Contacts
Laura Rogers
Laura joined the LTS team in April, 2009 after eight years as program coordinator for the UNC Teaching and Learning with Technology Collaborative. Laura's responsibilities with the TLTC included facilitating the e-Learning Pedagogy Interest Group, development of TLTC Strategic and Operating Plans, coordinating the UNC TLT Online Quality Workgroup, and supporting the annual UNC TLT Conference. As facilitator of numerous group projects, Laura worked to identify shared interests and negotiate consensus on how to implement and assess those projects.
Previously, as Associate Professor of Education at UNC Wilmington, she taught several web-enhanced and fully online courses. In her role as chair of the UNCW University Curriculum Committee, Laura facilitated the development of the undergraduate computer competency requirement for all disciplines. As one of UNCW’s Web Course Development members and team leaders, Laura facilitated individual, peer-to-peer, and whole team discussions about online course development and a multi-level assessment project to examine student and faculty use of the technology as they participated in the courses. Team members negotiated with each other and campus administrators to identify variables that would be standardized and those that would be open to instructor choice in order to best promote learning, and the value of that collaborative team process was evidenced in the quality of the courses delivered, shared ownership of the decision-making processes affecting online courses, and ongoing participation of current and previous team members. Laura notes that a striking realization among the group was the acknowledgment that some students, faculty, content, and courses are better suited to specific aspects of online instructional environments than others; therefore, we are more successful when we look at the purpose of components of our courses and utilize technology that will best meet those purposes.
Laura’s learning technology experience includes teaching and learning with pre-K through graduate students, K-12 teachers and university faculty in online and technology-enriched environments since 1984. Laura enjoys learning about emerging technologies by trying them, such as making her own wikis, blogs, podcasts, and tweets, as well as experimenting with various gadgets and software applications to see how they can be helpful in instructional environments. From a BASIC genetics program on her Apple IIe when teaching 7-12 grade science to her current interests in open source software and Web 2.0 services, her interest in learning technology is focused on understanding and promoting learning.
“I am a student of learning and of the dynamic context of creative, collaborative organizational structures that facilitate learning. Throughout my career I have been fortunate to work with insightful teachers who have guided and challenged me to look beyond the simple explanations to more thorough analyses. My students have provided me with plentiful data about their thinking and how they perceive and participate in the process of learning. Teaching science, education, leadership, and technology courses with K-12, community college, undergraduate and graduate students has taught me that learning is a personal event and occurs within the context of social interactions. As the technology I use in my teaching has evolved, my questions about the role of technology in the teaching-learning process have become more detailed and required more data collection and analyses. Collaborative research projects have provided me with the collective wisdom and resources of colleagues to more readily understand what does and does not work in our attempts to promote learning. Let’s explore learning together!”
Laura co-founded the Cape Fear Center for Inquiry, a public charter school in Wilmington, and Community Partners Charter High School in Holly Springs. She is a past president of the North Carolina Association for Research in Education, is a lifelong Girl Scout, and holds B.S. and M.E. degrees in Biological Sciences Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Oklahoma.
Send Email to Laura
Phone: (828) 266-4357
