So you want to know a little bit more about me. Here's a bio. My LinkedIn profile also contains a significant amount of info.
I am currently working as the Distance Education Faculty Coordinator at El Camino College. We're in the midst of a global pandemic and suddenly my work life is extraordinarily busy! You can find out about the rest of my work history on other pages on this site.
In addition to the day job, I also have deep and abiding research interests in a number of topics related to digital media. If you've read the blog at all, you've realized that games are something I do a great deal of thinking and writing about. I'm also constantly plotting some way to realize my dream of a visual interface for knowledge on the internet and the network model for structuring the knowledge database to run it. Then of course, there's that user generated survey system I've been wanting to build since 2009...some day.
Before beginning my professional life at the Academic Co-Lab in September of 2010, I was a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where I completed my dissertation on the topic of how leadership in massively multiplayer online games can inform research on and practice of instructional leadership. In other words, I looked at guild leadership in World of Warcraft and discussed the implications of those leadership practices for current and future practices of school leadership. This rather unlikely topic was the result of my having an official academic home at UW in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis while also working as an active member in the Games+Learning+Society Research Group.
During my time at UW, I also worked with my adviser Rich Halverson on School Leadership Games including Teaching Evaluation (a game based tool for learning how to do classroom observation), and the development of interactive cases for school leadership. In addition I worked with the Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR) Education Research Challenge Area (ERCA) on the use of games and digital media to represent research findings across disciplines, and at the Co-Lab in partnership with Florida Virtual School as an instructional designer and games and learning consultant.
Before getting involved in digital media, I received an MA in educational administration from Teachers College, Columbia University where I did mixed methods research and policy analysis on the New York Department of Education's district level suspension system during its role out in 2004 – 2005. While at Teachers College I was also credentialed in mediation and conflict resolution by the ICCCR co-located on the Teachers College campus. Before I got into education I completed my BA at U.C. San Diego in Studio Art with a focus on conceptual and installation art. I'm also a musician, and you'll find various content related to my musical career scattered throughout this site.
