Zach Bruns

Nithya Madhavan

John Thomson

Carole Turner first came to Wisconsin from the New Jersey shore to discover what the Midwest had to offer, fell in love, and never really left. She attended UW-Madison, where she received her degree in English, with a Creative Writing emphasis.

She has worked with faculty and staff at the UW-Madison International Institute, at Blackhawk Technical College, and the UW-Madison College of Letters and Science.

She now enjoys working with the Learning Technology staff at the Division of Information Technology and supporting campus-wide instructional technology initiatives for faculty and staff.

Previous to being involved with information and instructional technology, Carole worked as a freelance writer and journalist for regional newspapers and magazines, an auto leasing agent, a coordinator at a senior citizen center, and a natural foods baker.

Carole enjoys vacationing to her favorite spots --the Upper Peninsula, the Rocky Mountains, France, and Italy. She is married to a soil tester and is the mother of a daughter who studied in southern France and who now works at the Washington State University campus. Currently, her weekend pursuits are closer to her home in Green County, where she enjoys canoeing on the Sugar River, visiting with friends and family, and taking walks in the woods with her bassett hound named Leo.

Theresa is an IS Resource Support Technician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her expertise is with Learn@UW, our campus course management system. She guides you step by step through creating your course online. With the expanding technology field she is also working on keeping on top of the newest technologies to make teaching online fresh.

She is also involved with the Leadership Institute which works on cultivating diverse approaches to leadership on campus and beyond. She enjoys spending time with family, is crazy about the color purple and loves handbags.

Bruce is an eLearning Tools Developer with Learning Solutions at DoIT. He specializes in server-side system design and Java development. Prior to joining DoIT, Bruce worked for the University of Chicago Press where he led successful efforts in eBook publishing and eCommerce. He has organized workshops and been a frequent speaker and author on the effective use of technology in scholarly publishing.

Jeff provides guidance to faculty and staff looking to integrate technology into their instruction.

His areas of interest and expertise include:

• Effective use of course management systems (Learn@UW, Blackboard, etc.)
• Streaming audio and video
• Web development
• Technology in K-12 education
• Faculty development

Prior to his work at UW-Madison, Jeff was an instructional technologist at Dartmouth College (NH) where he focused on supporting faculty use of Blackboard, leading faculty workshops, and enhancing the library's presence within the course managment system.

Jeff holds an M.A. (educational technology) and B.S.Ed. (math education) from the University of South Dakota.

Jeff loves to spend time with his marvelous wife and four stupendous children. He dreams about one day rediscovering his hobbies of golf, camping, and sports card collecting.

Blaire is the Team Lead for the Teaching and Consulting Group (TAC), Academic Technology. In this capacity Blaire works with a team of technology consultants to provide planning and guidance for faculty and staff looking to integrate technology into their instruction. The team provides assistance for various instructional technology workshops and series, including Learn@UW and also explores various Open Source technology tools for teaching and learning, e.g., Moodle, ATutor, TILE, (and various tool assessment therein ((such as accessibility and multimedia authoring)) and with innovative technologies such as Engage and Croquet.

Blaire also takes a lead role (point person) for the team in several specific areas:

• Team rep for Network Media Services Team primarily focusing on Streaming Media, developing and consulting for effective use of audio and video. See a recent Streaming Webinar where Blaire discusses best practices for consulting with faculty, media accessibility and use in a course management system.
• Team rep for DoIT's Web Accessibility Team, and UW-Madison Technology Accessibility Program (TAP). Blaire has been involved in numerous projects, conferences and advisory panels including CSUN eTEACH.

In addition, Blaire works in close collaboration with the UW-Madison, General Library System in order to implement common goals and improve services for faculty, instructional staff, and students. Some examples include a project to revise and enhance CLUE online (Campus Library User Education); faculty consulting with the Library’s Digital Content Group; creating mechanisms for faculty to better use the UW Digital Collections, and be the Academic Technology Liaison between DoIT and various Library initiatives, i.e., library course pages and digital publishing initiatives in collaboration with the CIC.

Blaire came to DoIT in 2001 after several years working as the Technology Training Coordinator for the General Library System. While working for the GLS, Blaire further developed and honed his skills with Web accessibility, co-authored several documents on web accessibility and usability techniques for WAI and 508 guidelines. Blaire has attended and presented nationally on a variety of education technology topics. For a more comprehensive list of Blaire's activities you can link to his Vitae.

