Software Skills

Dave Ghidiu Instructional Designer • Educational Technologist • Graphic Designer • Teacher • eBook Specialist

daveghidiu@gmail.com www.FringeEdTech.com 585-233-7624

This Might Be Wrong Cofounder

This company manufactures greeting cards and bumper stickers with a sophisticated, generational sense of

humor.

RunnerButter, LLC Owner and Chief Peanut Master

RunnerButter creates peanut butter from scratch and has a host of nontraditional flavors.

www.RunnerButter.com

Ryan Educational Technology Cofounder

I cofounded this company to provide educational technology consultation to local school districts. In

addition to generating classroom solutions, we tailored training for faculty.

State University of New York College at Geneseo Major: Mathematics

Minor: Computer Science Secondary Education Certification

It was at Geneseo where I became a critical thinker,

constantly analyzing situations and decisions. Whereas Camp Cory was equally as formative and equipped me

with the capacity to learn new things, Geneseo endowed me with the reasoning skills to constantly look for ways

to improve situations.

Academics aside, Geneseo provided me with wonderful opportunities that had an added layer of complexity. I started as an employee in the Corner Pocket billiard

lounge, but would ultimate become a manager of the Robert W. MacVittie College Union. In Residence Life, I

started as a Hall Council member. I was elected as a the Hall Council President, and ultimately would land as an

RA for two years.

From a leadership perspective, I was one of the founding members of the Geneseo Organization for Leadership

Development (a program that thrives today). I supported a “little” through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and still stay in

contact with my little today.

During all four years, I was a member of Geneseo First Response. I started as a driver, but obtained my EMT

certification and served as a Crew Chief and Medic for the last three years.

I also spent two years learning about food service. As a

dishwasher and general kitchen help, I learned the value of hard work and general kitchen protocol (which would serve me well later in life when I started RunnerButter).

I am grateful for my time at Geneseo. I had amazing

instructors that helped shape my teaching career and tapped my intellectual appetite. And those experiences

complimented the lifelong learning attitude that my extracurricular activities granted me.

Nazareth College Major: Educational Technology

The Masters in Educational Technology program at

Nazareth was a good opportunity for me to network with other educators that shared the same passion in

educational technology as I did.

The most important lesson I took away from Nazareth was in leveraging existing resources. I recall a particular

assignment where we had to use iMovie to create a three or four minute movie. The catch was that we could

only use version 1.0, which was outdated and grotesquely underwhelming at the time.

Challenging myself to create a product that had the

production quality of more sophisticated software (such as Final Cut), I carefully choreographed special effects at

the camera level, along with redundant trimming, audio layers, and various video layers to create a product that

had a much higher production value.

This project - while seemingly trite and insignificant - was incongruously potent. In my opinion, it was the most

powerful lesson from my whole experience at Nazareth. I use it as a constant reminder of the potential in existing

resources; it is more important to be creative and leverage technology.

YMCA Camp Cory YMCA of Greater Rochester In 1994, I washed dishes at a residential summer camp in the Finger Lakes. I would remain affiliated with the camp for twenty years, serving as a Counselor, Leadership Director, Program Director, Sailing Master, and eventually as the full-time, year-round Assistant Director.

Creativity Adaptability

Ingenuity Responsibility

Geneseo Emergency Squad SUNY Geneseo For all four years of college, I worked on the ambulance. Serving as a driver, EMT and Crew Chief, I gained my Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification

Exposure to high-stress situations Stringent guidelines and protocols

Insight into EMS agency collaboration

Resident Assistant SUNY Geneseo During my Junior and Senior years at SUNY Geneseo, I served as a Resident Assistant. The main role of an RA is to establish a community for the residents (through programs, activities, and establishing rapport).

Expecting the unexpected

Conflict resolution

Trail Groomer YMCA of the Rockies As the head groomer for 100+ km of Nordic skiing trails, I was responsible for the continued maintenance of the facility. I also helped the program staff by giving seasonal mountain bike tours, snowshoe tours, lifeguarding and working in the Nordic Center.

Mechanics Problem solving

Jury rigging equipment Grit

Home Closing Assistant Washington Mutual Working in Orange County, I designed and maintained a database that managed and tracked over five hundred million dollars a month in home loans.

