Hello. My name is Rob Gray, and I am the new Director of PETAL at the University of South Alabama. I am truly looking forward to the opportunity to work with all of the faculty here at the University, as well as with other faculty development programs on this and other campuses.
I am currently putting the finishing touches on my dissertation for a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Alabama. It is entitled “Towards a Writerly Conception of Online Courses: A Critical [Re]figuration of Interaction” and examines the role that literary theory (particularly the work of Barthes, Bakhtin, Eco, and Hall) can play in our understanding of interaction and content development, particularly in online courses, but in the traditional classroom as well.
Finally, and most importantly, we are offering a large number of faculty roundtables and brown bag lunches this year, as well as many workshops on integrating technology into the teaching process. We are also introducing a new activity, the PETAL Panel Discussion Series, which will feature important issues or innovations in Teaching and Learning, so please visit our website often for the most updated schedules and resources.
Thanks, Rob. I appreciate the PETAL blog you’ve created. You cover many of the topics in which I’m interested. I look forward to participating in discussions on instructional technology.
Although, I don’t believe technology is the “cure-all,” I certainly think that it can be an effective tool when used appropriately.
Thanks again for getting this discussion going.