So: who needs a teaching technologist?

In the interests of opening the next chapter in my professional life (which is freshly to-be-determined), it might be useful to establish a few things that would assist an extended network of eyes, ears, and references.


Who is this guy?

I am a teaching technologist. A teacher by disposition and at my core, I landed in technology and have made a career of learning things very quickly, distilling them and teaching them back to people at every opportunity, both in official classrooms and on the job. This is where I live.


What does he do well?

Learn. I am voracious about this. It is almost impossible for me to look at something superficially; I have a need to find boundaries and get to essences, and this usually happens very quickly.

Teach. My teaching style is somewhere between craftsman and artist: meticulous and considered, yet often improvised, and delivered with the enthusiasm of abject joy. I learn, I 'splain, I sum up.

Write. This is so much fun it's almost like teaching. In a way it is teaching, whether it's dry and technical (it's an excellent challenge to spruce up technical subjects without losing the point), or persuasive (playing to the infinity of human dynamics), or even fiction (imply the story instead of encasing it in concrete).

Interact. I'm good with people, a gift I get from my mother. Employers seem to like to put me in front of customers, given the choice. I'm calm, to the point, and smile a lot.

Inspire. I seem to have a talent to inspire people with the enthusiasm that comes out in my learning and teaching. I have lost count of students who have taken courses from me, who chase me down years later and take conspicuous pleasure in telling me what they have done with those skills.


What is he looking for?

I am looking, very simply, to bring my strengths to bear in environments which can use them. For the last fifteen years, I have been fortunate to have learned some exquisitely cool technology, then learned to teach it well, and then learned to write the courses myself. And while I am happy to continue to work with WebSphere Portlet Factory and/or Lotus Notes/Domino, I could also be happy learning and teaching many other things. I'm a learner and teacher at my core; the subject is far less important than the act of bringing it to life.

I would love to remain based in Palmer; technology increasingly allows a virtualized location to be as effective as it is cost-effective, and I have already been a remote employee for a number of years now. As for the future, I am very optimistic and excited about the possibilities of remote instructor-led teaching, and have adapted my skills accordingly.


For those who might be willing to help extend my eyes and ears for the search, then, I am open to any number of possible opportunities. Technology, business, education, even pure writing or independent instruction--if it sounds like someone could make use of the skillset described here, I'd love to hear about it. I'm ready to begin again, again.