Author Biographies
Susan Balter-Reitz
Dr. Susan Balter-Reitz is a Professor of Communication at Montana State University Billings. She has served the university as Graduate Director, Director of e-Learning and Interim Vice Provost. Her experience in administration prompted her interest in innovative teaching and course design. Sue’s primary area of research is in free speech, and she most recently published how universities should deal with controversial speakers. Sue can be reached at susan.balterreitz@msubillings.edu.
Brian J. Beatty
Dr. Brian Beatty is Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies and Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University. Brian’s primary areas of interest and research include social interaction in online learning, flipped classroom implementation, and developing instructional design theory for Hybrid-Flexible learning environments. At SFSU, Dr. Beatty pioneered the development and evaluation of the HyFlex course design model for blended learning environments, implementing a “student-directed-hybrid” approach to better support student learning.
Previously (2012 – 2020), Brian was Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Operations at San Francisco State University (SFSU), overseeing the Academic Technology unit and coordinating the use of technology in the academic programs across the university. He worked closely with IT professionals and leaders in other units to coordinate overall information technology strategic management at SFSU. Prior to 2012, Brian was Associate Professor and Chair of the Instructional Technologies department in the Graduate College of Education at SFSU. He received his Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2002. Dr. Beatty also holds several CA single-subject teaching credentials, an M.A. in Instructional Technologies from SF State and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University. Dr. Beatty has more than 25 years’ experience as a classroom teacher, trainer, and instructional designer at schools, businesses, and the US Navy.
John Bevacqua
John is an Australian legal academic and commercial lawyer. John holds a PhD in tax law from the University of New South Wales. John has held multiple roles as Director of Education and Academic Director of university online programs. These roles have allowed John to pursue his passion and scholarly interest in effective online and hybrid delivery. John also publishes regularly both in Australia and abroad in the field of tax administration and is recognised as an expert in taxpayer rights and remedies.
Samuel Boerboom
Dr. Samuel Boerboom is an Associate Professor of Communication Theatre at Montana State University Billings. He currently chairs the Department of Communication and Theatre. Sam has served as chair of the university’s graduate committee and was an eLearning Faculty Fellow for the College of Arts and Sciences. His interest in innovative course design serves his goal of increasing student engagement in online learning spaces. Sam researches and teaches political communication and has published on credibility in food science discourse. Sam can be reached at samuel.boerboom@msubillings.edu.
Piet Bonte
Piet Bonte is IT staff at KU Leuven and core member of the Technology-Enhanced Collaborative (TECOL) project. He provides central IT-AV support for education, research, administration and policy and manages the IT-AV infrastructure. He strongly collaborates with the Industry Partners (e.g. the one in the LECTURE+ project) for the rollout and implementation of the IT solutions.
René Cintrón
Dr. René Cintrón is, first and foremost, dad of three amazing daughters. He is the Chief Education and Training Officer for Louisiana Community and Technical College System, a public, multi-institution system serving a diverse student population seeking workforce development training, academic programs of study, and the high school equivalency. The 12 independently accredited institutions collectively serve 160,000 students, transfer 15,000 students, and graduate 32,000 individuals on an annual basis. In his role, René provides statewide leadership and is directly responsible for workforce development, academic affairs, and institutional effectiveness efforts across Louisiana. He has placed focus on accelerating the student experience from pre-application to post-graduation with tools such as data exchange, short-term credentials, compressed programs, prior learning assessments, co-requisite scheduling, and other efforts that lead to students achieving their educational goals in a timely manner. René is an Air Force veteran, grew up in the U.S. island of Puerto Rico now living in Greater New Orleans, and holds a Ph.D. in Organization and Management.
