As the Associate Provost for Digital Learning at Middlebury College, Amy Collier provides strategic vision and leadership to position Middlebury as a leading innovator in creating and sustaining a global learning community through the effective use of digital pedagogies and technologies. Working closely with the provost, other associate provosts, and the deans/VPAAs who oversee Middlebury programs, Amy identifies and pursues opportunities for Middlebury to create online and hybrid/blended courses and programs that meet the highest standards of academic integrity and pedagogical innovation; enable Middlebury to leverage its intellectual and pedagogical resources, within and across locations of the institution; connect diverse Middlebury programs with each other; and enrich the experience of current and potential Middlebury learners, from undergraduates and graduate students earning Middlebury degrees to a global community of alumni and professionals.
Prior to this, Amy Collier was the senior director for inspiration and outreach in the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning (VPOL) at Stanford University. She oversaw online and blended course design and teaching initiatives and conducts research to inform effective practices across the University and was a strong advocate and resource within the VPOL for evidence-based instructional improvement, strategy, and planning. Before Stanford, Amy was the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Texas Wesleyan University where her team implemented nationally-recognized faculty development programs for online learning and learning space redesign. Through her graduate studies in social sciences and more than 10 years working in faculty development, Amy has been an advocate for learners and teachers across a variety of educational institutions, from community-based service organizations to large public broad-access universities.
Amy Collier received her doctorate in Family Studies from Texas Woman’s University in 2008. She is a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), The Sloan Consortium, Educause Learning Initiative, and the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network. Amy frequently presents at universities and conferences, sharing her passion for topics like open learning, online learning, and faculty development.
Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education.
He completed his English language and literature PhD at the University of Michigan in 1997, with a dissertation on doppelgangers in Romantic-era fiction and poetry.
Then Bryan taught literature, writing, multimedia, and information technology studies at Centenary College of Louisiana. There he also pioneered multi-campus interdisciplinary classes, while organizing an information literacy initiative.
From 2002 to 2014 Bryan worked with the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), a non-profit working to help small colleges and universities best integrate digital technologies. With NITLE he held several roles, including co-director of a regional education and technology center, director of emerging technologies, and senior fellow. Over those years Bryan helped develop and support the nonprofit, grew peer networks, consulted, and conducted a sustained research agenda.
In 2013 Bryan launched a business, Bryan Alexander Consulting, LLC. Through BAC he consults throughout higher education in the United States and abroad. Bryan also speaks widely and publishes frequently, with articles appearing in venues including The Atlantic Monthly, Inside Higher Ed. He has been interviewed by and featured in MSNBC, US News and World Report, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Pew Research, Campus Technology, and the Connected Learning Alliance.
His two most recent books are Gearing Up For Learning Beyond K-12 and The New Digital Storytelling.
