ITTIP Team
Before joining ITTIP, Mano was the Director of Learning Technologies and was implementing technology programs at the Science Museum of Virginia to develop technology skills in children. She implemented the Community Technology Centers and 21st Century Community Learning Center programs to serve the children and adults in low-income communities. She is a patient, humorous, hands-on educator who tirelessly teaches workshops herself, statewide. Her vision, dedication and determination to bring technology educational opportunities to all Virginians has had and will have impact beyond our capacity to measure. Mano is also coordinating the professional development programs as the project director of the Central Virginia Consortium for Transforming teaching and Learning experiences with Technology in collaboration with 15 school divisions in Central Virginia. Teacher training and support is both a personal and professional mission for Mano. More about Mano
Mano on telecollaboration (Google video)
Rebecca Bowen, Instructional Design Specialist
Rebecca Bowen, Instruction Technology Design Specialist with ITTIP of Longwood University, is a 30-year veteran public school teacher having taught students in grades pre-K through the community college. With a chemistry degree from Duke University and a master’s degree in instructional technology with an emphasis on the adult learner from the University of Phoenix, Rebecca’s specialty is integrating math, science and technology in the classroom. During her teaching career, Rebecca used her summers to intern with various industries in southeast North Carolina and since retiring, she has worked as a health physicist in the nuclear industry as well as owning a construction company. These real world experiences have provided her with direct knowledge of the applications of math, science, engineering, and technology in society. Rebecca has developed numerous lessons integrating technology in the classroom and has served as a per diem consultant for a national textbook company demonstrating best practices, technology integration and cross-curriculum correlations.
Dr. Linda Townsend, Instructional Design Specialist:
Linda is originally from Blackstone, Virginia, earned a BS in Early Childhood Education and Library Science from James Madison University and an MS endorsement in reading from Longwood. She holds a Virginia Postgraduate Professional license. She is also a master teacher for the National Teacher Training Institute, sponsored by WNET/New York Public Broadcasting. Before she joined NITPR, Linda was an Education Specialist at Community Idea Stations, the Richmond public broadcasting station. Other experience includes being the Media Specialist at Nottoway Middle School and teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade at Amelia Elementary. Linda's work at NITPR is developing, coordinating, and conducting instructional technology training for K-20 and adult education groups; providing consultation for K-20 and adult education groups in the implementation and integration of instructional technology; developing, coordinating, and facilitating the implementation of instructional technologies related to distance learning and emerging technologies for the K-12 curriculum. Her current priority projects are asynchronous instructional delivery training, development of content delivered synchronously through video conferencing, and training of Longwood faculty in Longwood Online Training Institute.
Bill Wilson, SVRTC Senior Technology Engineer
Bill Wilson, originally from Virginia's Charlotte County, now lives in Mecklenburg County with his wife and three daughters. Bill is the Senior Technology Engineer and commits a large portion of his time to the support of the Southside Virginia Regional Technology consortium (SVRTC). Bill holds an associate's degree in electronics technology and has undertaken additional studies at Virginia State and Old Dominion Universities in Electrical Engineering Technology.
Before entering college, Bill worked for over 10 years as an electrician and currently holds his master electrician's license. He has worked with computer systems since 1983 and with computer networks since 1986. As a faculty member at Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC), Bill accumulated over 10 years of teaching experience in Electronics, Electricity, Air Conditioning, Computer Information Systems (CIS), and information systems technology (IST). During the late 1990s, he left teaching to become the Systems Analyst, Network Administrator, and Coordinator of Computing Services for SVCC. During this time, Bill helped begin the development of the college's distance education network and installed a 10-county regional educational video network in Southside Virginia.
Among other things, Bill manages the SVRTC Advanced Communications Projects, an effort involving 25 K-12 school divisions in Southside Virginia. The project currently includes a Regional Service Access Point (RSAP) that provides regional access to common services like multipoint video conference and data equipment, and streaming servers for dissemination of educational modules developed by the consortium. He also designs and maintains the multimedia ingest, storage, and retrieval systems, provides training to SVRTC members, and carries out research on emerging technologies related to the global network infrastructure in Virginia.
Joyce Francis:
In collaboration with Old Dominion University, thirty six teachers were trained in Hanover (central and northern Virginia school divisions) and in Norfolk (eastern Virginia school divisions) to integrate marine science concepts and build SeaPerch underwater robot. Teachers will receive online training and support throughout the year. In June 2009, teachers will showcase their robot to each other. Teacher professional development was funded by the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV). Please watch for an announcement for additional opportunities to participate in a three-year MarineTech project for students and teachers funded by the NSF.
Barbara Scott, Administrative Assistant
Barbara Scott began working for the Institute as an Administrative Assistant in 2003. She has an Associate’s Degree in Business and provides support for the SVRTC and assists with the duties of the Office Manager. Barbara coordinates all student and parent activities of the Digispired project.
Susan Throckmorton, Office Manager
Susan Throckmorton, a Halifax County native, is the Office Manager for the Institute. She holds an Associates Degree in Business Administration. Previously, she was the Director of Finance and Membership for the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce for nine years. Susan provides professional/administrative and personal secretarial services for the Director of the Institute; assists with the administrative office activities associated with projects, reports and presentations and supports other professional staff as needed and manages support staff.