While working at Detroit Country Day, Leigh completed her master’s degree (mostly online) at MSU in Digital Media, Art, and Technology. Most recently, Leigh has worked as an instructional technologist for Oakland Community College and an academic technology specialist for the Eli Broad College of Business at MSU. In these positions, she assisted faculty with designing and teaching online courses. Throughout her career, Leigh has presented at several national conferences and often runs professional development sessions for faculty and staff on new and emerging technologies. Here, ahead of her speech at Pelecon, she answers ten questions about her life and career:
How did you start out on your career in education?
Funny story.....I actually started out as a disc jockey. My undergraduate degree is in radio and television production. The media industry is pretty difficult to tap into if you're not willing to move around a lot and the thought of jumping around the states was a bit intimidating to 21-year-old me. While still pondering my career in radio, I took a position with a local high school as a network administrator. While my primary responsibility was pulling cables, setting up desktops and administering servers, the school/students/faculty (and I) recognized my desktop publishing, communication and design skills could come in handy for teaching staff and students. So my role morphed to including not only "techy" reponsibilities but into what we now know as an ICT facilitator or coordinator. This was wayyyy back in 1997, the web, as we nows know it was just a baby. And that is how it all began.
What do you think is the most important aspect of education?
Community - of all sorts face to face, virtual, or hybrid. As the saying goes, "it takes a village" - not only to raise a child, but to continue personal and professional growth through the lifespan.
What three things would you change in education if you had the chance?
Time constraints on skill set achievement, teacher perception and pay (change it to higher of course) and removing the ties of learning away from physical and traditional spaces.
Who has been the biggest inspiration in your life?
Jim Henson. When I was young, it was my dream to work for Jim Henson. I was enchanted by the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock – the whole lot. I wasn't just into passively watching the screen, something made me want to learn and understand what was happening behind the scenes. I wanted to make that magic happen. I have had a lot of role models and influencers in my life and while I never had the opportunity to met him, Jim Henson had a tremendous impact on my life (as he has had on countless others.) I credit him with igniting my desire to pursue radio and television production. While my career has morphed into the awesome position I have now, Jim Henson's spirit still stays with me. I hang a picture of him with Kermit in office as a constant reminder of how we never truly know how deep and wide our influences run.
What will be in your spotlight presentation at Pelecon next week?
It will be pretty exciting. I'm going to engage the audience in the first massively multi-player quickfire challenge. The specifics are secret - that's the point!
Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
Hopefully back in Plymouth presenting at the 12th annual PELeCON! I really love what I do and hope to continue to grow and change along with the field.
What do you consider to be the biggest barrier to good learning?
Fear of failure. I think it's what bothers me most.
Can you tell us a little about how you use social media and technology in your work?
I sure can - if you have 30 minutes you can watch this video which explains how I (in my program coordinator role) use social media:
What is the achievement you are most proud of?
I am very proud of our Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University and more importantly of our students and alumni. We have created a global network of educators who support each other and their peers - our network inspires me each and every day.
What links would you like to share?
If you want to know more about me, you can visit my site - Leigh Graves Wolf - I have all of my "social streams" feeding there, so you can see what I'm reading (and often eating as food photography is a side interest of mine.) A little known secret is that when I'm frustrated, I go to CakeWrecks - the site makes me giggle.
10Q: Leigh Graves Wolf by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.
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