Elections

I am honoured to be nominated to serve AECT in the capacity of president-elect. This organisation has been my professional home since the first year of my PhD program at Penn State University. It is where I met mentors who continue to guide me and collaborators who have become dear friends.

For over 100 years, AECT has been a leading voice in the field of teaching and learning with technology. Since then professional organisations in our fields have grown in numbers. Given that we all have limited resources, AECT must focus on giving members reasons to continue wanting to be part of the community. To accomplish this, my vision for AECT should I be given the opportunity to lead include the following:

• Continue building on AECT as a global thought leader: To me AECT is an international organisation, hence our focus should be on having a global impact that is representative our or members. It is important to expand AECT’s presence in international conversations on the future of learning and technology and ensure that our scholarship resonates worldwide. We must continue building partnerships that bridge international academic communities and ensuring that our research and practices reflect our rich diversity while being contextually appropriate.
• AECT as a hub for innovation, research, and practice. I want to strengthen the connections between AECT researchers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs. People falling in these three categories all exist in AECT and can help advance the field and contribute to education broadly through the design of transformative educational solutions.
• An inclusive professional home. My research has prioritises culture, agency, and representation. Thus, building pathways for diverse voices across generations, disciplines, and geographies, anchored in transparency, honesty, and professionalism, is essential and an area where AECT can thrive in leadership and scholarship. The theories, designs, and technologies studied and promoted by AECT should be inclusive, if we are to live up to our definition of Educational technology as “the ethical study and application of theory, research, and practices to advance knowledge, improve learning and performance, and empower learners through strategic design, management, implementation, and evaluation of learning experiences and environments using appropriate processes and resources.”

I am currently on the faculty at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where I also serve as Co-Director of the Learning Sciences for Innovators Program. I chose this profession because I have always been curious about using tools to support learning across various contexts and geographies. I remain fascinated by communities where students use twigs to perform calculations, sand to learn the alphabet, to those who struggle with slow internet, as well as those who are drowning in the latest technologies in various learning spaces.

I have served in various leadership positions in AECT since my first year as a PhD student. Some of my service involvements have included the following:

• Co-planning two AECT conferences
• Contributing to the internationalisation of the association by facilitating partnership agreements with eLearning Africa and e/Merge Africa
• President of the Culture, Learning, and Technology division and of the Graduate Student Assembly.
• Co-editor of the Culture and Regional Section of the AECT compendium and co-editing special issues in TechTrends and The Journal of Applied Instructional Design.
• Being selected as an AECT intern

AECT has given me countless opportunities to grow as a scholar and a leader. I welcome the opportunity to now lead the organization, while honouring the work of those who came before me, and advancing a vision of AECT as a global, inclusive, and innovative force in shaping the future of learning and technology.

Dr. Andrew Walker (Andy) is a faculty member and department head of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. He has a bachelor’s degree in English, but he is a self-taught statistical nerd who gets excited about objectively awesome stuff like Bayesian network meta-analysis and multilevel modeling. 

Andy cares about helping learners engage with experiences that will prepare them for their careers. In his research, he uses approaches that allow research to happen in the real world, rather than in clinical settings. For AECT he has twice served as an early career mentor, and as an AECT Intern mentor. He has served on the Leadership committee’s mid-career mentoring group. For the learner engagement division, he has served as a board member at-large and was recently elected to serve as the AECT board representative. 

Candidate Statement

As a faculty member and researcher, I’m passionate about helping learners engage with experiences that prepare them for meaningful careers. My research emphasizes real-world contexts over clinical settings, often exploring problem-based pedagogies. I’m especially energized by rigorous methodologies that support this work—Bayesian network meta-analysis and multilevel modeling are just a couple of the tools I find objectively awesome.

In my role as department head, I strive to be intentional and strategic. Higher education—and professional organizations like AECT—are increasingly complex ecosystems, with shifting dynamics that require thoughtful navigation. I’ve taken opportunities to serve centrally at USU, including chairing the Department Head Executive Council, which helps me understand how our academic unit can thrive. I embrace a growth mindset, and thanks to the collaborative efforts of my colleagues, our department has grown from 9 to 14 faculty members, with enrollments more than doubling over the past five years.

Design thinking influences many aspects of my life. One of my favorite ways to decompress from mid-level management is through yard projects. I aim—sometimes successfully—to design with both the humans and dogs in my life in mind. Not all ideas land with every stakeholder, and in that way, we’re a lot like AECT: a diverse group engaging in many different ways. At times needing to make small or larger changes in order to keep thriving.

Vision

One of my backyard designs features gravel between pavers to allow for drainage from a roofline. These pavers—designed to make space for each other—serve as a central metaphor for my vision:

1. Make space for each other, wherever we are.
   We work in different contexts, use varied methodologies, and hold diverse roles—graduate students, instructional designers, faculty, and leaders both within and outside the tenure track. We must honor, support, and disseminate work that reflects this rich diversity.
2. Broaden our definition of academia.
   AECT’s strength lies in its future leaders, many of whom are already here. Doctoral students hold elected positions, contribute enthusiastically, and often become interns. As faculty positions remain limited, these scholars transition into roles such as chief online learning officers, instructional design directors, and student success leaders. They operate at the intersection of research and practice, and we should support them throughout their careers.
3. Be in the business of course quality.
   AECT and its divisions have excelled at finding ways for us to connect, collaborate, and work beyond the convention. Our partnership with Springer and the new online-only Spring convention are great examples. Quality Matters has started to price itself out of a job with academic institutions. AECT members are often the ones developing alternative course quality rubrics. AECT could create a free rubric and monetize key aspects of the work. Building on our in-progress leadership certifications we could engage in evaluator certification. AECT could publish evolving practitioner guides tied to rubric facets. AECT could centrally house and sell institution access to evaluation data for research purposes. Most importantly, when the next crisis hits that drives people and learners to their homes, our colleagues will instinctively turn to AECT for solutions.