Meg Colasante
Dr. Meg Colasante (PhD, SFHEA) is a Lecturer at Deakin University in Australia. At Deakin, Meg currently (2022) works in faculty development in the Learning Innovations team of the Faculty of Business and Law, while also teaching courses within the Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning and Teaching). These roles demonstrate her interest in collaboratively advancing higher education teaching practices, along with completing a PhD in co-constructing digital teaching practice in higher education (using a cultural-historical activity theory perspective). Meg received her PhD from the School of Education at Deakin University in 2021, and earlier her Master of Professional Education and Training (Flexible, Online and Distance Education) from the School of Education at Deakin University in 2010.
With a background of innovating in university teaching practices (e.g. designing the pedagogical affordances of a media annotation tool), Meg was delighted to lead a project team to design, develop, trial, and research the hybrid-flexible StudyFlex model at La Trobe University under the sponsorship and mentoring of Dr John Bevacqua. In previous roles, Meg worked in faculty development and curriculum design roles at each of University of Melbourne and RMIT University, and at RMIT taught instructional design, and research design courses (after earlier leading and teaching into various health programs at RMIT). Meg has been admitted as a Senior Fellow in the Higher Education Academy (UK).
Stephanie Donovan
Stephanie Donovan, Ed.D., MBA, RHIA is Faculty Chair, Health Programs with more than 15 years of successful experience teaching and administering undergraduate programs in health information management and healthcare administration. Stephanie specializes in strategic planning, organizational development, leadership and management, electronic health records, and health law. An advocate for higher education reform, Stephanie is an active contributor to developing innovative instructional delivery models and reducing barriers to degree completion. Stephanie enjoys traveling with her family. Bar Harbor and Kennebunkport, Maine and Cape May, New Jersey are among her favorite destinations.
John Doyle
John Doyle is an Assistant Professor of Video Production at Cabrini University teaching Video Production, Advanced Editing, Short Documentary Film, Short Narrative Film, and Multimedia Storytelling. John has been producing video for 40 years. He acts as the videographer for the Montgomery County Commissioners as well as a variety of non-profit organizations in the Montgomery County region including the Municipality of Norristown and the NAACP. He has been the producer of The Hank Cisco Show, a regional cable program for 19 years. John has taught at Delaware County Community College, Wilma Theatre, and Drexel University. He has been employed by the Norristown Area School District since 1992 as an English, Gifted and Talented, and Philosophy teacher, There he initiated and coordinated the district's online learning until 2015 and was the Director of the Communication Center responsible for video production for the district and the management of five YouTube Channels producing up to 300 programs per year. He was an instructor for VHS learning. He has been a member of the district’s Cultural Proficiency Team, founded the Black Student Union, and advised the Gay Straight Alliance. John has been producing theatre in the Philadelphia region since 1987. He is the Artistic Director of Iron Age Theatre founded in 1992 and has directed for or collaborated with Plays and Players, South Camden Theatre, Passage Theatre, Theatre in the X, Revamp, Luna Theatre and Hedgerow, Play, Pie and a Pint, One Minute Play Festival, Flying Quilt Productions, and the Philadelphia Dramatists Center. He directed the Internationally touring production of Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho and shepherded more than 20 new plays to the stage including one-man social justice plays about Fred Hampton, Thomas Paine, Emma Goldman, and The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. He has produced an annual Juneteenth theatrical event since 2010. His work has been featured in The Theatre Journal and Black Renaissance Noire. Currently working in a digital video arena, John is developing a variety of hyper local news, information, and entertainment distribution techniques. John is the Co-host of “The Racking Focus Podcast” a weekly film review podcast. He is a founding member of Walla Fest, a regional indie music and arts festival, and the Independent Voices Festival. He has presented a TedX Talk. John Graduated from Cabrini in 1985 with a Bachelor's Degree in History, English, and Communications and received a Master of Arts Degree from Villanova University in Theatre and Film. He has completed the certification program in Secondary Education at Cabrini University.
