Meet the CCCOnline Science Team

This week, please enjoy getting to know your Science team!

Norma Hollebeke, Associate Dean of Science
(Norma's introduction also appeared at this blog on 8/3/11)
CCCOnline extends a warm welcome to Norma Hollebeke, our new Associate Dean of Science. Norma is new to the Colorado Community College System; she most recently served as Associate Professor of Biology at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

Norma’s accomplishments include developing innovative curriculum to pave the way to student success in both face-to-face and online environments. She has an extensive Biology teaching background, having taught at El Paso Community College, University of Texas-El Paso, University of Toronto, and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

In addition, Norma has served as Director of the Dayton Urban STEM Teacher Academy (funded by the National Science Foundation) and past-Affiliate Director of Biomedical Science for Project Lead the Way, Ohio (an organization dedicated to improving programs and supporting future graduates in science and technology).

Norma earned her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Master’s degree in Biology from the University of Texas-El Paso; her post-graduate research was at the University of Toronto. She enjoys hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing, gardening, photography, bird watching, entomology, and “herping” (searching for reptiles and amphibians).

Paul E. Vorndam, Physical Sciences Program Chair
Paul has been indispensable to CCCOnline’s Science program. In addition to his current position, he has served as CCCOnline’s Science Chair, and has taught for us since 1998. He also has held the academic posts of Deputy Chemistry Department Head in the U.S. Air Force Academy and Chemistry Department Chair at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Paul’s industry experience includes working as Quality Control Supervisor at a 14Carbon Synthesis Lab and Group Leader at a Pesticide Residue Analysis Lab. He holds a BS in Chemistry from Millikin University, an MS in Chemistry from Illinois State University, and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Paul enjoys bridge, chess, table tennis, and trail running.

Alison Jacobs, Health Sciences Program Chair
Alison is an experienced member of CCCOnline’s Science team. She began teaching for CCCOnline in 2003, and has served as our Health Sciences Program Chair since 2006. Additionally, she has been Nursing Chair for CCCOnline and Community College of Denver’s LPN to RN online program since 2004, and she serves as a clinical nursing instructor of Maternal Child Health at Community College of Denver.

Alison’s professional experience also includes working as a community health nurse in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Tennessee for a Child Development Project; serving as a nurse practitioner in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Florida; and living for 10 years in Japan with her husband and three children, where she learned the language and culture, developed children’s educational programs, and taught English to preschool Japanese children.

Alison earned a BS in Nursing from Vanderbilt University and an MS in Nursing from University of Florida, specializing in Pediatrics. Alison shares her interests are “vegetable gardening, cycling, hiking in the beautiful Rockies, hanging out with the family, and getting back to the beach whenever possible.”

Dan Branan, Life Sciences Program Chair
Dan Branan is another familiar face at CCCOnline; he has been teaching for us since 2006. In addition to serving as our Program Chair, Dan is the North American Network of Science Labs Online (NANSLO) Project Manager for the Colorado Community College System. He provides leadership and coordination for the CCCS discipline teams that work on this international project funded by the Gates Foundation.

Dan’s experience also includes having held a variety of posts at the US Air Force Academy. There, he has served as Assistant Professor of Chemistry (1996 – 99, 2004 – 2011), Co-Director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (2005 – 2007), and Research Director for the Institute for Information Technology Applications (2005 – 2007). He retired from the Air Force this past June. Dan’s awards include CCCOnline Faculty Gold (2006), Outstanding Academy Educator Award (2005-2006), and Carol M. Goldman Distinguished Service Award from USAFA Department of Chemistry (2011).

Dan earned a BS in chemistry from the University of South Alabama, an MS in inorganic chemistry from the Ohio State University, and a PhD in analytical chemistry from the University of Denver. He says, “I love helping people understand how the universe works! I truly believe that a well-educated public is the last, best hope for a free society. This is why I love teaching for the Community College System, because it affords educational opportunities for nearly everyone.”

Thanks to You

All of us at CCCOnline send warm wishes to our instructors and their families for a happy Thanksgiving, and we’d also like to thank you for your ongoing dedication to student learning.

Enjoy your holiday!

Meet the CCCOnline CTE Team

This week, we’re pleased to present your Career & Technical Education (CTE) Team!

