Current Position and Past Experience
Deborah Cooke has been an Instructional Designer and Online Course Specialist with the University of Oregon’s Center for Applied Second Language Studies since 2011. With subject matter experts and translators, she designs online modules in Chinese for high-proficiency learners in higher education and AP courses in virtual high schools nationally. She also supervises the development and translation of content for online applications and establishes and maintains various Learning Management Systems. She prepares all forms of media for LMS embedding as she Serves as Project Manager for five current projects. In 2011, she managed a technical development team in the creation of a specialized content repository for a project sponsored by NASA and CCSSO.

Prior to this position, Cooke was a Materials Developer with the University of Oregon’s Center for Advanced Technology in Education where she developed and designed instructional materials for students to learn strategies for reading online, as well as video-based instructional materials that illustrate aspects of these instructional strategies utilizing screen casting and voice over technology. She Designed, evaluated and refined interactive modules that teach these strategies and assisted in the design and production of an instructional multimedia website that teaches these strategies. She also developed testing instruments for pilot testing and conducted data base development for data collection.

Prior to consulting, Gill was an Assistant Professor with the University of Michigan’s School of Education. This position came on the heels of the year Gill spent as a guidance and counseling lecturer with the University of Wisconsin’s School of Education.

Education, Honors and Achievements
Cooke earned her BS (Hons) in Psychology from New Mexico State University in 1977. In 2011 she earned her MS in Instructional Design and Technology from Walden University with a specialization in Online Learning.

In 2011, Cooke was awarded a fellowship from ISTE as an “Emerging Scholar” being one of six chosen nationally.

Personal Details and Community Involvement
Cooke was an Advisory Board Member on the 2012 Horizon Report, Emerging Technology for Higher Education. She provides consultancy for Portland Public Schools’ Foreign Language Online Course Program.

Cooke was involved in creating an online project based math learning module for a fourth grade class for the SAV School in Nepal. For more information see the Capstone Project under ‘Academic Products”.

Cooke was also involved in creating a special after school program to assist students in learning 21st century skills and college-readiness preparation in the areas of writing, presenting, the arts and digital media at the Journalism, Art and Media Program at the Media Art Institute.

Connect
Cooke guest blogs at ITSE Connects and the Oregon Writing Project. You can find Cooke on Twitter @ddheal on Facebook or on LinkedIn.