Board Members

Past President Beth Oyarzun

Beth Oyarzun is a Clinical Associate Professor of Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She teaches fully online courses in LDT and serves as the Program Director for both the Master of Education and graduate certificate degrees in LDT.   Her research areas of interest surround online teaching and learning pedagogy and technology integration into effective instruction. Beth has been teaching for over 25 years, teaching high school mathematics, undergraduate teaching in LDT, training university faculty in online teaching, and teaching graduate students in LDT. She currently serves as the President Elect for the Division of Distance Learning in the Association of Educational Communications Technology (AECT)and as treasurer for the Board of Directors of the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI). 

President
Daisyane Barreto

Daisyane Barreto is an Associate Professor and coordinator of the Masters of Instructional Technology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). She earned her Ph.D. in Learning, Design, and Technology from the University of Georgia. Prior to joining UNCW, she worked as a multimedia developer for non-profit and higher education institutions. She was also a research assistant with Disney Connected Learning in the design of learning games. Currently, she has worked with several colleagues and graduate students in the design and development of online professional development for teachers in STEM topics such as Introduction to Robotics, Games and Gamification, and Cybersecurity lesson plan integration. She has also collaborated with colleagues internationally to train teachers virtually in integrating STEAM content & English language learning into the classroom.

President Elect
Eric Belt

Eric S. Belt, EdD, is a Senior Academic Innovation Specialist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), where he leads campuswide initiatives in educational research, faculty development, and the integration of emerging technologies in teaching and learning. He founded the AI Studio, UMB’s first faculty fellowship focused on responsible and research-informed uses of artificial intelligence in education and co-leads the Ed Crafters Community Connection and Future Educators Academy, which prepare faculty and graduate assistants for scholarly teaching. Dr. Belt’s research examines teacher–student relationships in online learning environments and the ways communication, presence, and technology shape connection and trust. His recent work appears in Online Learning Journal, TechTrends, Education and Information Technologies, and Distance Education. A recipient of multiple AECT DDL research awards, he also serves on the editorial board of To Improve the Academy and teaches in graduate programs at UMB, Boise State University (BSU), the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW), and the University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA).

AECT Board Representative
Patrick Lowenthal

Patrick R. Lowenthal is a Professor of Educational Technology at Boise State University. He specializes in designing and developing online learning environments. His research focuses on how people communicate using emerging technologies—with a specific focus on issues of presence, identity, and community--in online learning environments. 

VP of Communications
Sheri Conklin

Sheri Conklin is an Associate Professor in Instructional Technology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). She earned her Ed.D. in Educational Technology from Boise State University. Before moving into this role, she worked as the Director of eLearning over a team of Instructional Designers and multimedia developers. She also worked as an Instructional Designer in higher education for nine years. Before joining higher education, she was a special education teacher in K-12 schools. Her research interests include online course design and instructor social presence. 

VP of Awards
Alexis Guethier

Dr. Alexis Guethler is an instructional designer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she leads the design and management of both synchronous and asynchronous graduate-level courses. Previously, she developed curriculum for non-credit skilled trades programs, bringing a practical and inclusive approach to workforce education. Alexis earned her PhD from Towson University, and her research focuses on accessibility, online student engagement, faculty development, and the strategic management of instructional design processes—including the integration of AI technologies and the creation of a database-driven course design application that enhances alignment and collaboration in course development.

Finance
Elisa Shaffer

Elisa Shaffer has worked at NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, a professional association for college and university academic advisors, for the past 14 years. At NACADA, she has led, in partnership with SMEs, in developing many 3.5-week short courses for professional development for academic advisors and administrators for the past five years. In January 2024, she led the launch of microcredentialling for these short courses. Advisors from around the globe have taken these short courses to benefit their students and their institutions greatly. In addition to her role as NACADA's Instructional Designer, she is the Webinar Producer for all NACADA Webinars.

In addition to working full-time, Elisa is a Ph.D. candidate in Instructional Design and Technology at Old Dominion University. Her dissertation focuses on learners with ADHD in online learning environments.

Records
Rebecca Peacock

Dr. Rebeca Peacock is an Instructional Designer and Online MBA Course Delivery Manager at Boise State University. She has an MEd in Instructional Design and Technology from Wayne State University, an MSLIS from Syracuse University, and is currently an EdD in Ed. Leadership/Instructional Design & Technology at Idaho State University. She has been involved in instruction and instructional design, with a focus on online learning, for a decade. Her current research interests include microcredentials, motivational design, universal design for learning, and teaching online in higher education settings.

GSA Liaison
Jaesung Hur

Jaesung Hur is a doctoral candidate in the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Prior to joining a graduate program, she worked as an instructional designer in South Korea. Her research focuses on enhancing learner engagement in online learning environments through effective technology integration and learner-centered instructional practices. Her recent work also centers on AI in education, specifically examining college students' perceptions of generative AI in online discussions and pre-service teachers' AI literacy and human-AI interaction in course activities.