In addition to working full time for DoIT, Blaire is currently working toward his PhD. When not involved in work or school, Blaire enjoys cooking multi-ethnic food (what's all this about SAKAI when the real master is Iron Chef Kenichi) and traveling to various cities throughout North America (visiting every China Town possible: LA, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston and Honolulu to name a few). Blaire lives and travels with his wife Larissa and son Wells.

Jan is a project manager within the Learning Solutions group of Academic Technology Solutions at DoIT. As a member of this group, she managed the T⁴ Biology project, providing administrative leadership and disciplinary and pedagogical expertise. She has extensive instructional and administrative experience promoting undergraduate biology education at the UW-Madison as a staff member of the Zoology department and Center for Biology Education. She has served as director of undergraduate research programs and provided workshops on pedagogy, learning, and mentoring for faculty in the UW Colleges and faculty and graduate students at the UW-Madison.

Cheryl joined Academic Technology on August 12, 2004. Cheryl is the project lead of the e-Pedagogy Sessions webinar series, where faculty learn from other faculty online. She is the project lead on the evaluation of collaboration tools for the eLearning Roadmap Group, and the project lead for the Learn@UW Training Group. Other projects that Cheryl is currently working on are the UW-System Synchronous Tools Task Force, the ENGAGE - Simulations and Games, Podcasting, and Podcasting Plus projects, the Learn@UW Madison team, Teaching and Consulting (TAC) team rep for service-learning, and consults with faculty on effective pedagogy strategies and instructional technologies.

Prior to the University of Wisconsin, Madison Cheryl’s work includes:
Co-managing the launching of a new course management system (CMS), and training programs; Director of Instructional Media for Aerospace Sciences, and the Coordinator of an Online Space Studies Masters Degree Program; and Instructor of undergraduate courses within the School of Communication.

Prior to her work in formal education Cheryl was a video editor, videographer, and reporter for a CBS television news affiliate where her assignments varied from local new coverage, to interviewing stars, such as Jay Leno, to being strapped to a Huey helicopter gathering footage of a mock nuclear attack, to standing in mud talking with a pig farmer about pigs breeding cycles.

Cheryl has a B.A. in Related Fields: Communication/Graphic Design, Education, and Industrial Technology; an M.S. in Industrial Technology with a Cognate in Education; and Graduate Certification in Instructional Design for Online Learning.

When Cheryl is not working she enjoys staying connected with her three boys via multiple modes of e-conversing, having dialog with her partner while sitting near the fire and sipping a good glass of wine, and taking walks with her companion of 13 years, Henry, who is a Chocolate lab and Husky mix; Once in a while her cat, Harley (aka Snarley), will join in on the walk. Cheryl is an avid kayaker and non-motorized biker. For Cheryl, music, body movement, reading, volunteer work, meditation and close relationships contribute most to sustaining life balance.

Timmo joined LTDE in 2000. He provides training for faculty and instructional staff on a wide range of technologies used in instruction. He is a co-developer of the Web Development Series, now in its ninth year. He also works on the Online Teaching Series courses.

Prior to joining LTDE, Timmo was the Director of the DoIT New Media Centers Program from 1996 - 2000, where he helped faculty and staff integrate multimedia technology into their instruction and research.

With a Masters degree in Library & Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison (1990), Timmo was also a practicing Librarian at UW Madison's College Library, and Georgia State University from 1992 - 1996. He still keeps his feet in their world through his partnership with the General Library System and the Association for Research Libraries online delivery of the Web Development Series.

When Timmo isn't working, he likes to join friends in a good meal and/or cocktail (his favorite restaurant is Magnus, and his favorite lounge is Opus). He also likes to spend an evening baking a delicious cheesecake, chatting online, playing with his cats (Marlo and Thomas) or watching his favorite TV shows (Lost, Heroes, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy). He can always kill a weekend shopping or going to a good movie.

Cid is an instructional design consultant with the DoIT Academic Technology group. She has worked with faculty in converting classroom courses to online courses for 6 years. She works in instructional design, Flash programming, online learning consultation, and project management. Prior to her eLearning career, she worked as a cartographer for the U.S. Geological Survey, designing maps and technical workflows for integrating GIS data with desktop publishing. She has more than 15 years of experience in information design and visual communication. She is also an artist, working in photomontage.

