This spring marks my 30th reunion from the University of Richmond, and I have worked in education ever since, witnessing — and adapting to — massive technological change along the way.
In 1996, straight out of college, I entered the field as a language assistant in a French high school that mimeographed their “dittos” and proudly promoted the merits of Minitel. Meanwhile, in the US, emailing through AOL was only just becoming more commonplace. By the time I taught in South Korea in 1998, internet cafes connected me to home, but otherwise technology minimally affected my work until I got my first professional email address in 2000.
After teaching several years in California, I enrolled at San José State University to pursue a Master’s in Library and Information Science — drawn in by my love of books and reading, but swept away by the excitement of the Web 2.0 tools SLIS introduced me to. Studying in Silicon Valley in 2005 meant being immersed in tools like content sharing and social networking right as they were reshaping how people learned, and gave me an early, hands-on foundation in what we’d now call learning experience design.
Since then, I’ve spent nearly two decades designing standards-aligned curriculum, building course content in Canvas for both in-class and remote learning, and integrating educational technology and formative assessment to individualize instruction — the same backward-design thinking (start with outcomes, then build the experience) that shapes ADDIE-based instructional design today. Regardless of my role, colleagues consistently turned to me first when they needed to learn a new tool, troubleshoot a platform, or figure out how to bring technology into their teaching without losing the pedagogy underneath it. That informal work — translating new tools into practical, learner-centered use for other educators — is the work I want to do formally now.
Covid forced every teacher to adopt new technology, ready or not, but my MLIS foundation meant I could meet that moment with curiosity instead of panic, and help others do the same. This year, developing ways to teach students to responsibly co-create with AI has sharpened my interest in AI-assisted design tools and reminded me how much I enjoy sitting at the intersection of pedagogy, technology, and accessibility — making sure every learner, regardless of how they access a course, can succeed in it.
As I look toward my next chapter, I’m drawn to instructional design roles in higher education, where I can partner with faculty the way I’ve partnered with teachers for 25+ years: designing learner-centered, accessible courses grounded in real classroom experience, not just theory. I bring genuine enthusiasm for what ed-tech makes possible, deep comfort with Canvas and digital course-building, and the “in the trenches” perspective of knowing exactly what faculty need to feel confident teaching in new modalities.