Ben Harley
Ben Harley, Ph.D., is the inaugural Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD where he also serves as an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric in the Department of English, Communication, and Global Languages. His research focuses on HyFlex course design, composition pedagogies, holistic approaches to critical thinking, and sound writing. He is primarily focused on classroom practices and strives to create engaging, high-impact courses that are accessible, equitable, and diverse. He hopes his scholarly and administrative work helps others do the same. Ben can be reached at Benjamin.harley@northern.edu.
Glori Hinck
Dr. Glori Hinck is an Instructional Designer and Research Manager for the St. Thomas eLearning and Research Center (STELAR) at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In this role, she helps drive educational innovation and supports faculty in the design and delivery of online and blended courses, including HyFlex. Dr. Hinck has a wide variety of academic interests and in addition to exploring alternative online delivery models, she has conducted research and lectured on the topics of social media professionalism, quality assurance for online courses, artificial intelligence in higher education, digital accessibility, and educational video applications.
Previously, Dr. Hinck had a career in health care spanning two decades, most recently Associate Professor and Director of Educational Technology at Northwestern Health Sciences University. She earned a certificate in online teaching and an M.E.T. and Ed.D. in Educational Technology online at Boise State University. Dr. Hinck also holds a B.S. in Dietetics from UW-Stout, M.S. in Exercise Physiology from St. Cloud State University, and a D.C. from Northwestern Health Sciences University. Dr. Hinck has designed and taught face-to-face, blended and online courses for graduate and faculty development programs.
Melanie Lefebvre
Melanie Lefebvre graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada in 2007. She then began working at the Canadian Mental Health Association supporting individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders where she dedicated 11 years. In 2017, she began working as a part-time professor at CTS Canadian Career College in the Mental Health and Addictions Program as well as a part-time professor at Cambrian College teaching Psychology..
She currently serves as the coordinator and professor in a post-graduate certificate program in Community and Health Services Navigation at Cambrian College. She is also working towards her Masters of Education in Post-Secondary Studies as a part-time, online student through Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.
Cathy M. Littlefield
Cathy M. Littlefield, Ed.D., M.B.A., serves Peirce College in the capacity of Professor and Faculty Chair of the Business Division and joined Peirce College in 2012. As faculty Chair of the Business Division, Dr. Littlefield oversees the Accounting, Business Administration, Human Resource Management, and Organizational Leadership programs. Additionally, her responsibilities include the organization, administration, continuous program review, planning, development, and general effectiveness of the Division. As a business professional with nearly 30 years of experience in hospitality, human resources, business ownership and higher education, Dr. Littlefield combines practice with scholarship. She has been teaching graduate and undergraduate students at the university level since 2009, and while at Peirce, was hired as the first full-time faculty member of the graduate division. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Education and her research interests include organic collaboration, collaborative learning and work environments, advisory board development, team development, course design and technology integration within the scope of teaching and learning. Dr. Littlefield is a published author of scholarly work and has presented at numerous professional conferences.
Danette Long
Danette Long, Ed.S., served as Instructional Designer and Program Lead for Quality Assurance at Northern State University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning from May 2018 to August 2022. Her work focuses on instructional design, faculty development, e-learning, HyFlex course design, and rural pre-service teacher education. She holds a Master’s in Education from SUNY Potsdam, and a Master’s in English and Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University. Danette has over twenty years’ experience in education and has taught at all levels from K-12 to graduate school. She has recently returned to the K-12 classroom at the Evergreen Hutterite Colony in Faulkton, SD. Danette can be reached at dlong21136@gmail.com.
Matthea Marquart
Matthea Marquart is a social worker, leader, educator, and online education expert. She is the Assistant Dean of Online Education at Columbia University’s School of Social Work (CSSW), a Senior Lecturer teaching innovative courses, and the creator and co-facilitator of CSSW’s Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses. She began working with CSSW's Online Campus in 2014 during beta testing and launch preparation, helped launch the Online Campus in 2015, and has focused on collaborating on the online program's continuous improvement and growth since then. Her team’s work with CSSW’s Online Campus has won numerous awards, including from the International E-Learning Association, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, the United States Distance Learning Association, and Chief Learning Officer Magazine. Matthea publishes and presents frequently, including over 125 invited and refereed talks, workshops, keynote speeches, and conference sessions about education, training, teaching with technology, and nonprofit management.
