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E-Mail: bober@mail.sdsu.edu Associate Professor; educational consultant (generally specializing in evaluation projects)
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E-Mail:
bober@mail.sdsu.edu Associate
Professor; educational consultant (generally specializing in
evaluation projects)
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I was raised in Simi Valley (long before it became home to the Ronald Reagan library and known for the Rodney King trial) and watched it grow from a small bedroom community to a real city. I was a teenager during the late '60s and early '70s, and lived through exciting, disturbing, and memorable political times ... but I was lucky enough to witness my own community move from county control to cityhood -- an interesting struggle of different interests, perspectives, and visions. After high school -- whole semesters of total boredom punctuated by stimulating/intense intellectual experiences (a special thanks to Mrs. Greening and Mr. Schultz) -- I attended UC-Santa Barbara, and then the University of Oregon. My undergraduate career was completely undistinguished; nonetheless, I learned enough to settle into teaching at-risk students, first with San Diego City Schools and later with the Grossmont Union High School District. In 1988, I decided that a master's degree was essential for the goals I had set for myself ... but I found SDSU's EdTech program quite by accident. My real ambition was to become a great writer, but my partner (Bill) urged me to study something that would let me earn "real money." Though I made the decision to earn a doctorate long before I finished the master's degree, I thought it best to take a year hiatus and rediscover my family, friends, and pets. So ... it wasn't until 1992 that I left for Arizona State University and the Learning and Instructional Technology (LNT) program (now called Educational Technology). For five years -- both while I was in school and after graduation -- I commuted between Ahwatukee (a neighborhood on the southeast edge of Phoenix) and San Diego. We returned to full-time San Diego residency in 1997, but four years later bought a second home about five miles from where we had lived earlier. Bill and I find the desert fascinating and beautiful -- and our backyard, which backs to a preserve, teems with wildlife. |
Since
1992, I've done extensive consulting -- a "home-based"
business I fell into initially because I needed to find work
that meshed with my doctoral studies at ASU. I stayed with
it after graduation because I liked having options, learning
new skills, living "on the edge," and sharing with others
important tips I've learned along the way. In the early
years of my practice, I focused on materials development;
while some projects were quite boring and mundane (for
example, ED practice tests published by Cliffs Notes),
others were quite exciting and have had a broad impact
(e.g., a workers' compensation fraud awareness course that,
for four years, was presented all over the
state). I've been
teaching in the Department continuously since Fall '96 --
appreciative of the opportunities I've been afforded. I've
been directly involved in the evaluation of several
technology infusion grants in place in local-area school
districts, as well as one that targets the emerging
technology practices of SDSU's preservice teachers. I've
helped to design workshops to improve the tactical skills of
school police officers (training mandated by state law),
assessed a web-based system for building and sharing student
portfolios, and developed countless teacher guides to
accompany third-party software. I try to select projects
that reflect my views of professional development and the
competencies we all need to meet the demands of today's
workplace. While I'm
not a prolific writer, I regularly publish articles, book
chapters, and occasional pieces.
An
abbreviated vitae
is available for review, along with slides associated with a
couple of presentations I made in 2003: AECT
and AEA). ---------------- If I had
the time, I'd go back to school again ... first to study
business management (since over the years, I've learned that
my abilities as an instructional design far outweigh my
strengths at managing finances) and then to become a
forensic scientist! [As the partner of a (now retired)
police officer, you can't help but pick up the urge to
investigate, and it's a great complement to
evaluation.] During the
Spring 2005 semester, I'll be on sabbatical, primarily based
at Arizona State University. It's a great opportunity to
charge my batteries, teach in a new and different venue, and
tackle the long-term research/writing projects I've put on
hold for so long!
My limited
spare time is devoted to caring for Bill and our animals.
I've outlined several stories about the dogs (most of them
featuring T-Man or Baxter [shown here]), but a host
of distractions have kept the project from getting off the
ground. They're aging quickly, though--so this is now hight
on my "to do" list. I'm also
an avid distance runner, but a perennially sore knee has
forced me to focus more on half-marathons. Come join me for
the "Arizona" version of the Rock 'n Roll; we'll be running
the streets of Phoenix and Tempe (on a very scenic, totally
flat course) on January 9, 2005!
Last updated on
August 14, 2004.
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