About
The funny part about being a digital nomad or web worker who earns their living on the web is the fact that much of your life revolves around being online – whether it is doing business, learning, networking or simply killing time. In that spirit, consider this site to be a work-in-progress and one that I will add to as my time permits or the situation warrants. My main goal is to use this site as a place to display some of my work, try out some new ideas and reflect and hopefully make sense of the ever-changing world around me. For my more association-focused writing (something I continue despite not working for an association currently) I have a blog dedicated to that – Associated Knowledge – as well.
So what is this nomadic learner thing all about?
As the subtitle of the site implies, I consider myself a “Nomadic Learner”, a term that I adopted from Will Richardson, the author of the Weblogg-ed blog (www.weblogg-ed.com), as well as learner in chief at Connective Learning and the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
Grazes on knowledge and finds what they need when they need it. There is no linear curriculum to learning, no formal structure other than the tools used to connect to the people and sources that point to what is needed to know and learn, the same tools used to then give back what is have discovered.
If it isn’t obvious, I am involved with and highly interested in the application of technology, specifically online technology, to the teaching and learning process for both adults and children. Professionally, I have worked in the information technology, human resources and training and development related areas. Currently, I do freelance web design and development with a specific focus on FOSS (free and open source software) under the name Synergystech. My areas of expertise revolve around the WordPress, Drupal, Moodle, Vanilla, and vBulletin platforms, but generally speaking I am more than capable/comfortable working on any system that runs on the LAMP (Linux, Apache, mySQL, PHP) stack. I currently consult with small-to-mid-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations and professional organizations.
I am also an adjunct professor at East Stroudsburg University in the Professional and Secondary Education Department. I teach online graduate courses and also consult on the application and integration of technology into the instructional process. This is the area that I am probably the most passionate about. My longer term goals include earning a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and becoming part of or leading an Instructional Tech group at the college or university level.
Prior to starting off on my own, I was a Learning Technology Specialist for the Project Management Institute – a not-for-profit professional association dedicated to the advancement of project management as a profession – where I was responsible for the strategic and tacitical implementation of an online leadership development program for our member-volunteer leaders and also the managing sponsor for a new virtual community project for our online components.
Note: While I may discuss general situations that take place during my working, the purpose of this blog is academic and educational and not a place where I will be venting my frustrations (I haven’t had any yet) about my clients or the work that I am doing. If you came here looking for that I am sorry but you won’t find it. Also due to the competitive nature of the environment I am operating in, I will also be vague as to specifics of the overall projects that I am working on…I respect my clients a lot and do not want to compromise my personal reputation or theirs by revealing too much information.
Outside of work, I completed my Masters of Science Degree in Education with a concentration in Instructional Technology in December 2007. I also hold a post-bacculareate certificate in web design and development as well as a Master certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. During my meanderings through the higher-education system I have also completed numerous additional courses in project management, information technology and business administration.
While I do find a great degree of satisfaction and fulfillment in the work that I do and field that I am involved with, the most important role of my life is that of a father, husband and son. My family is extremely important to me and something that I am very proud of.
Outside of all of that, you could describe me as an overall geek. My true passion lies at the intersection of learning and technology, so my career and educational choices are ideal to accomplish that end. I also really enjoy travel, the weather and the outdoors (I love whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, camping, wayfinding, etc.) and I play and enjoy many sports (golf perhaps the most). Recently, I have become quite interested in digitial photography as well. I guess some could say that I am extremely multi-dimensional and defy classification, but I prefer to say that I love living and learning so doing anything that challenges me and forces me outside of my comfort-zone is fair game.
About the Website
If you are curious about the website and want to learn more, you can visit my Colophon to find out just about anything you want to know about it.