Chris Luchs, Associate Dean of Career & Technical Education
Chris Luchs is an experienced instructor and business professional. He has taught Accounting, Business, and Multimedia Graphic Design for CCCOnline, and he has been sharing his talents with the Colorado Community College System since 2005. Chris started as an Agribusiness instructor at Otero Junior College, where he taught ranchers and farmers how to set up accounting systems, use computers and develop marketing and production plans. Then, he moved to Front Range Community College to serve as the Director of the North Metro Small Business Development Center. In this role, he very successfully assisted area entrepreneurs and existing businesses, and he remains a volunteer counselor at the Colorado SBDC.

A self-proclaimed geek, Chris spends his free time investigating new technologies and collaborating internationally with other educators on evaluating and exploring virtual worlds and games-based educational applications. His current happy place is analytics and data visualization tools. In addition, he is a foodie who enjoys finding new restaurants and wines.

Diane Van Os, Criminal Justice and Paralegal Program Chair
I was born in Seattle, but grew up in California and worked in Silicon Valley in the Semiconductor field. That led to an interest in intellectual property law so I earned my Doctorate, a minor in Biology, and went into patent law. I love to ski, but hate the cold. My four cats keep me entertained as do my daughter and son (both grown). I am an admitted wine snob, and love to eat just about every cuisine there is.

My teaching philosophy is that less can be more in an online forum. My goal is to have students leave every one of my classes remembering the material, and how to apply it in “real world” situations. Thus, I tend to have items open from day one, but with solid due dates, and don’t use the old single term paper model. I don’t want students to be so stressed about a percentile dip in their grade that they don’t absorb the material. I also use humor without crossing the line from instructor to buddy, and make sure that students are very aware there is a human behind the screen.

Kate Hagerty, Computer Science Program Chair
Kate has been teaching for five years. She began teaching Multimedia Graphic Design courses during the final semester of earning her BFA in Multimedia from CU Denver. For the first three years of teaching only face-to-face classes for Front Range Community College, she relied heavily on the available learning management system, Blackboard, to help her deliver supporting material and to gather assignments from her students. Because of her heavy use of Blackboard, she was chosen to be a pilot instructor during the changeover to Desire2Learn in 2009 at FRCC.

After graduating from CU Denver in 2006, she opened her own freelance design business in 2007 and began teaching at FRCC. In 2010, she began teaching for CCCOnline and finally, in July of 2011, she accepted the position of Program Chair for CCCOnline’s Computer Science division.

Kate is a leader in the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference that takes place in Second Life, and she participates in groups that discuss and promote learning using various virtual environments including OpenSim, Second Life and World of Warcraft.

However, even with all of these technical interests, Kate still places high value on foundational skills and concepts such as student engagement, information literacy, and good communication. We can’t lose sight of the fact that, no matter how pretty and shiny our tech toys might be, it all boils down to helping students learn as well as possible!

Annie Moats, Business Program Chair
Annie Moats has been with CCCOnline for approximately seven years, and she brings us 20 years of diverse leadership experience within a corporate and academic structure. Annie has been a business owner for the past 17 years, providing training and consulting for all types of organizations involving management development, hiring and recruiting, implementing teams in the work environment, customer service, leadership, communication and human resource issues impacting the work environment.

As an instructor, Annie is committed to the students she teaches, both personally and professionally. She believes students want to feel valued, respected and given confidence in the classroom. Her style reflects that students have ideas, opinions and experience that can be woven into all of the lessons that are taught in any type of classroom.

Annie believes that progressively identifying new techniques that are innovative and inviting assures that students will grasp key learning concepts while enjoying the learning process. Overall, Annie focuses on the value of the student and makes sure that everything she does demonstrates this value.

Donna Welschmeyer, Education Program Chair
Donna is a valued member of the CCCOnline Academic Team, having joined in 2001 as an instructional designer and, since then, having served as Director of Online Program Development, Accounting Department Chair, and Associate Academic Dean. Donna also is an experienced instructor: she began her career teaching at Morgan Community College in 1985, and since that time has taught in Business, Multimedia, Accounting, and Management. She currently teaches Accounting and developmental Math for CCCOnline and Business and Computer Information Systems classes at Community College of Aurora, in addition to providing consulting services in instructional design, safety, business process/management, and leadership.

