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Certificate of Education - Digby Stuart College, London (at that time a College within the University of London),
BA in Psychology - Queen's University, Canada
MS in Computer Education - Johnson & Wales University
Ph.D. in Computer Technology in Education from - NovaSoutheastern University In progress
I was born in Aylesbury, Bucks., England, the third child of four - all girls. My mother was Welsh, (one of twelve) and my father Scottish (one of five). After high school I went to Digby Stuart College, one of the colleges within the University of London, where I studied Education, with a minor in Art and Special Education. I taught in a middle school in England for two years before moving to Bermuda to teach.
Working for the Bermuda Department of Education (for six years) I piloted a program helping mainstream middle and elementary school special education students back into regular programs. This was fun and quite successfully! I was married during this time, to Peter James. We gave birth to two beautiful baby girls, Michelle & Tamsin, before we left.
We moved to the US in 1998 to work for Johnson & Wales University in Providence Rhode Island. My husband is a Chef, hence the connection. He started work as an instructor and I worked as a Learning Needs Counselor. In 1985, I took the job as Registrar for the Culinary Arts College. In 1988 I had my third child, Paul. This same year we left the country while our "Green Card" immigration papers were processed.
We went to St. Maarten, in the Caribbean until 1991. In St. Maarten I was instrumental in bringing Johnson & Wales, as a satellite college, to the Island. We lived at the vacation Resort Mullet Bay, a 172-acre property (great golf course!) while we were there. (Again, through my husband who was the Executive Chef of the seven restaurants there.) We returned to the USA in 1991. I had Simon, our fourth (and last) child and actually played "Mum" for a year, while Peter was promoted to one of the Dean's in the Culinary division of JWU! I consulted for several schools; especially a Montessori School in Wakefield, R.I. where I took care of any educational testing that was needed. I also taught the 3-7 years old "Logo" and other computer skills.
When Johnson & Wales University in Florida opened we were persuaded to take positions at this campus. I originally set up and ran the Computer Lab. (a lovely little job!). This responsibility soon grew to also overseeing administrative computing, telecommunications, campus library, Student Success, Residential Life, the Academic Office and faculty support - as Director of Academic Services. It is amazing how many hats one can wear while things grow, and how the sneak up on you! I came to my senses about two-and-a-half years ago and decided that if I wanted my life back I should get back into teaching. I have almost succeeded, "peeling" a little of my administrative tasks off each year. Next year I hope to have delegated them all and to be completing full time teaching, which I love. I currently part-time teach various courses including psychology, mathematics, and various computer courses.
I have many interests, especially in the computer arena. My first experience of computers was taking a BASIC computer course, which I stupidly thought was a basic computer course! I did well in it though, and did not drop the program cards once! My current interests include distance education, WWW, HCI, E-Commerce, multimedia and how computers can enhance education in general.