I’ve served twice as an AECT Early Career Mentor and recently as an Intern Mentor. I’ve contributed to the Leadership Committee’s Mid-Career Mentoring Group and served as a Board Member At-Large for the Learner Engagement Division. I’m honored to now represent that division on the AECT Board. I’m deeply grateful for this nomination and look forward to continuing to serve in any capacity.

Candidate Statement

AECT is my forever home, academically, professionally, and personally. I have been a member of AECT since 1994 when I was a doctoral student at Penn State. I recall learning how to do my first scholarly presentation back then; becoming an AECT intern in 1995 and receiving The ECT Foundation Cochran Internship Award; presenting my dissertation at the Pennsylvania Chapter of AECT (PAECT) in 1996; receiving The Louise Benton Wagner Award and the ECT Foundation Mentor Endowment Professional Development Grant in 2000, the Crystal Award in 2015 with my Mason colleagues and students, the Outstanding Research Reviewer Award in 2017,and the Research and Theory Division’s Featured Research Award in 2022 with my doctoral student. I also served as AECT board member (2002-2004); President of the Division of Training and Performance (2000-2001); and Conference Planner (2000).

More recently, I served on AECT’s Nominating Committee (2021); as proposal reviewer for the D&D Division (2023); and on the editorial board of TechTrends (2013-2023) and ETR&D (2017-present). In fact, I served as proposal reviewer and conference session chair throughout my 30+ year tenure at AECT.

All to say that I have a long-standing legacy at AECT that has shaped me as a scholar, researcher, and leader, and now that I am Professor Emerita of Education, I would like to give back to the AECT community. I am forever grateful for the learning experiences and service opportunities that AECT provided me as these were instrumental in shaping my growth and success as a scholar, researcher, and Professor of Learning Design and Technology (LDT). I feel a huge sense of belonging to the AECT community and I would like to be able to provide a similar experience to young budding scholars and researchers and enable them to make their own strides in the field of Educational Technology (EdTech) and carve their own professional pathways (as I successfully did). I have mentored and coached many graduate students throughout my career and helped them make their debut as scholars at AECT.

By becoming a board member at large, I hope to provide new opportunities for students from across the globe, to explore, invent, and innovate in the LDT space which is now hugely impacted by AI. I would like to provide opportunities for budding researchers to collaborate with the EdTech industry to ensure that educators and instructional designers are developing and using educational technologies wisely, ethically, efficiently, and effectively. The field of Instructional Technology (Instructional Design & Technology, or LDT) is a niche field that is always evolving and we need new researchers, educators, and learning technology entrepreneurs who are willing to use evidence-based strategies and pedagogical knowledge (learning sciences) to redefine the future of this field in the age of AI. My vision as AECT board member at-large and as a leader in the LDT field is to be able to engage the AECT community in pursuing this goal so as to remain an exemplary association and leading organization. Thank you

Rob Moore, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida and director of the Investigating Digital Ecologies to Advance Transformative Education (IDEATE) Research Lab within the Institute for Advanced Learning Technologies (IALT). He also serves as an AI Faculty Fellow with UF’s AI² Center and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Computing in Higher Education.

His research examines how processes and structures within digital ecologies shape learner experiences, focusing on digital microcredentials and massive open online courses (MOOCs) as transformative pathways for education and careers. His work seeks to understand how these factors influence learner intentions and support learners in achieving their desired outcomes in digital learning environments.

Rob has been an active member of AECT since 2014 and recently completed the three-year presidential cycle for the Division of Distance Learning (DDL).

Jennifer (Jenny) Bauman is a freelance instructional designer with over 15 years of experience as a learning and development leader across multiple business sectors, including automotive, finance, and technical. She has successfully crafted immersive, inclusive, and AI-powered learning experiences that drive measurable performance outcomes. Jenny’s expertise lies in applying learning theory, integrating emerging technologies, and managing end-to-end course production in corporate environments. She is viewed as a trusted advisor by the senior stakeholders and SMEs she works with, mentoring teams to transform learning through innovation and outcomes-focused design. Jenny is passionate about shaping the future of learning through responsible AI, DEI-driven strategies, and human-centered design.

Jenny joined AECT in 2008 and has since been an active Division of Organizational Training and Performance (OTP) member. She has held various leadership roles in OTP, including Student Representative, Secretary, VP of Communications, Division President-Elect/President/Past President, Conference Planner, and Division Representative to the AECT Board. In addition to this work, Jenny is a member of the Membership Committee and Online Conference Lead for the Center of Excellence for Event Planning. She has assisted with moving the 2020 Convention to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic and assisted with volunteer coordination for the 2021 and 2022 Conventions. For Jenny’s service, she has been recognized with an AECT Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2021, the Division of Organizational Training and Performance Nancy B. Hastings Distinguished Service Award in 2021, and an AECT Presidential Special Service Award in 2022.

Jenny has chosen to continue her service with AECT by running for the role of Treasurer. She has built her professional network through AECT as her career progressed, and wants to see AECT succeed through financial stability and growth. Jenny’s interest in accounting, mind for numbers, and familiarity with AECT’s financial structure from her time as a Board member make her an ideal candidate for this role.