Meet Lorna Wong,
Coordinator of the UW-Whitewater's Learning Technology Center (LTC), a unit in the Instructional Technology Services area under the Department of Technology and Information Resources.


This month, TTT's new regular feature, "Meet the Experts," features Lorna Wong. She is UW-Whitewater's representative to the Learning Technology Development Council.

TTT: Please describe your work at UW-Whitewater.
LW: I am currently responsible for managing the production operation of the LTC Lab, and support of the faculty in deploying technology in teaching. I am the site-administrator of the Course Management Systems on campus. We primarily use Blackboard, but we also support WebCT, and a few faculty members are experimenting with Prometheus. I do one-on-one consulting and conduct workshops for faculty on technology topics related to instructional use, and I support faculty on development of web sites and web-based applications for instructional purposes. I am basically a generalist who answers to faculty on their technology needs.

TTT: How long have you been in your current position?
LW: I have been in my current position formally for about 18 months, even though I have been with UW-Whitewater for over fifteen years. I started in the academic computing area as a data analysis consultant; later I was involved in computing lab support and faculty technology training. Then I moved to the networking area as campus webmaster, and worked with email and internet services setup and support for six years. I recently moved back to the Instructional Technology Services area with my current position.

TTT: What do you enjoy most about your job?
LW: I enjoy all the various hats I have worn over the years at Whitewater. I enjoy the opportunities and the freedom to explore and experiment with new technology and be in a position to implement new software and technology where appropriate. In my current position, what I enjoy most is working with faculty to solve their technology problems and coming up with technology solutions to serve their instructional needs

TTT: What's the most memorable thing that has happened to you at this job?
LW: It is almost impossible to pinpoint one single most memorable thing that has happened with the variety of activities, accomplishments, frustrations, and challenges that happen everyday. Perhaps I can cite the following: Through the Title III grant that we received, the LTC has conducted 4 two-week (80 hours) faculty technology workshops the past two summers and winter breaks. A lot of work is involved to prepare and run these workshops. At the end of each workshop, there is a presentation session when each participant describes what he has accomplished over the two-week period. These sessions are memorable and gratifying as I witness some techno-phobic faculty members overcoming their fear after two weeks of training. Some have successfully gotten their course material on Bb, some have created their first web site, and most have plans to expand their use of technology in their classes in the future.

TTT: What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Any hidden talents you'd care to tell our readers about?
LW: Since I was holding two positions for quite a while, I have almost forgotten what free time means! I do enjoy reading, especially biographies, watching movies and traveling. I am not a food connoisseur, but enjoy eating and love to try ethnic foods and new restaurants. I love classical music. I played the piano for many years in my younger days but have not kept up with it over the years, thus it is more a hobby than a talent by any means.


Thanks, Lorna!

home button