She is honored to have been recognized by the Council on Social Work Education’s Women’s Council as a Feminist Mentor, by the Network for Social Work Management with an Exemplar Award for exemplary performance and leadership as a social work executive leader, by the White House and Americorps with a President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award in recognition of volunteer service to community and country, and by the NYC chapter of the National Association of Social Workers with an Emerald Leadership Award for 16-25 years of exemplary leadership and contributions to the Social Work profession. Matthea began working in education in 1997, and in online education in 2008. She holds a BA in English from Emory University and an MS in Social Work from Columbia University. She is passionate about student-centered teaching and learning, and can be reached on Twitter, on LinkedIn, or on her website.
Mark McLean
Dr. Mark McLean is the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at Fletcher Technical Community College in Schriever, Louisiana. Mark previously served as the Assistant Chair of Business Studies at Delgado Community College in New Orleans and led the West Bank Campus Business Studies team. Mark was awarded the LCTCS President’s Inaugural Faculty Fellowship and recently earned his Ph.D. in Human Capital Development from The University of Southern Mississippi. Mark’s research focus is leadership in the evolving higher education industry. His dissertation identified and prioritized essential leadership competencies for college CEOs in a metrics-driven environment. Prior to joining Delgado and Fletcher, he spent nearly 20 years in professional services with Deloitte in a variety of director level roles, both domestic and abroad. Mark earned a B.S. in Management from the University of Pittsburgh and his MBA from Loyola University of New Orleans.
Zahira Merchant
Zahira Merchant is an Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies Program at San Francisco State University (SFSU). She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Emphasis in Education Technology) and MS in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University. Dr. Merchant has served as the PI, Co-PI, Senior Personnel on several federally and non-profit funded grant projects from agencies such as National Science Foundation (NSF), California Teaching Commission (CTC), and IDEA. Before joining SF State, she was the project manager and postdoctoral research associate of an NSF project studying the effects of using 3-D virtual reality technologies in training mathematics educators. Dr. Merchant’s engages in research focusing on virtual reality, game-based learning environments, learning analytics, digital literacy, computer science for K-12, advanced quantitative and qualitative research methods, mixed research methods. Dr. Merchant’s research is published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and is highly cited by scholars nationally and internationally. She is currently the member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Formative Design in Learning.
Dr. Merchant is the winner of the Robert Gagne Instructional Design Award (2012) awarded by the Association of Educational Communication and Technology Organization (AECT) for her outstanding dissertation. She has been the recipient of the Presidential Service Award three times from for her exceptional service to the AECT’s Design and Development Division, where she served in the leadership for four consecutive years. Dr. Merchant was the finalist of the PacifiCorp Design and Development Competition (2012). She also won the Certificate of Merit Award (2012) for a game she developed for students of nursing education.
Jackie Bryce Miller
Jackie Bryce Miller (they/them/theirs) holds the rank of Lecturer IV in the Department of Statistics at the University of Michigan. Jack earned a one-of-a-kind PhD in statistics education from The Ohio State University in 2000 and worked on the faculty of both Drury University (2000-2003) and Ohio State (2003-2013) prior to joining the faculty in the Department of Statistics at Michigan. Jack is interested both in the teaching of statistics and in training future teachers of statistics and is particularly interested in leveraging technology for student learning and understanding. They have always been passionate about statistics education and received the inaugural Robert V. Hogg Award for excellence in teaching introductory statistics from the Mathematical Association of America’s SIGMAA on Statistics Education. Jack has been involved in the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE) since its inception and currently serves on the Board of Directors for CAUSE. They have held several leadership positions within the American Statistical Association (ASA), including current positions on the ASA LGBT Concerns Committee and the ASA Leadership Support Council. Jack is known for introducing the HyFlex (hybrid-flexible) method of instruction at Ohio State (through a Departmental Impact Grant) and at Michigan, and recently completed an NSF grant that studied the use of HyFlex in undergraduate statistics courses.
