Dr. Richard Sebastian - Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Richard Sebastian - Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Richard Sebastian - Curriculum Vitae
sebastian
RS
ABOUT
I
am
a
creative
and
dynamic
thought
leader
with
an
established
record
of
educational
leadership
and
instructional
technology
innovation.
I
strongly
believe
that
promoting
successful
lifelong
learning
is
crucial
to
the
future
of
the
Commonwealth,
and
that
technology
is
one
important
tool
that
can
be
leveraged
to
help
create
transformative
learning
experiences
for
Virginias
students.
As
the
Director
of
Teaching
&
Learning
Technologies,
I
have
brought
a
clear,
compelling
vision
to
Virginias
Community
Colleges
and
my
leadership
has
helped
create
systemic
change
in
the
effective
use
of
technology
in
the
classroom
throughout
the
VCCSs
23
colleges.
My
current
focus
is
on
open
educational
resources
(OER),
effective
online
and
blended
learning,
emerging
educational
technologies,
and
digital
citizenship.
EDUCATION
Doctorate,
Education
University
of
Virginia,
Charlottesville,
VA
2008
CERTIFICATIONS
Educause
Leading
Through
Technology
Graduate
(2014)
Blackboard
Collaborate
Product
Specialist
Google
Apps
for
Education
EXPERIENCE
Director
of
Teaching
and
Learning
Technologies,
Virginias
Community
Colleges
RICHMOND,
VA
-
2011
-
PRESENT
Provide
leadership
and
vision
to
VCCS
colleges
about
effective
use
of
teaching
and
learning
technologies,
Collaborate
with
college
academic
officers,
deans,
instructional
designers,
and
faculty
on
technology
policies
and
best
practices,
Work
with
the
Academic
Services
and
Research
team
on
special,
System-driven
projects,
Oversee
the
systems
learning
management
system
as
well
as
other
enterprise-level
instructional
technology
software
packages,
Provide
eLearning
policy
and
procedure
recommendations
to
the
Vice
Chancellor
for
Academic
Services
and
Research,
Provide
policy
direction
and
management
of
eLearning
projects
and
teaching
and
learning
resources
for
23
community
colleges,
and
Develop
policies
and
structures
for
eLearning
students
that
facilitate
student
success.
Invited participant
Hewlett Grantee Meeting, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Sausalito, CA. April, 2015.
Grantee participant
With
Del.
Eileen
Filler-Corn,
co-wrote
Request
to
Amend
House
Bill
30,
Item
210:
VCCS
Open
Education
Resources.
RECENT
PROJECTS
Zx23
Project
I
am
the
Principal
Investigator
of
the
Z
x
23
Project,
made
possible
by
a
grant
from
The
William
&
Flora
Hewlett
Foundation,
which
allows
the
VCCS
to
scale
the
zero-textbook-costs
degree
model
by
providing
funding,
support,
and
training
to
15
VCCS
colleges
to
build
pathways
to
their
own
Z-Degrees.
Each
participating
college
will
adopt,
adapt,
and
pilot
a
set
of
open
courses
and
then
evaluate
the
outcomes.
I
am
working
with
grant
partner
Lumen
Learning
to
document
how
OER
successfully
scales
and
becomes
mainstream,
and
answer
the
question,
How
do
we
make
Z-
Degrees
portable?
My
work
with
OER
over
the
past
four
years
has
established
Virginias
community
colleges
as
a
leader
in
the
development
and
use
of
open
materials.
During
this
time,
over
70
open
courses
have
been
developed
using
Chancellors
Innovation
Funds
(CIF),
Chancellors
OER
Adoption
Grants,
Professional
Development
Grants,
or
local
college
funds.
Collectively,
the
efforts
of
Virginias
Community
Colleges
have
saved
students
millions
of
dollars
in
textbook
costs.
With
the
addition
of
two
new
Z
Degrees
from
NVCC,
the
VCCS
now
offers
3
all-OER
associate
degrees.
