This month, TTT's new regular feature, "Meet the Experts,"
features Tony Valentine, UW-Platteville's representative to the Learning
Technology Development Council.
TTT:
Please describe your work at the Learning Technology Center.
AV: The LTC provides computer training and support services to
Platteville students, faculty, and staff. Our department prides itself
on providing quality instruction both regularly and on demand. We train,
create and publish documentation, and provide usability support for a
variety of productivity applications (e.g., MS Word, Access, Power Point,
Excel, as well as HTML, Web and Desktop E-mail clients, Course Management
Systems, etc.). Additionally, I act as the campus administrator for WebCT
and Blackboard CourseInfo, so I am a system administrator and an advocate
for the use of alternative delivery. Whenever possible I try to devise
new opportunities for professional development with technology.
TTT: How long
have you been in your current position?
AV: I have been at UW-Platteville for almost four years, starting
in May 1998. I have been acting as Coordinator of this department since
August 1999, initially as an interim, and officially since the Spring
2000. Prior to this assignment I was hired to coordinate the student training
program on campus. In the Fall 2000 I was asked to coordinate the department.
My primary mandate was to work with the Assistant Vice Chancellor for
Information Services to reorganize the department and adapt our services
profile to assist faculty directly in the delivery of instruction through
the use of technology.
TTT: What do
you enjoy most about your job?
AV: My job offers many rewards: working with the students on campus
and providing professional development to our campus' faculty and staff.
The most enjoyable part of this job for me is working closely with the
faculty I support. This campus is earnestly devoted to teaching, and the
faculty I work with, without exception, are constantly seeking new and
innovative ways to bring learning to their students and to improve their
teaching. I have learned a great deal in the close collaboration I have
been able to undertake. I feel a tremendous sense of pride when faculty
and staff are enthusiastic about trying new methods with my guidance.
I value teaching above all endeavors, and I am proud to be part of it
at UW-Platteville.
TTT: What's
the most interesting thing that has happened to you at this job?
AV:Actually the faculty and staff we support are extremely free
with their praise and with their trust in us. I have been very lucky to
work for such a generous faculty and staff. I frequently receive kind
E-mails, "thank you" cards and evaluations that are very touching.
I enjoy the work I do, but it makes all the difference to know that my
consultation is prized and sought after. I endeavor always to think through
matters and to find a meaningful direction for challenging issues. I have
been fortunate that the staff of Information Services, as well as the
faculty and staff at this university, have sought, listened to, and incorporated
my ideas. In the end, I cannot image a thing more worthy of memory than
knowing that I make a difference in a community where each person contributes
greatly.
TTT: What do
you enjoy doing in your free time? Any hidden talents you'd care to tell
our readers about?
AV: I am something of a enthusiast for heroic literature and someday
hope to write a major epic in verse. I have recently completed 50,000
words for a novel, and am currently editing and adding to this work. I
hope to seek publication in the not-too-distant future. I enjoy watching
movies a good deal as well. At home I have a precocious eight-year-old
kitten, Berúthiel, who rules the house. I am lucky to have made
many close friends in Wisconsin since I moved here four years ago. I wondered
if I would feel at home here, but now I find it hard to imagine living
in any other state.
I cannot think of any hidden
talents off hand, but I am generally recognized as almost oracular in
my recollection of useless trivia. One teacher, whom I work with frequently,
said that my hidden talent is making people feel very good about their
efforts. I couldn't be happier about that.
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