Dr. Liz Boltz – MAET Program Director

Dr. Liz Boltz

As MAET’s Director, Liz is dedicated to supporting students and the diverse goals, needs, and backgrounds they bring to MAET. Liz is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Educational Psychology & Educational Technology PhD program, where she studied videogames for learning. She has been an instructor for the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program since 2013, and has taught in the online, hybrid, and overseas formats. Liz also serves as the Program Director for the MALXD and MAED programs. Liz writes and plays music, and also enjoys drawing and playing video games.

Candace Robertson – Assistant Director of Student Experience & Outreach

Candace Robertson

As the Assistant Director of Student Experience and Outreach, Candace connects with learners, instructors, key stakeholders, and partners to support the connection between theory, research, and practice to support learning in a range of educational contexts. She advises all MAET and MALXD learners, oversees the evaluation and iteration of each program’s experience, develops curriculum, and teaches with the programs. Her work revolves around supporting educators and designers in developing meaningful and creative experiences for their learners while employing critical lenses. Candace brings her knowledge and experience as a former K-12 teacher to her role in higher education. She began working with the MAET program in 2014 and enjoys a good creativity jam session as a part of the learning experience design process!

Dr. Brittany Dillman – Director of Graduate Certificate Programs

Dr. Brittany Dillman

Dr. Brittany Dillman loves working with the MAET and MALXD programs especially her roles of advising all GC students, curriculum development for courses, and teaching courses. Brittany has a doctorate from the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. She is curious about teachers’ decision making process. She taught middle school mathematics for a decade prior to coming to MSU. Brittany is organized by nature and loves to alphabetize and color code. She loves being silly with her family, traveling, making books on Shutterfly, teaching MAET courses, and working with MAET students.

Heather Williamson – Academic Program Coordinator

Heather Williamson

Heather Williamson (formerly Johnson) is a familiar face in the MAET and MALXD programs. Heather enjoys assisting all members of the MAET community – current students, prospective students, instructors, and alumni. Heather received her degree from Davenport University and has been a part of the MSU community for 28 years. Outside of work Heather enjoys bicycling, walking her dog KC, reading, watching MSU sports, and spending time with her family (especially the grandkids).

Colleen Farris – MAET and GC Student Representative

Colleen Farris

Colleen lives and teaches in the Republic of Korea for the Department of Defense Education Activity, where she is a Career and Technical Education teacher for Culinary Arts. Colleen just started her twelfth year of teaching supercharged after a summer in Ireland with the MAET Overseas program. It was a transformational experience. The MSU MAET community is special. Colleen is continually impressed with the collegial and collaborative quality of interactions between and among MAET program staff, teachers, and students. Colleen looks forward to serving the MAET community as a SAC representative this year.

Katie Baleja

Dr. Katie Baleja

Katie earned her doctorate in educational technology. She taught middle school science and STEM for eleven years. Katie also served as technology coach at the middle school. In higher education, Katie has been teaching educational technology and STEM content courses. Her research focuses on digital literacy and utilizing screencasting for assessment. Katie has presented at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Conferences and her work has appeared in the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education EBook. 

Edie Erickson

Edie Erickson

Edie Erickson is an instructional designer, certified K-8 teacher, and MAET alumna. She has over a decade of experience in K-12 and higher education teaching and instructional design.  Edie is an active member of ISTE and MACUL and was the 2016 MACUL Technology Using Teacher of the Year. She is also a proponent of open education and pedagogy and was named a 2017 Designing with OER Fellow through the Open Education Group. 

Colin Gallagher

Colin Gallagher

Collin Gallagher is an international educator who has been teaching with MAET since 2013. Colin has taught in Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Finland. Colin’s leadership philosophy centers on embracing diversity, empowering ownership, empathetic communication, establishing environments, and encouraging leaders.

Megan Garza

Dr. Megan Garza

Dr. Megan Garza is a two-time Michigan State alumna and proud graduate of the MAET overseas program. She recently earned her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to working with students in the MAET program, Megan currently serves as a Digital Learning Specialist and instructional technology coach in a K-12 school district in north Texas. Megan has presented at numerous education conferences; has served as a freelance writer for EdTechTeam; and is a Google Certified Coach, Apple Teacher, and Microsoft Innovative Educator.

Anne Heintz

Dr. Anne Heintz

Anne Heintz is a graduate of the EPET program at MSU and has been an MAET instructor for eight years. Her scholarly works include contributions to the Handbook for Digital Learning in K-12 Schools, Teachers College Record, and Contemporary Issues in Technology, and Teacher Education. She is the co-author of a practitioner book on dialogic instruction and co-editor of a volume on writing instruction. She enjoys creative writing and has both led and participated in creative writing groups for writers of all ages throughout her career.

Ron Houtman

Ron Houtman

Ron has worked at the Kent Intermediate School District and the Kent Career Technical Center for 15 years both teaching in the classroom and providing educator and student professional development. He is an experienced instructional technologist with experience in instructional design, and development of online, blended and technology enhanced courses and experiences. Ron has many years of experience helping others use technology to enhance their teaching and learning, classroom engagement and collaboration. As a board member of MACUL and the REMC Association of Michigan, Ron actively contributes to helping students learn and teachers teach while using technology to enhance their effectiveness, learning outcomes and engagement.

Alison Keller

Alison Keller

Alison Keller has a BA in Elementary Education from Michigan State University and is an alumni of the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program. Alison has been teaching online, hybrid, and overseas classes for MAET since 2011. She loves everything about MAET and feels honored with the responsibility of making it a meaningful and invigorating learning experience for all learners. Alison lives in Chicago and work as an Instructional Innovation Specialist at a K-2 school in the northern suburbs.