Chancellors
Innovation
Fund
http://edtech.vccs.edu/educational-technology-resources/chancellors-oer-adoption-grant/
I
manage
the
annual
Chancellors
Innovation
Fund
(CIF),
a
competitive
fund
open
to
faculty
and
staff
at
VCCS
colleges
to
support
innovative,
targeted
projects
that
closely
align
with
the
VCCSs
strategic
goals.
All
CIF
projects
are
developed,
piloted,
and
assessed
by
during
a
single
fiscal
year.
In
collaboration
with
the
Chancellor,
I
established
the
focus-areas
for
each
years
fund,
develop
the
Request
for
Proposals,
create
and
manage
the
online
application,
organize
a
review
committee,
monitor
the
progress
of
each
grantee,
and
evaluate
and
share
the
project
deliverables,
which
are
required
to
be
openly
licensed.
Textbook
Costs
&
Digital
Learning
Resources
Committee
https://www.scribd.com/doc/253309655/2015-Textbooks-Costs-Digital-Learning-Resources-VCCS-2015-Final-Report
Wrote
the
charter
and
co-chaired
this
committee,
part
of
the
VCCS
Reengineering
Task
Force,
devoted
to
reducing
textbook
costs
for
students
and
leveraging
digital
technologies
to
improve
teaching
and
learning
throughout
the
VCCS.
Among
other
outcomes,
the
work
of
the
TCDLT
committee
lead
to
the
17-college
bookstore
contract
with
Follett,
Inc.,
as
well
as
a
revision
of
presidential
evaluations
that
includes
a
metric
for
reducing
textbook
costs.
I
was
the
main
author
of
the
final
report,
which
can
be
found
at:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/253309655/2015-
Textbooks-Costs-Digital-Learning-Resources-VCCS-2015-Final-Report
Chancellors
OER
Adoption
Grant
http://edtech.vccs.edu/educational-technology-resources/chancellors-oer-adoption-grant/
Led
creation
and
management
of
a
set
of
grant
funds
to
incentivize
faculty
to
develop
courses
in
which
all
required
materials
are
free
and
openly
licensed.
Twelve
faculty
were
awarded
grants
in
2012;
an
additional
20
faculty,
as
well
as
three
librarians,
were
awarded
grants
in
2013.
OpenVA
http://openva.org/
I
am
one
of
the
founders
of
OpenVA,
a
committee
created
at
the
behest
of
former
Virginia
Secretary
of
Education,
Laura
Fornash,
to
investigate
ways
to
reduce
textbook
costs
for
Virginias
students.
With
little
funding,
the
OpenVA
committee
has
offered
two
successful
summitsone
in
2013
at
the
University
of
Mary
Washington
and
a
year
later
at
Tidewater
Community
College.
A
third
OpenVA
summitOpenVA
2.1was
organized
and
hosted
by
William
&
Mary
graduate
student,
Jamison
Miller,
on
May
2,
2015.
SCHEV
recently
formalized
the
committee
as
the
OpenVA
Advisory
Group
to
make
recommendations
to
[SCHEV]
regarding
initiatives
and
policies
that
may
facilitate
the
adoption
of
open
educational
resources
by
the
public
institutions.
LMS
Needs
Assessment
Committee
Created
and
currently
co-chair
a
committee
made
up
of
VCCS
faculty
and
staff
to
determine
the
overall
pedagogical
needs,
particularly
in
regard
to
online
learning,
of
VCCS
faculty
and
students,
and
identify
ways
digital
tools,
such
as
an
LMS,
can
meet
these
needs.
The
group
will
also
identify
the
necessary
affordances
of
digital
tools,
research
products
and
service
that
have
these
affordances,
and
make
final
recommendations
on
tool
selection.
Led
the
development
of
two
new
courses,
Theory
&
Practice
of
eLearning
Integration
into
Adult
Learning
Environments
and
Design
Challenges
in
Using
Educational
Technology
for
Adult
Learning,
for
a
three-course
Teaching
with
Technology
strand
for
the
VCU
School
of
Educations
graduate
program
in
Adult
Learning,
Instructed
two
of
these
graduate
courses,
and
Collaborated
with
the
VCU
School
of
Education
faculty
on
course
revisions
and
additional
M.Ed.
program
development.
