Debra Beck, adjunct lecturer at the University of Wyoming Master of Public Administration Program, received the 2011 Master Distance Educator Award. The annual award recognizes deserving educators from each community college and UW.
UW instructional designer/instructor, Christi Boggs, on behalf of Larry Jansen and UW Outreach School, nominated Beck.
"I have had the pleasure to work with her for the last four (years) as she has honed her skills and become a truly master online teacher," says Boggs.
Beck has taught for Outreach Credit Programs at UW for 20 years. Beck began teaching via correspondence study in sociology and women's studies while she was a grad student in the sociology program in 1991. She began teaching nonprofit courses for the Master of Public Administration in 2001. Classes started as a combination of videoconference/online format and later went all online.
Boggs describes Beck as a "technology guru." Beck incorporates audio podcasts, social bookmarking, wikis and YouTube in her courses. She has more than 1,800 followers on her Twitter page and a successful blog about nonprofits.
Beck received a B.A. in journalism/public relations in 1981, an M.A. in sociology (1993), an M.A. in communication (1998) and an Ed.D in adult and postsecondary education (2009), all from UW. She is a member of the Wyoming eLearn Guild and the UW Online Education Guild and is the technology steward for the International Study Group on governance relationships and dynamics.
Actively involved in the "eVolution: technology in learning environments" conference at UW, Beck at last year's conference presented "Wikis in the Online Classroom: One UW Case."
Boggs says, "Her experience and dedication to teaching is apparent both to her students and to her colleagues."