Matthew Koehler

Dr. Matthew Koehler

Matthew Koehler is a professor of educational psychology and educational technology. His research focuses on understanding the affordances and constraints of new technologies; the design of technology-rich, innovative learning environments; and the professional development of teachers. His research examines how new technologies, such as video and hypermedia, may be well-suited to help learners (especially teachers) acquire new knowledge, skills, or understanding in complex and ill-structured domains. This has led to a program of research about a form of knowledge, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), that has developed theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological perspectives that characterize teachers who effectively integrate content, pedagogy, and technology in their classroom practice.

Michael Lachney

Dr. Michael Lachney

Michael Lachney is an assistant professor of educational technology. With expertise in qualitative social science methods, he is interested in the role that technologies can play in strengthening school-community relationships. He is currently working on educational technology design strategies and implementation tactics to help teachers enroll community-based expertise in culturally responsive STEM education. In addition, Michael’s work aims to show how STEM can make contributions to everyday anti-racism in schools, with specific attention to engineering and computer science. His work has appeared in the journals Learning, Media and Technology, Computer Science Education, Computational Culture and more.

Bill Marsland

Bill Marsland

Bill is an award-winning educator with a unique background in technology and arts education that allows him to leverage creativity in the learning process. Bill possesses more than 10 years of experience teaching K-8 students in urban public schools. He has been teaching with MAET since 2013 and is an innovative educational technology leader who uses his expertise to support fellow educators by providing ongoing professional development training and peer coaching. Bill promotes teamwork through project-based learning and uses the same approach when completing administrative tasks. Leads by example and motivates others to contribute fully through strong interpersonal skills and ongoing communication across multiple modalities.

Debbie McHorney-Enokian

Debbie McHorney-Enokian

Debbie has a master’s degree in Educational Technology (MAET) from Michigan State University. She works in California for the Burbank Unified School District in Instructional Technology. She provides professional development and technology integration support for teachers and students across 22 schools. She is passionate about making sure all students are creators, not consumers, when using technology. She encourages teachers to provide students with an authentic audience. Debbie has presented at and organized numerous conferences and EdCamps and is a Google Certified Educator.

Zach Rondot

Zach Rondot

Zach teaches CEP 811 with MAET during the Spring Semester. Zach is currently a 4th grade teacher in the Troy School District. He has a master’s degree in educational technology and strives to use technology with his students to deepen learning and enhance creativity. In 2019, Zach was named the Oakland County Elementary Teacher of the Year. In addition to teaching, Zach is the author of two books, The Expert Effect: A Three-Part System to Break Down the Walls of Your Classroom and Connect Your Students to the World, and the children’s companion book, The Expert Expedition. You can connect with Zach on Twitter or through his blog.

Cary Roseth

Dr. Cary Roseth

Cary Roseth is a professor of educational psychology. He is interested in social development, peer relations and social contextual influences on classroom achievement. His research focuses on the development of conflict resolution in early childhood and on the effects of cooperation, competition, and individualistic goal structures on children’s academic achievement and peer relations.

Kyle Shack

Kyle Shack

Kyle is currently a Social Studies teacher at Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he works to provide his students with an authentic and meaningful educational experience. He is interested in the intersection of creativity, technology and mindfulness, and how they impact learning. Before joining MAET as an instructor Kyle was a member of the MSU-Wipro STEM & Leadership Teaching Fellowship’s instructional team, where he worked with Chicago Public Schools teachers to create transformative, innovative and multimodal instructional experiences for students.

Chris Sloan

Dr. Chris Sloan

Chris teaches high school media production, AP English, and photography at Judge Memorial in Salt Lake City. He is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Educational Psychology & Educational Technology program, where he studied student motivation in online learning spaces. He co-created Youth Voices with a colleague from the National Writing Project, where Chris has also served as technology liaison and teaching consultant. A Google Certified Innovator, he has spent decades helping his students learn to create compelling multimodal compositions. Check out Chris’s blog.

Blair Stamper

Dr. Blair Stamper

Dr. Blair Stamper is an Instructional Designer (ID) with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her own company, Blair Stamper, LLC. As an ID, she works with faculty to create student-centered and active online courses that align with  high quality standards. Her passions and research lie in educational research, student success, active learning, and access, equity, and inclusion in online courses. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the fully online Masters of Arts in Educational Technology at Michigan State University. Blair shares her expertise with her online blog, social media (Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest), podcast, and through mentoring. 

David Wong

Dr. David Wong

David Wong is an associate professor of educational psychology. He is interested in global education with a particular focus on how learning abroad experiences can foster student development. He is also interested in motivation, especially in what educators can learn from fields such as music, film, art, and architecture to create compelling experiences for their students. Finally, he has broad interests in the field of science education, urban education, the design of online instruction and educational philosophy.

Nicole Zumpano

Nicole Zumpano

Nicole Zumpano is a National Board Certified Teacher with 27 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, an instructional technology coach, and currently as a regional educational technology coordinator in an Illinois State Board of Education grant program. She holds master’s degrees in Administration & Supervision and Technology in Education. Nicole also adjuncts for two private universities in Illinois. She is a Google Certified Educator and Trainer, as well as an Apple Teacher and Apple Education Trainer. She occasionally blogs about technology in education in her blog. Please join her Professional Learning Network (PLN) via Twitter@nmzumpano.