Instructional
Technology
Specialist,
VCUs
Virginia
Adult
Learning
Resource
Center
RICHMOND,
VA
2005-2011
Provided
leadership
and
guidance
to
the
field
of
adult
education
in
Virginia
in
the
area
of
educational
technology
integration
and
distance
learning
by
developing
policies,
conducting
research,
managing
grants,
and
directing
statewide
technology
initiatives,
Directed
and
managed
technology-related
projects
for
the
Virginia
Literacy
Institute,
Virginia
Adult
Learning
Resource
Center,
and
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education,
and
Developed,
coordinated,
and
delivered
trainings
to
adult
education
administrators
and
teachers.
RELATED
PROJECTS
PluggedIn
VA
Served
with
then
Secretary
of
Technology
Aneesh
Chopra
as
a
member
of
the
initial
visioning
team;
developed
original
curriculum
concept
and
program
plan
and
co-developed
the
creation
innovative
six-month
curriculum;
oversaw
all
aspects
of
the
projects
development,
implementation,
and
evaluation;
identified
funding
opportunities,
wrote
proposal
for
initial
Governors
Productivity
Investment
Fund
grant,
and
consulted
on
successful
grant
proposal
for
Chancellors
e-Learning
and
Enhancement
Development
(CEED)
fund;
coordinated
project
staff,
including
development
staff
in
Kentucky,
evaluation
staff
in
Tennessee,
and
program
staff
in
Southwest
Virginia,
and
managed
relationships
with
project
stakeholders.
Led
the
project,
currently
featured
in
TopJobs
2021
legislation
and
the
recently-awarded
Elevate
SNAP
grant,
to
success.
eLearnVA
Directed
all
aspects
of
eLearnVA,
a
statewide
distance
education
program
that
provides
web-based
GED
and
workplace
instruction
to
adult
Virginians;
researched,
identified,
and
recommended
emergent
technologies
and
promote
instructional
practices
to
improve
online
educational
services
for
eLearnVA
students;
recruited,
trained,
and
oversaw
a
staff
of
online
teachers;
developed
support
technologies
and
database
systems
to
track
student
enrollment
and
achievement.
Summit
on
Adult
Education
in
the
New
Digital
World
Led
the
development
and
organization
of
an
educational
summit
that
brought
leading
educational
policy-makers,
researchers,
and
practitioners
from
across
the
country
to
Virginia
Commonwealth
University
to
discuss
the
future
of
technology
integration
in
the
field
of
Adult
Basic
Education.
Pioneered
a
parallel
virtual
summit
using
live
video
streaming,
Twitter,
and
an
online
discussion
forum
for
online
participants
and
observers.
Policy2Performance
Served
on
a
multi-disciplinary
team
with
members
of
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education,
Southside
Community
College,
Department
of
Labor,
Economic
Development,
and
adult
basic
education
on
a
federal
project
to
research
and
develop
policies
to
increase
the
success
rate
of
non-traditional
adult
education
students
in
postsecondary
education
and
training.
Virginia
Adult
Education
Certification
program
Designed
and
developed
a
2.5-hour
instructor
training,
Teaching
and
Learning
with
Technology,
for
the
Virginia
Adult
Education
Certification
program,
a
new
requirement
for
all
Adult
and
Continuing
Education
program
managers
and
instructors.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Adult
Education
Instructor,
Henrico
County
Jail
East
Educational
Services
BARHAMSVILLE,
VA
-
2002-2003
Adult
Education
Instructor,
Henrico
County
Adult
Education
Center
HIGHLAND
SPRINGS,
VA
-
2001-2002
Workplace
Instructor,
Philip
Morriss
Employee
Development
Center
RICHMOND,
VA
-
1998-2001
RECENT
PRESENTATIONS
Shockey,
N.,
Sebastian,
R.,
Waltz,
A.,
(2015).
