The 2008 MERLOT International Conference (MIC08)
General Session Speakers
Friday, August 08
Dr. Darcy Hardy
Dr. Darcy W. Hardy is Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Executive Director of the UT TeleCampus. The UT TeleCampus serves as a portal for students and faculty from University of Texas System institutions to access courses, programs and virtually all services necessary for success when teaching and learning online. The TeleCampus offers over 17 fully online programs and sees approximately 11,500 enrollments annually.
Darcy received her PhD in Instructional Technology from The University of Texas at Austin in 1992. Currently, she serves as Chair Emerita with the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), where she has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1999 and is a past president. She is a member of the Adobe Systems, Inc. Higher Education Advisory Board, and she is a past member and chair of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Distance Education Advisory Council.
Recently, Darcy received the Mildred and Charles Wedemeyer Outstanding Distance Learning Practitioner Award in Madison, Wisconsin (2006). She was inducted into the Texas Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame (2006) and received the WCET Richard Jonsen Award (2005). Her most recent publication, Dancing on the Glass Ceiling: Women, Leadership and Technology, which she co-edited with Don Olcott, received the 2005 Charles Wedemeyer Publication Award from UCEA,. She is currently the Interviews Editor for The American Journal of Distance Education and serves on several editorial and advisory boards.
Saturday, August 09
Dr. Bernie Dodge
Dr. Bernie Dodge is a Professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University where he teaches courses in technology integration and educational game design. He received his M.A.and Ph.D. in Instructional Design from Syracuse University.
Bernie is very involved with schools and teachers. For 6 years, he co-directed the T2ARP program which prepares student teachers to work within the technology-rich restructured environments of O'Farrell Community School and Morse High School. The T2ARP program was a finalist in the 1998 Association of Teacher Educators national competition for outstanding teacher education programs.
He has helped design the staff development program for three Challenge Grants. In 2000 he was named by the editors of eSchool News as one of the top 30 educators who have had an impact on technology in the nation's schools. Later that year, Converge magazine profiled him among leaders shaping the future of education and technology.
Dr. Dodge was on the Educational Advisory Board for Cable in the Classroom from 2002-05, and is currently on the Advisory Board for the National EMINTS Center and the Teach the Teachers Consortium. He was named an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2003, and was the recipient of awards from MERLOT in 2004 and 2007. He developed the WebQuest model in 1995 and continues to refine and disseminate it widely through presentations and workshops around the globe.
Sunday, August 10
Dr. Robbie Kendall-Melton
Dr. Robbie Kendall-Melton is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Educational Technology and the Tennessee Board of Regents' Executive Director at the Renaissance Center (TBR). Her chief responsibilities include coordinating TBR's Regents Online Degree Programs, Faculty-Staff Development in Technology, Online Teaching and Learning Initiatives, Technology Innovations, and System-wide Distance Education.
Dr. Melton has held several executive leadership positions during her twenty-eight year career in education including the Associate Dean of Education at The University of Tennessee at Martin, Director of the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Special Education at Winthrop University, Coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Special Education and Vocational Education at Tennessee State University, Director of Special Education for the City of Hamtramck, Michigan, and Assistant Director of Special Education for Detroit Public Schools.
She has received numerous teaching and technology awards including the 1998 Outstanding Teaching and Advisor, 1996 Outstanding Teaching Alumni Award from The University of Tennessee, 1994 Tennessee Professor of the Year presented by the Carnegie Foundation of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education, 1990 Outstanding Professor and University Services at Winthrop College, the Zenith Master of Innovations Award, and the South Central Bell Award for Outstanding Teaching Using Emerging Technologies.
About the MIC08
The MIC08 Program provides an array of valuable experiences. You can hear about the challenges, accomplishments, and lessons learned of others in the field of online teaching and learning. You can share ideas with colleagues, either formally or informally. And you can interact with others, both in planned group discussions and in informal encounters.
The Conference is designed to provide you with a number of ways to get connected, get information, and get excited about teaching and learning with technology.
MIC08 will provide:
- Pre-conference Workshops — focused, hands-on and comprehensive
- Plenary Sessions — thought-provoking topics by innovative and creative professionals
- Track presentations —topics of interest to the community by the people in the community
- Poster Sessions — one-on-one and interactive
- Learning Circles — sharing of common problems and solutions
- Corporate Participation — industry news about technology developments
As the MIC08 Program develops be sure to check the interactive full program. The following interactive program views are available: date, track, presenter, session type, featured sessions only, and sponsored sessions only.
The MIC is refined and refreshed each year based on your input. With each year’s conference we try to increase what you have told us is valued: high quality content, opportunities for networking, and excellent organization.
