I am a Ph.D. student within the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, I spent several years abroad teaching digital media, instructional technology, course design and educational technology at the graduate-level to teacher candidates. With respect to professional development and research, most of my efforts have centred around online culture and teacher education exchanges with small, but dynamic cohorts of professors from Europe, North America, and Asia.

Utilizing a learning management system with embedded communicative technologies, I have experimented with the use of video/web conferencing, discussion forums, audio slideshows, digital mashups, Voicethreads, wikis, as well as student-created video and audio clips. Upon returning to the University of Toronto, I have continued my professional development of implementing online and blended learning approaches in education, while customizing content and learning management systems. To this end, I wish to further explore online learning environments and questions concerning how social presence may be increased, utilizing a combination of collaborative pedagogies and integration of virtual and augmented realities.