Strength
in
Numbers:
Open
Networks
Influencing
Changes
in
Practice.
Advancing
Research
Communication
and
Scholarship
Conference.
Philadelphia,
PA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2015).
Community
College
Panel:
Promoting
Student
Success
through
Open
Education.
Open
Education
Global
Conference.
Banff,
AB,
CANADA
Davis,
P.,
Huff,
C.,
Rosecrans,
J.,
Sebastian,
R.
(2015).
Scaling
Open:
Reducing
Textbook
Costs
Across
Virginias
Community
Colleges.
League
of
Innovations
for
Community
Colleges.
Boston,
MA
Groom,
J.
&
Sebastian,
R.
(2014).
The
State
of
Open.
2014
Open
Education
Conference.
Washington,
DC.
Miller,
J.
&
Sebastian,
R.
(2014).
BASIC
SKILLS
FOR
THE
INFORMATION
AGE:
Incorporating
digital
competencies
across
curricula.
The
Council
for
the
Study
of
Community
Colleges
Annual
Meeting.
Washington,
DC.
DeMarte,
D.,
Lewis,
J.,
Sebastian,
R.,
Wilson,
V.
(2014).
How
Virginias
Community
Colleges
are
Using
Digital
Technologies
to
Reduce
Textbook
Costs
and
Increase
Student
Success.
American
Association
of
Community
Colleges
Annual
Meeting.
Washington,
DC.
Sebastian,
R.
(2014).
Teaching
the
Future
Workforce:
A
Grand
Tour
of
VCCS
Educational
Technologies.
New
Faculty
Seminar,
Virginia
Beach,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2013).
Opening
the
VCCS.
Open
Education
Conference.
Park
City,
UT.
Finnegan,
C.,
Sebastian,
R.,
Stamper,
R.
(2012).
A
Snapshot
of
VCCS
Students
Use
of
Technology.
HireEd
Conference.
Hot
Springs,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
&
Williams,
L.
(2013).
Textbook
Zero.
Innovations
Conference.
Dallas,
TX.
Sebastian,
R.
&
Williams,
L.
(2013).
OpenTCC.
New
Horizons
Conference.
Roanoke,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2013).
The
VCCS
is
Getting
Googlier:
Google
Apps
for
Education.
New
Horizons
Conference.
Roanoke,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
&
Cook,
G.
(2013).
VPT
MathSite:
Online
Resources
for
Developmental
Math
Students.
New
Horizons
Conference.
Roanoke,
VA.
PUBLICATIONS
Sebastian,
R.
(2011).
The
Mass
Amateurization
of
Adult
Literacy
Instruction:
Exploring
Crowdsourcing
in
Adult
Basic
Education.
Proceedings.
The
Summit
on
the
Future
of
Adult
Education
in
the
New
Digital
World.
Richmond,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2009).
PlugGED
In.
Progress:
A
Publication
of
the
Virginia
Adult
Learning
Resource
Center.
Winter/Spring
2009.
Vol.
21,
No.
2.
Sebastian,
R.
(2009).
Teaching
&
Learning
with
Technology
in
Adult
Basic
Education:
Technology
Integration.
Virginia
Adult
Education
Certification
Program.
Virginia
Adult
Learning
Resource
Center.
Richmond,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2009).
Teaching
&
Learning
with
Technology
in
ESOL
Education:
Technology
Integration.
Virginia
Adult
Education
Certification
Program.
Virginia
Adult
Learning
Resource
Center.
Richmond,
VA.
Sebastian,
R.
(2008).
Using
Personal
Weblogs
to
Teach
Writing
in
the
GED
Classroom.
(Doctoral
dissertation,
University
of
Virginia,
2008).
Dissertation
Abstracts
International,
69,
2884.
*Sebastian,
R.
(2007).
eLEARN
Virginia:
A
new
e-learning
program
for
adult
Virginians
in
need
of
GED
and
Workplace
Education.
