Collin's Portfolio Home

Welcome to my homepage! I am a k-12 special educator currently perusing a degree in instructional design from the University of Colorado at Denver.

I returned to Colorado to teach in 1994. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) required a masters in special education for certification. I entered the University of Colorado at Boulder's bilingual special education program at the Bueno Center. It was an excellent program where I learned to meet the need of second language learners.

In 1998 CDE dropped their masters requirements for a special education license so I was free to pursue my passion for technology and took my first information & learning technologies (ILT)course that spring at the CU Denver campus.

In 1999 I took a leave from the the ILT program to get married, start a family, and concentrate on my career. Once my children grew older I decided to return to the ILT program and I was accepted into the ILT K-12 tract in 2005. After one year of work in the K-12 track, I made a decision to move into the elearning ILT tract in 2006.

It was a difficult adjustment going from fact to face courses to learning on-line. Learning to communicate on-line is a process that does not directly translate from face -to-face communication. With the support and patience of both the faculty and my classmates in the elearning cohort I was able to make this adjustment.

I will graduate this spring, and in a strange way I will miss the the ILT program courses and having contact with the faculty and staff who I have learned so much from.

Thankfully many people that I feel connected to in the ILT program have joined a facebook group and it is my hope that we can continue to stay connected and continue to grow and learn from each other, even after I have graduated from the program.