User:Joel Backon

The account of this former contributor was not re-activated after the server upgrade of March 2022.

Joel Backon, after fourteen years of directing Choate's information technology organization with an emphasis on excellent service, Joel has spent the past two years focusing his energies on academic technology and teaching history. He discovered that his heart is really in the classroom where teachers continue to negotiate the balance between personal contact with students and collaborative technology tools. A long-time user and advocate of Blackboard, Joel is a member of the Blackboard Idea Exchange, a client advisory program, and has made a number of presentations regarding his use of Blackboard. Two years ago, Joel collaborated with Melissa Anderson, Blackboard's Senior Pedagogical Adviser, on a half-day workshop called "Learning Management in the 21st Century." Always challenging his audiences, Joel has also presented on a variety of topics at NERCOMP annual meetings and SIGS including the future of Blackboard, managing expectations, what technology skills Higher Education should expect from High School students, and the benefits of collaboration in faculty professional development. Most recently, he published two articles on the benefits of the Tablet PC in teaching and learning for an Independent School newsletter and an anthology published by Purdue University Press.