Svetlana Miftahov-Rapoport
Svetlana Miftahov-Rapoport is an authentic educator and relationship builder. Her life passion is service to others. Having traveled the world extensively, Svetlana lived and worked in three different countries, which has shaped her outlook on international development and cross-cultural engagement. Thanks to her natural curiosity and enthusiasm, Svetlana worked in three main sectors: private, public, and education and she is fluent in three languages: Hebrew, Russian, and English. As a lifelong learner, Svetlana believes that continuing education and personal development can inspire everyone to live an enriching life. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Calgary, a double major Bachelor's degree in Communications and Management from the Open University of Israel, and a double major Diploma in Human Resources and Public Relations from Bow Valley College. These days Svetlana is working as a business Instructor at Bow Valley College and has continued to enhance her skills and abilities through ongoing professional development and community engagement.
Marieke Pieters
Marieke Pieters holds a Master in Geography and was teacher for more than 15 years in a secondary school in Kortrijk (https://lyceumolvvlaanderen-kortrijk.rhizo.be/ ). In 2018 she joined ITEC, imec’s research group at KU Leuven, campus Kulak in Kortrijk as a full time researcher in the context of the LECTURE+ project. In this 2-year project her role was to set up the research projects focusing on Technology Integration together with the secondary school. Since 2020 Marieke Pieters combines her job as teacher in geography with a job at the KU Leuven where she is responsible for the professional development of teachers who want to integrate the technology for collaborative and distance learning (including the hybrid virtual classroom ) in their courses.
Annelies Raes
Annelies Raes holds a PhD in Educational Technology by Ghent University and is currently working as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology (CIP&T) at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), campus Kulak in Kortrijk, Belgium. Annelies Raes is also co-Principal Investigator within imec’s Smart Education Program (https://www.imec-int.com/en/articles/smart-education ). Her main fields of interest are new innovative education models as active learning and problem-based collaborative learning and how this can be supported by emergent technologies. From 2017 Annelies was in charge of the research conducted in the context of the TECOL project (https://www.kuleuven-kulak.be/tecol?lang=en), the research and development project on Technology-Enhanced Collaborative Learning at KU Leuven, campus Kulak Kortrijk. Annelies also conducted the research from a pedagogical perspective in the imec.ICON project LECTURE+ about effective remote learning (https://www.imec-int.com/nl/imec-icon/research-portfolio/lecture ).
David Rhoads
Dr. David Rhoads is currently serving as the Director of Teaching Excellence and Digital Pedagogy at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California and has been teaching in the areas of leadership and educational technology for nearly a decade. Dr. Rhoads holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Concordia University Irvine, M.A. in Teaching and Learning with Technology from Ashford University, and a B.A. in Human Development from San Diego Christian College. He enjoys helping faculty do what they do best by equipping them with solutions and best practices for their classroom. David has extensive experience in the area of online pedagogy and program development, non-traditional enrollment and support, instructional design, and educational technology. David’s background, prior to working in Higher Education, included teaching at the High School level as well as 12 years of youth and young adult ministry. David is passionate about helping faculty maximize face to face and online learning opportunities so their students can gain the most benefit from their instruction. He believes that our goal as educators should be to facilitate learning is such a way that encourages and equips students to be passionate life-long learners.