In their spare time, Donna and her family fix and flip houses, play pool, ride motorcycles, country dance, target shoot, spend time with family and friends, and play with the new granddaughter.

New Library Blog Launched

CCCOnline is pleased to announce an exciting new blog from our Instructional Online Librarian: The Librarian’s Labyrinth. It will feature news you can use on research and library topics; we encourage you to follow along!

Library Webinar Thursday

Below is a quick reminder about Thursday’s Library webinar. If you aren’t able to make it, remember it will be archived on our wiki; in the meantime (now or later), please feel free to contribute any suggestions or comments about library services in the CCCOnline Community. Mary Cash (CCCOnline’s Instructional Online Librarian) will be around to answer your questions.

Thank you!

If you missed our conference presentation (“What’s Going On @ Your CCCOnline Library?”), please consider joining us Thursday (3:00-4:30 p.m.) for our updated webinar!

Registration information is here:
http://at.ccconline.org/faculty/wiki/Professional_Development_-_Upcoming_Webinars#What.27s_going_on_.40_your_CCCOnline_Library.3F

Items for discussion:
-library databases we have (and how to access them!)

-how library services can assist you and your students

-recent studies illuminating students’ need for library services and information literacy

Online Learning in the News

This week, FYI, we offer a few links for you to browse: recent news or commentary about Online Learning in general. Please feel free to comment, or share any such links you’ve bookmarked, in the CCCOnline Community.

“Myths of Online Education” by Steve Kolowich (10/21/11)
“Educational technologists defend online education” at recent Educause conference (Inside Higher Ed):
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/21/educational-technologists-defend-online-education

“QuickWire: Online-Learning Growth Is Confirmed by Education Dept. Report” by Josh Fischman (10/5/11)
From The Chronicle’s “Wired Campus” blog:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/quickwire-online-learning-growth-is-confirmed-by-education-dept-report/33537

“The Digital Revolution and Higher Education” by Kim Parker, Amanda Lenhart and Kathleen Moore (8/28/11)
From the Pew Research Center:
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/08/28/the-digital-revolution-and-higher-education/1/

A series of posts from Frank Donoghue at The Chronicle’s “Innovations” blog:
“Online Learning: Good, Bad, Inevitable” (7/12/11)
http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/online-learning-good-bad-inevitable/29814
“The Strengths of Online Learning?” (7/18/11)
http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/the-strengths-of-online-learning/29849
“Another Look at the Weaknesses of Online Learning” (7/27/11)
http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/more-on-weaknesses-on-online-learning/29888
“Online Learning: Final Concerns” (8/1/11)
http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/online-learning-final-concerns/29947

Also from The Chronicle:
“Community-College Students Perform Worse Online Than Face to Face” by Ryan Brown (7/18/11)
http://chronicle.com/article/Community-College-Students/128281/

“Why Are So Many Students Still Failing Online?” by Rob Jenkins (5/22/11)
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Are-So-Many-Students-Still/127584/?sid=gn

Links to The Sloan Consortium’s surveys. The most recent one is “Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010.”
http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/index.asp

Meet CCCOnline’s Liberal Arts & Communication Team

This week, we hope you enjoy getting to know your Liberal Arts & Communication team!

Karla Schorzman, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts & Communication
Karla joined the CCCOnline academic team this February, and formerly served as full time faculty and chair of the Brighton Center of Front Range Community College. A seasoned instructor, Karla has for seven years taught online and face-to-face English and Sociology classes at most community colleges from Colorado Springs to Loveland; she also taught at Metro State and one for-profit college.

Karla’s artistic talents are numerous. She is an avid writer and featured poet at the Colorado Poets Center. She also enjoys quilting and cross-stitch embroidery; one of her projects won a blue ribbon in a recent Adams County fair. As a Colorado native, she appreciates the state’s natural beauty while hiking and camping, and as a hot springs enthusiast, she aims to visit every hot springs area in the western US.

