Ayshah Alahmari is a doctoral candidate in teaching and learning at Illinois State University-Normal. She was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and has more than 10 years of teaching experience in Saudi schools. She had been granted two scholarships from the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia to pursue master’s and doctorate degrees in teaching and learning at Illinois State University. She has collaborated on scholarly projects and publications about e-learning and online education in Saudi Arabia. Her research interests include e-Learning, blended learning, m-learning, online education, collaborative learning, technology integration, and online teacher professional development. Her current research examines the impact of using collaborative technology tools to enhance collaborative learning in online learning environments.
Ray J. Amirault is a graduate of Florida State University’s Instructional Systems Program and currently serves as an instructional technologist in the College of Education Office of the Dean at Illinois State University.
Mary Blackinton, PT, EdD, GCS, is the director of the DPT Program at Nova Southeastern University-Tampa, a completely blended entry-level doctor of physical therapy program that started in 2011. She received her BS degree in physical therapy from University of Maryland, a MS in gerontology from Nova University, and an EdD in health care education from Nova Southeastern University. She has been a faculty member at Nova Southeastern University since 1994, serving as director of the Transition DPT Program from 2002 to 2010. Blackinton’s educational research interests focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning. She is the cochair of the Health Professions Educational Research Symposium (www.nova.edu/hpers). Along with the DPT faculty at NSU-Tampa, she was coinvestigator of a grant entitled: “Where does the time go? A work sampling study comparing faculty activities in traditional and hybrid DPT Programs.” She was also a coinvestigator for “A tale of 2 case methods: Investigating the student learning outcomes of two teaching strategies designed to enhance clinical reasoning.” She has been the dissertation chair for five PhD graduates and is a reviewer for the following journals: Journal of Physical Therapy Education and Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy . Her article entitled “Teaching an Hands-on Profession in an Online Classroom” was published in Physical Therapy in Motion (November, 2013). Blackinton is a director at large for the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy.
Lance Cherry, MPT, EdD, OCS, received his BS from the University of Florida, his master of physical therapy from Emory University, and his EdD in applied physiology from Teachers College, Columbia University. He is board certified in orthopedic physical therapy and is presently an associate professor in the doctor of physical therapy program at Nova Southeastern University-Tampa. Cherry teaches courses in musculoskeletal physical therapy and differential diagnosis in a hybrid format. His scholarship focuses on use of hybrid instructional strategies in health care education as well as student attrition.
Ray Kalinski has a PhD in organization and management and has taught in the MBA program at Kaplan University for about 9 years. His masters is in education from the University of Nebraska. He has 30+ years’ experience in the aerospace industry where he has held positions in information system’s management, operations, and shared services.
Melissa Lazinski, PT, DPT, OCS, received her doctor of physical therapy from Regis University and her bachelor of health science in physical therapy from the University of Florida. She is board certified in orthopedic physical therapy. She is an associate professor at the doctor of physical therapy program of Nova Southeastern University-Tampa Campus. Lazinski teaches courses in musculoskeletal physical in a hybrid format. Her scholarship focuses on use of hybrid instructional strategies in health care education.
Joel Olson has a PhD in human resources from Colorado State University, Ft. Collins and an MA in theology from Denver Seminary. He has 20 years experience in nonprofit leadership and consultation, education, and instructional design. Most recently, he has served the Reformed Church in America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church as a consultant for churches in crisis. Currently he serves as a human resources professor in the School of Business and Management at Purdue University Global.
Sherrill Waddell taught English in Florida’s Broward and Palm Beach counties before moving to Texas, where she worked in middle, high, and alternative schools, as well as juvenile correctional facilities. She worked with the University of Texas to launch the LUCHA Program in her district so non-English speaking students could enroll in online courses for credit in their native language. She then moved to the online sector and worked as a manager and master teacher for Connections Education. She is currently working on writing a book about education.
