Meet Our Team: Teaching and Technology Initiative Directors

Colleen Swain, Co-Principal Investigator
Colleen Swain is an assistant professor of Instructional Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Technology, Training, and Development from the University of North Texas. Prior to her work at the University of Florida, Colleen was a lecturer for the University of North Texas for three years and a public school teacher at the junior high and high school levels for seven years. Her published research focuses on the integration of technology into all aspects o the curriculum, teaching in a distance environment, the digital divide, and educational technology policies can be found in journals such as Learning & Leading with Technology, Theory and Research in Social Education, Journal of Critical Inquiry Into Curriculum & Instruction, and Tech Trends. Dr. Swain has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Learning Disabilities and is a co-editor of the Current Practices section of Contemporary Issues of Technology in Teacher Education. Her personal web page can be found at http://www.coe.ufl.edu/faculty/swain/

Kara Dawson, Co-Principal Investigator
Kara Dawson is an assistant professor of Instructional Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. She spent two years in a post-doctoral position directing the Curry Center for Technology and Teacher Education at the University of Virginia. Prior to pursuing a doctoral degree Kara taught elementary and middle school in Virginia Beach, VA. Kara is currently a member of the National Technology Leadership Advisory Board and a member of the Impact Project (a national project aimed at facilitating and accelerating content specific uses of technology in teacher education). She also serves as an Associate Editor for Contemporary Issues of Technology in Teacher Education, is on the editorial review board for the Journal of Computing in Teacher Education and is currently co-editing Education and Technology: An Encyclopedia. Her personal webpage can be found at http://grove.ufl.edu/~kdawson/index.html.

Gail Ring, Director of the Office of Educational Technology
Gail Ring received her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She implemented and continues to manage the Electronic Portfolio Project in the College of Education, where she also directs faculty development activities. Gail has consulted with universities and school districts across the state of Florida on the implementation of electronic portfolios in teacher education, and has served on several national committees on the subject. Her research interests involve the study of innovation diffusion in an academic setting and the use of electronic portfolios in education.