Amanda H. Rosenzweig
Dr. Amanda Rosenzweig earned a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New Orleans in 2012, and has a MS in Biology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Teaching at Delgado Community College (DCC) since 2003, she is a professor of biology and the college-wide Biology Department Chair. Her Dr. Rosenzweig has immense contribution to the online learning community. Her current roles at DCC include Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) Administrator and Canvas LMS Training Coordinator. Dr. Rosenzweig created and currently serves as the facilitator for Teach and Learn/eProfessor, a five-course series on course development and instructional design. The courses created are a repository of ideas, best practices, analyses and other information that foster student success. Her enthusiasm and drive to ensure student success and progressive change is evidenced by the honor bestowed as recipient of the Seymour Weiss Excellence in Teaching Award.
Jeanne C. Samuel
Dr. Jeanne Samuel is the Dean of Distance Learning & Instructional Technology (DLIT) for Delgado Community College, New Orleans, LA. Jeanne is very interested in game theory for learning and assessment for learning. As a lifelong techie, she has spent decades providing both technology support and teaching in the fields of technology and computing. She loves to learn new things and solve puzzles. Shortly after receiving her PhD from LSU with a focus on Education Technology, she became the Director of Faculty & Staff Development at Delgado Community College, New Orleans, LA. During that time, she researched and promoted HyFlex course design and delivery. She has been the Dean of DLIT at Delgado since Spring 2015. Her interests are in technology adoption (From “S” to “J”: A theoretical technology adoption rate model (2009, IJEA, 1(2), 55-68) and motivational strategies to promote student learning and completion (2012, The effect of test design on student motivational strategies for learning and student retention).
Elise Verdooner
Elise Verdooner, a Fulbright Scholar and returned Peace Corps volunteer, has worked in international development for eight years. She is the former Executive Director of TEEEM, a global nonprofit organization focused on health, education, and economic empowerment in Ethiopia, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cambodia, Mongolia, Slovakia, and Peru. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University with a focus on social enterprise administration and international social work and a master's degree in global affairs from the University of Notre Dame. As a Fulbright Scholar in India, she is researching international social welfare, corporate social responsibility, and culture. Elise started as a Teaching Associate at Columbia University School of Social Work in 2019 before transitioning to Adjunct Faculty in 2022. As a youth development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Botswana, Elise worked on organizational capacity building, HIV prevention and outreach, and gender equality initiatives. Elise is a member of National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) New York City Chapter and the Immigration and Global Social Work Committee. She is a member of the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM) and was the 2019 recipient of the NSWM Mark Moses Distinguished Fellowship Award, which is presented annually to one exemplary practitioner or academic working in the field of social work management. She publishes and presents on topics of international development and teaching with technology.
Swapna Verma
Swapna Verma is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Business Law and Taxation at the Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia. Since 2019, she has primarily been Chief Examiner, Unit Co-ordinator and Lecturer of undergraduate Taxation Law and Business Taxation. Prior to her appointment, Swapna joined the Monash Business School as a Teaching Associate and Assistant Lecturer.
Swapna holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Bachelor of Laws and Masters of Law (Taxation) from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She is also admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Tax Teaching Association.
Swapna is a recipient of 2020 Deans Commendation for Teaching Excellence and 2020 Department of Business Law and Taxation Commendation for Teaching Excellence, recognising her genuine passion for teaching and students’ learning, and expertise in implementing innovative and scholarly-informed teaching and learning in online and physical teaching spaces – particularly during COVID-19. Swapna is also a recent co-recipient with Dr. John Bevacqua of a 2021 Business Education Research Group (“BERG”) grant from the Monash Business School to collect empirical qualitative data on student and staff attitudes and knowledge of hybrid delivery, which will assist in the design, development and implementation of hybrid teaching across business and taxation law subjects. More broadly, this research will allow an investigation of the challenges and opportunities of hybrid delivery.
Prior to joining Monash University, Swapna practiced as a taxation lawyer and consultant at PwC, Sydney and Melbourne Australia, working in corporate tax, tax controversy and the tax technical knowledge centre (TTKC). She also practiced as a commercial lawyer in many other legal firms in Sydney, Australia.
Swapna is particularly interested in research studies relating to taxation reform, tax policy and anti-avoidance.