Learning
Peaks Team and Qualifications
 Patti
Shank, President
Patti
Shank is a nationally recognized instructional technologist,
instructional designer/developer, trainer/mentor/instructor,
and writer/author with diverse experience working with corporate
training, higher education, government, NGOs, and professional
development. Her
full resume is available as a PDF document.
Particular
expertise in:
- Determining real instructional and performance support needs
- Using design and technology approaches that maximize resources
- Choosing optimal tools and technologies for teaching and learning
- Selecting high value
instructional strategies and media
- Optimizing Web
interface design and usability
- Mentoring
content experts, instructional designers, trainers, instructors,
and faculty (We especially like to help folks gain skills and
tools so they no longer need us!)
-
Experience: Patti
has many years of experience assisting others with planning,
design, development, and evaluation of classroom, technology-based,
and blended
learning initiatives. She previously spent
many years as head of training for a health care organization
and taught instructional design and technology at George Washington University and the University
of CO, Denver. She has achieved the prestigious CPT designation,
is listed in Who's
Who In Instructional Technology, and has won awards
for research and design.
Education: BA Economics,
MA Ed Instructional Technology, PhD Instructional
Design
When
not working: Not working? Huh? Family, reading
(Stephen King's Dark Towers series is her fav),
movies, 24, hiking, yoga, Internet shopping...
 Doug Wagner , Instructional Designer
Experience: Doug comes to computer-based training from an academic and journalistic background, having taught and written extensively in the areas of media history, media industries, and the political economy of information/communication technology. Doug discovered electronic learning during the mid-1990s, at the height of the Internet boom years, since which time he has worked as an instructional designer, course author, content writer, editor, and project manager for a wide variety of clients.
Education: BA Economics, Ph.D. Mass Communication
- When not working: Doug enjoys all manner of mountain sports, reading, viewing/discussing films, arguing, and (moving to the wish list) traveling and working on creative writing projects that blend fiction and non-fiction.
 Jennifer Bircher , Instructional Designer
Experience: Jennifer launched into the CBT world during its infancy, by developing courses for the U.S. Army Corps of engineers. Her career has evolved over the past 16 years into designing, writing, and programming a wide variety of CBT, WBT and e-Learning courses, both retail and custom. WinTutor 95 —one of the early retail CD-ROM courses —sold over 100,000 copies. Other projects include WBT and e-Learning courseware for Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, Whirlpool Corp., and Freightliner, LLC.
Education: BA Communications, Master of Computer Information Systems
- When not working: Kids, providing foster care for homeless kittens, long walks, trying to read mind-expanding non-fiction but resorting to the fluffy stuff…
 Dave Ferguson, Instructional Designer
Experience: Dave's first distance-learning products were paper self-instruction programs for railroad ticket agents. He directed computer-based training for Amtrak's conversion to a new reservation system. He's energetically collaborated with clients like Microsoft, Toshiba, Kraft Foods, Chrysler, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Agency for International Development to produce effective, results-based training. During 18 years with GE he also developed and delivered train-the-trainer and professional development programs for both coworkers and clients.
A longtime member of the International Society for Performance Improvement, Dave is a Certified Performance Technologist.
Education: BA English, Sociology, MS, Curriculum and Instruction
- When not working: Foreign films, the Folger Shakespeare theater, Celtic music, and travel (most recently to his native Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
 John
Patzman,
Graphic Designer
Experience: John's background includes studio photography and
fine art, but he has built a career as a graphic
designer - both working within an agency environment
and running his own design firm for over ten years.
John has also
worked extensively within corporate/research-driven
environments and has built a specialty in designed
information management systems - synthesizing information
and imagery into powerful communication tools.
Education: BFA, Photography; Rhode Island School of Design
- When
not working: John is an avid painter and printmaker
and passionately
pursues these crafts in tandem with his design
work. In between inspiration,
John can be found studying minimalist interior
design and architecture and
riding his bike up steep hills.
 Bill
Webster, Graphic Designer
Experience: Bill's
design experience has spanned more than a decade, including
running the graphic design department for Bell Sports, a major
bicycle
helmet and bicycle accessory manufacturer in California, and
serving as creative director for Colorado-based Invision Marketing.
Throughout his career, Bill has created and managed countless
advertising, promotional, and web-presence campaigns for clients
both large and small.
Education: BFA, Graphic Design; Rhode Island School of Design
- When
not working: Bill is an accomplished furniture designer and
woodworker.
When he isn't designing or building something, Bill is an
obsessive film
watcher (both "good" and "bad"), enjoys
Formula One racing, and collects
Mexican folk art.
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