Daniel Metz, Arts and Humanities Program Chair
Daniel Metz has been involved with CCCOnline for eight years, serving as chair of the Arts and Humanities program, and as a philosophy and humanities instructor. Daniel also currently serves as the CCCS chair of philosophy. Prior to these endeavors, he taught philosophy, cultural studies and EFL in Japan, and retains an interest in Japanese philosophy and art.

Daniel considers teaching a privilege: “In my view, teaching is really about opening doors to different perspectives, and facilitating the learning process. This process involves each learner encountering new ideas and new ways of looking at the world, and developing critical thinking skills in order to better understand other perspectives, and in doing so, broadening one's own.”

Other activities that vie for his attention include hiking, viewing art, engaging in existential naval gazing, and enjoying musical performances, in particular, contemporary symphonic works. Daniel relates, “I am gratified for the opportunity to contribute to our collaborative effort to strive for the best quality of education in the online environment.”

Kyla Hammond, Composition and Writing Program Chair
Dr. Hammond has over 16 years' experience in education, serving as a faculty member, professional development coordinator, and higher education administrator. She holds a BA in Humanities, an MA in Communication, another MA in Curriculum and Instruction, and a Ph.D. in Literature. She began her career in K-12 education, teaching English and Speech at Air Academy High School and then serving as a Professional Development Coordinator.

For seven years, she was Executive Director of Extended Studies and Global Programs for the College of Education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, overseeing enrollment management and extended studies, which include all online and international programs. Her areas of expertise are implementing entrepreneurial models in higher education, enrollment management, strategic planning, organizational leadership, and innovative programming. She lives in Colorado with her husband and twin 4-year-old girls, and enjoys traveling, reading, and yoga.

Jerilyn Heinicke, Language and Communication Program Chair
I'm Jerilyn Heinicke. I've moved around a good bit, but my roots are definitely from the triangle where one crosses so very easily from West Virginia into Pennsylvania across that narrow strip of Maryland. My studies did not take a straight path. I took a few extra years to complete my master's work so that I could help out at the family restaurant. After finishing my Ph.D. coursework, I needed to find employment while I wrote my dissertation. It was a blessing that I believed the Air Force recruiter when he said that serving my country would be a 9 to 5 operation, with plenty of time for writing. Although I didn't write a word on my dissertation for the five years that I was in the Air Force, I did have experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world, from working with the Japanese Air Force in Sendai to deploying with the New River Marines.

After the five years, I moved to Germany, a hop, step and jump from the border with France. . . I found the time to raise my four military "brats," finish my dissertation, and resume teaching. I've taught English composition, literature, Humanities, French language and literature, and German language and literature, almost exclusively online.

In 2004, I joined CCCOnline. I have seen tremendous growth over the years. The first administrative position that I held was chair of a department that included Communications, English, Literature, and all the foreign languages. Today, I am chair for Languages and Communication, which has grown to nearly the same size.

In my spare time, I raise yaks, llamas, and colored angora goats -- all fiber animals. Throw in a horse, a few chickens, a couple of pigs, and guinea fowl (wonderful bug eaters), and my spare time is filled up.

Beth Davies-Stofka, Literature and Developmental Education Program Chair
I began teaching for FRCC in 1995 and for the University of Denver in 1996, but then I wandered off to Indiana to join the theology faculty at Valparaiso University. That led me to a fork in the road: to continue with full-time teaching, or to go do something which, in my mind at least, was more challenging. I chose the challenge and joined the Network Operations Center at Rhythms NetConnections in 1998. Few things could have been more challenging! Talk about lifelong learning! After working my way up to Network Management Engineer, running the fault and performance management of a busy Wide Area Network and providing Tier IV troubleshooting support to the NOC, I *finally* finished my dissertation in 2003, left telecommunications, and went on an amazing two-month solo road trip around the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, in 2001, FRCC had welcomed me back to teaching. In 2004, I stopped F2F teaching entirely, devoting myself fully to FRCC's online teaching.

I regard online learning as a potent force for the practical uses of emergent technology to educate a sophisticated, tech-savvy, and entrepreneurial citizenship. In my view, every student is on the precipice of success or failure, and it's our job as teachers to help all of them to succeed. They may not experience success while in our care, but the faith we have in them and the life lessons we share will stay with them their whole lives. We must never miss an opportunity to encourage.