Michelle is a web and graphic designer/developer with the ATS Learning Solutions group at DoIT. She contributed to the T⁴ Phase I Biology and Language projects as the primary graphic designer and as a web and Flash programmer. She holds a degree in Spanish culture, language, and literature and lived in Spain for 18 months, where she began her career as a web designer. Michelle also taught English as a Foreign Language at La Escuela Superior de Negocios in Valencia, Spain, and has provided instruction as a functional group facilitator for the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) program within the College of Engineering at the UW-Madison.

Dirk presently serves as the e-Learning System Architect for UW-Madison. Since coming to UW-Madison in 1998, Dirk has worked in a series of initiatives for e-Learning, starting with the introduction of WebCT in 1998, My UW-Madison in 1999-2001, the Open Knowledge Initiative 2002-2003 and continuing with the Transforming Teaching Through Technology initiative in 2002 to present. He has general responsibility for the technical direction of e-Learning at UW-Madison, spanning R&D, industry standards, vendor relationships, tool development, and delivery of e-Learning. Dirk’s background includes work in information technology in Higher Ed and the private sector, with a focus on the Internet and instructional uses. With an MS in Computer Science, Dirk taught computer science courses at UW-Eau Claire and participated in a redesign of the entire undergraduate CS curriculum. In the mid 90s, Dirk worked on one of the first educationally oriented Internet e-Journals. In the late 1990’s Dirk was involved with several startup companies, including Hotoffice, and participated in building the 1st web based product for Epic Systems.

Les is a senior instructional design consultant for the Department of Academic Technology Solutions at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He leads a team of designers and digital media specialists in the Learning Materials Development Group. He has served as an instructional design and technology consultant at the university for ten years. Les has 20 years experience as an instructional design and technology specialist in corporate, government, medical and academic settings. Les consults with faculty and trainers in developing instructional programs, multimedia applications and e-learning courses. He has a graduate degree in educational technology from the University of Oregon and undergraduate degrees in education and educational psychology. Les is a frequent presenter at national, local and regional conferences, as well as a guest speaker at various universities.

Jack has performed many different roles at the UW over the last 32 years - Chief Programmer, Lead Analyst, Chief technologist, Chief Methodologist, Manager of the Data Base group, Lead Systems Programmer, and Project Manager.  Jack has designed and developed a range of software applications from business systems such as a film reservations; booking, billing and shipping systems; artificial intelligence systems for final exam room assignments; logic systems for Y2K analysis; complex hardware systems, like registration, ID cards, library bar code, and parking gate systems;dynamic web sites; and, implementation of large vendor systems such as data bases and teleprocessing systems.  Jack has extensively studied IT paradigms, principles, and methods and knows when, how, and why to select one over the other.

Kathy specializes in:

• Learn@UW (Desire2Learn=D2L),
• SCO, Sharable Content Object Project (learning objects)
• WebCT
• TA Teaching with Technology
• Wireless technology
• Macromedia Flash & Animations in Higher Education
• Creating accessible PDF files, Library HiTech published article
• RoboDemo & Camtasia, recording of the computer screen to put out on the web,
• Project management of the use of virtual simulations in higher education,
• Instructional Technology design
• General Assignment Classroom Technology liason with Space Management
• Converting PowerPoint to the Web, (ShowNTell-Softv, iCreate, etc.)
  PowerPoint Conversion Article in Wisconsin Week

Kathy Konicek's Presentations:

Distance Education Teaching and Learning Conference 2000:
-Creating Web Ready Documents

Distance Education Teaching and Learning Conference 2001:
- Writing for the Web
- Interactive Simulations on the Web

EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference 2003

UW-Madison Spring Symposium 2003

Kathy works directly with UW-Madison faculty and course management systems, partners with our campus support staff, and has expertise with many instructional applications, faculty development initiatives, as well as in-depth technical understanding of the Learn@UW- D2L product.