Proceedings.
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Computing
in
Education
(AACE).
Ed-Media
2007
World
Conference
on
Educational
Multimedia,
Hypermedia,
&
Telecommunications.
Vancouver,
British
Columbia.
*Sebastian,
R.
&
Kinzie,
M.
(2006).
Development
of
Social
Problem-solving
Networks
in
the
Interactive
Web-based
Game
The
Beast.
Proceedings.
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Computing
in
Education
(AACE).
E-Learn
2006
World
Conference
on
E-Learning
in
Corporate,
Government,
Healthcare,
&
Higher
Education.
Honolulu,
HI.
Sebastian,
R.,
video
for
The
Airplane
by
One
Ring
Zero
(2005).
Addendum
DVD.
B&W,
16
mm
film
&
digital
video.
2
min.
Hammond,
T.
&
Sebastian,
R.
(2005).
Digital
Image
and
Video
Editing
Software.
Teaching
with
digital
images:
Acquire,
analyze,
create,
communicate.
Editors:
Bull,
G.L.,
&
Bell,
L.
Published
by
the
International
Society
for
Technology
in
Education.
GRANTS
Zx23
Project.
William
&
Flora
Hewlett
Foundation
awarded
the
VCCS
a
one-year
grant
to
scale
the
Z-Degree.
Distance
Learning
Center:
eLearnVA
(2009-2010):
Awarded
by
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education,
Office
of
Adult
Education
&
Literacy
to
manage
and
run
eLearnVA,
a
statewide
online
GED
distance
education
program.
The
Governors
Productivity
Investment
Fund
(PIF):
Awarded
to
develop
and
evaluate
the
PluggedIn
VA
curriculum.
Chancellors
e-Learning
Enhancement
Development
(CEED)
Grant:
Southwest
Virginia
Community
College
awarded
a
CEED
grant
to
fund
Southwest
Virginia
Community
Colleges
implementation
of
the
PluggedIn
VA
In
curriculum.
Distance
Learning
Center
(2008-2009):
Awarded
by
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education,
Office
of
Adult
Education
&
Literacy
to
manage
and
run
eLearnVA.
Distance
Learning
Center:
eLearnVA
(2007-2008):
Awarded
by
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education,
Office
of
Adult
Education
&
Literacy
to
manage
and
run
eLearnVA.
COURSES
TAUGHT
School
of
Education,
Virginia
Commonwealth
University,
Richmond,
VA
Design
Challenges
in
Creating
eLearning
for
Adults
Theory
&
Practice
of
eLearning
Integration
into
Adult
Learning
Environments
Curry
School
of
Education,
University
of
Virginia,
Charlottesville,
VA
Digital
Media
Development
Educational
Game
Design
Software
Applications
Teaching
with
Technology:
Special
Education
Film selection The Airplane (2004), Vinegar Hill Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA.
COMMUNITY
SERVICE
Friends
of
Northside
Dog
Park
Led
a
group
of
community
members
in
establishing
a
dog
park
in
the
Northside
Richmond.
Serve
as
co-chair
of
the
Friends
of
Northside
Dog
Park
(FNDP)
steering
committee.
Coordinate
meetings
with
the
FNDP
members
and
representatives
of
the
Richmond
City
Recreation
&
Parks
Department.
Created
website
and
fundraising
and
public
awareness
campaigns.
Wrote
a
successful
grant
to
Nutro
Dog
Food
to
support
the
park.
HandsOn
Greater
Richmond
A
local
volunteer
organization
that
connects
individuals,
families,
teams,
and
corporate
groups
to
meaningful
volunteer
opportunities
in
the
Greater
Richmond
region.
I
have
worked
on
short-term
projects
for
ElderHomes,
Friends
Association,
B.A.R.K.,
and
St.
Josephs
Villa.
MEMBERSHIPS
Educause
Association
for
Educational
Communications
and
Technology
(AECT)
American
Educational
Research
Association
(AERA)
OER
Consortium
TECHNOLOGY SKILLS