’s Choice Blackboard Catalyst Exemplary Course Award.

Dr. Bouchey is Associate Professor of Business and Management and Associate Dean, Academic Operations and Faculty Development of the College of Professional Studies and Advancement at National Louis University. She also holds university-wide responsibility as Director of Online Academics. Prior to joining NLU in this capacity she served on the adjunct faculty body as well. Dr. Bouchey has enjoyed a long history in higher education leadership serving in roles at smaller institutions ranging from vice president, provost, and dean, to her most cherished role as faculty member. She has led enrollment, advising, student services, academics, career services, and accreditation activities in her long career in higher education. In the years leading up to her tenure in higher education, Dr. Bouchey worked for and led several high-tech start-up firms in Upstate New York. Dr. Bouchey believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue post-secondary schooling and that National Louis University is one of the best places to do so. She is known for combining her deep understanding of pedagogy with caring, hands-on leadership of students, faculty and staff. Dr. Bouchey holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University at Albany, an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Doctorate in Education from Northeastern University. She also serves on the Board of Directors Epilepsy Foundation of Indiana. Her research interests include for-profit education and student outcomes, innovative higher education models, and the intersection of technology and education. Dr. Bouchey’s research methodology expertise rests in qualitative studies, more specifically the uses of the case study method and phenomenology.

Seth has been with UVU for over six years and currently serves as Director of Instructional Design Services. He received his PhD from Brigham Young University in Instructional Psychology and Technology. His research interests include Open Educational Resources (OER) and learning analytics.