Kathy Konicek is project lead to the D2L@Madison implementation team which is organized as a cross-functional team, and includes key representation from the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) groups, including Architecture, Communications, Learning Technology and Distance Education (LTDE), and Library, Instructional, and Research Applications (LIRA). The mission is to represent UW Madison campus faculty, instructional staff and students needs related to Learn@UW (D2L) and advocate for these needs.

She has 17 years of teaching experience. She has a teaching degree, B.S, and Master's degree in Kinesiology. She has taught university graduate level courses as well as High School Computers, Health, and Stress Challenge.

For the past 10 years, Kathy taught adults on how to use technology and instructional technology.

In Kathy's spare time she enjoys training a WAGS service dog, coordinator of middle school girls computer clubs, road biking, tech magazines and spending time with her nieces and nephews.

Dan is an Instructional Technology Consultant with Department of Academic Technology at DoIT where he assists faculty in integrating technology into their teaching and research. He recently assisted with the Engage Adaptation Award consultations and is the team lead for the Access to Technology group which helps provide management for the New Media Center facilities on campus. Dan is interested in learning space design and how new active learning paradigms will help inform future online learning. Previously Dan managed the Biology New Media Center and received his MFA from Madison with a focus on video, 3d graphics, and interactive design as personal expression.

Ben is an eLearning Tools Developer with Learning Solutions at DoIT. He provides Flash application development, web development, and application and database design. He has a background in creating learning applications that incorporate rich media.

Christine holds a M.S. in Continuing & Vocational Education and a M.S. in Recreation Administration. She manages the annual Transforming Teaching Through Technology initiative for DoIT. She is a former Faculty Associate in Continuing and Vocational Education and Recreation Resources Management at the UW-Madison. Prior to her teaching and advising roles, she managed an international folk arts center, an international education conference, a residential summer camp program, and the training department for a private sector business. She is a qualified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator administrator, and consults with campus groups, technical schools, private industry, and the federal government on workplace issues. She is currently writing her dissertation on an experiential learning-based instructional design model that she developed. She also advises the campus Adventure & Environmental Education Club.

Renee is an Instructional Technology Consultant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in instructional design, web design and course managements systems such as WebCT, BlackBoard and Desire2Learn. Additionally, she supervises student staff. Previously, she was an instructor for the University of WI-Milwaukee where she taught undergraduate courses in communication. She moved to Madison in 1997 where she worked for American Family Insurance as an instructional designer in their training division within the marketing department. Renee has a Masters in Communications from the University of WI-Milwaukee and a Masters in Business Administration from Edgewood College in Madison, WI. As a part-time instructor at Concordia University, she teaches business management and communication courses to returning adult students.

Alan has been with LTDE since 1998. Before coming to the UW, he was a a graduate student and, then a post doc at the University of Michigan studying systematic biology. During his time there he became heavily involved in teaching with technology which lead him to this position.

If you wish to find out about some of his current projects, please visit this site:

https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/alanwolf/web/index.html (mirror)

Zach is an upperclassman at the UW-Madison, majoring in Communication Arts: Rhetorical Studies and receiving a certificate in Jewish Studies. He works as part of the Learn@UW Madison Support team responding to support cases, updating technical documents, and testing new software. Originally from small-town Minnesota, Zach now loves living in Madison. He is an active member of Blackhawk church and the Wisconsin Track Club.

Nithya is a student at the UW-Madison, majoring in Graphic Design. She is a new student employee at the Learning Technology and Distance Education department. She has knowledge in softwares like Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, Publisher, and Frontpage, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator. By working on projects for the LTDE staff, she hopes to pick up new software knowledge to use in her future Graphic Design career. Nithya was born in India and moved to Wisconsin with her family when she was five. She is currently living in Madison, but enjoys visiting relatives and friends back in India. Apart from English, she speaks Malayalam and Tamil, two languages from the southern part of India.

John Thomson is a PhD student in the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and has been a project assistant with LTDE since 2003. His academic interests are in Communication law and policy, with emphases in technology and copyright. He hopes one day to become a professor of media law in the Journalism school of a major university.

While working at LTDE, John has developed his skills and interest in learning technology. He is currently involved in a number of projects with the University’s course management system (Learn@UW), the UW-System’s Sharable Content Object (SCO) project, and LTDE’s courses on web development and multimedia. John is looking forward to teaching again one day, but is enjoying the exposure to learning technology in this assistantship.