Inward facing customer service

Microsoft Excel

Teacher, Trainer, and Coach HFL High School As a teacher, I designed and implemented curriculum that met state and national standards for Geometry | Math, Science & Technology | Computer Science (CSTA) | and Advanced Placement Computer Science (College Board). In the eight years I taught Geometry, I had a 100% passing rate. For the AP Computer Science exams, I had a 95% passing rate for AP CSCI A, and 100% for AP CSCI AB. During my first year of teaching, I was an early adopter of both SMARTBoards and Blackboard. After quickly establishing myself as a creative and savvy instructor for both, I was asked to join the Technology Mentor program. It was in this capacity that I partnered with faculty in the district that wanted to integrate technology (both hardware and software) into their classes. After using the SMARTBoard for a year, I experimented with a tablet PC as a presentation tool. Confident that at the high school level the tablet PC is a more appropriate tool, I led the district in a migration to tablet PCs for the math department (including product testing, training materials, training sessions, and support). During my tenure at Honeoye Falls-Lima, I also served on the Teaching, Learning, and Technology committee. I spent four years as a varsity assistant coach for Cross Country Running, Nordic Skiing, and Track & Field. In those four years, we had three state championship XC teams, six state champion skiing teams, and 2 national champions for Track. During the four years, I provided coaching support, logistical support, and innovation to the program. I designed custom software for timing, as well as video analysis models. As the head hurdles coach, I had athletes competing at the state and national level for all four years (including two state champions and 2 national champions). During the last four years at Honeoye Falls-Lima, I also served as the Yearbook advisor and I started the FIRST Robotics Club (and advised that as well).

Time management Dealing with an array of personalities

Working on a team Deadlines

Subscribing to standards

Instructional Designer Monroe Community College In the three years I have been at MCC, I have served primarily as an Instructional Designer. In the Office of Online Learning, I develop and deliver training on the mechanics and pedagogy of distance learning (initially using ANGEL and now Blackboard). Although we have several hundred faculty trained, the majority of faculty do not teach fully online courses; they leverage the power of the LMS to supplement their face to face courses. In addition to providing technical support, I partner with faculty as they design their courses. I also serve on the eBook committee, the 5K committee, and the Academies committee. I volunteer at school events, and serve as an academic grievance counselor. But I also create custom training on classroom technology. For the past five semesters, I have taught developmental mathematics courses as an adjunct, and some classes in the School of Education.

Project management Multitasking

Interdepartmental collaboration Institutional

I am a forward thinking educational technologist.

With more than twelve years of experience in

the classroom (as a high school teacher, a

college instructor, consultant and trainer), I use

my adaptability and creativity to optimize my

workload.

My biggest strength is innovation. I think big. I

do not settle for the status quo. No system is

perfect; there is always ways to improve any

system or product. Creativity is my strong suit. It

helps me frame my work through the lens of

constant improvement. Much of my work is

unique and effective in creating and sustaining

meaningful educational experiences.

In an educational realm, I succeed because I

have a thorough understanding of both

technology and teaching. As a successful

classroom teacher, I implemented technology in

my daily lessons. As an educational

technologist, I have insight into meaningful uses

of technology, as well as appropriate ways to

integrate and train technology.

FringeEdTech Chief Blogger

Fringe Educational Technology is a blog designed to provide a classroom contextualization to technology not

developed for education. www.FringeEdTech.com

Head Hurdles Coach Despite never competing in any Track and Field event, I was offered the position of Varsity Head Hurdles Coach based on my success as Assistant Coach during the Cross Country Running season. By reading technical books, talking to successful coaches and athletes, studying hours of footage, and improving existing routines, I coached my athletes to the state or national level every year, earning two state and two national titles.

The Jenna Hanson Story With no previous video production background, I was tapped to create a mini-documentary chronicling the unbelievable story of an athlete who broke her neck. With hard work, dedication, and visualization, she went on to win a gold medal at the Empire State Games. By watching many documentaries, researching techniques, and talking to professionals, I singlehandedly created a video that won a national competition.

Iron Man Foam Build Although I read comic books growing up, I am not involved in the world of “cosplay”. However, I was intrigued by the thought of creating an Iron Man costume, so I planned the process for an entire year. I researched tutorials, blogs, and videos. I scouted for materials to use. And I spent one hundred and fifty hours building. Not only did I learn a lot about “foam builds”, but I won every costume contest that I entered.

Demonstration of Adaptability

Current Major Projects

eBook Initiative At Monroe Community College, we are investigating ways to streamline the creation, adoption, and distribution of homegrown eBook solutions. Although we have a robust mechanism for creating publications, we are working to develop a way to train faculty and provide access to creation tools. The more daunting task is to work with faculty and students to develop both a case for adopting eBooks in the classroom, as well as developing a way to house and seamlessly distribute content for the end user.

Open Book for Education I recently authored a book, Leveraging the Collaborative Power of Online Resources Within the Framework of an LMS, that provides the pedagogical rationale and mechanical instructions to integrate third party resources into the scope of most learning management systems. The impetus for this book was to marry the collaborative power of tools such as Google Drive, Twiddla, Evernote and other stable resources to organizational power of learning management systems. In addition to adding a dimension of collaboration and improved features, the prescribed methods help students retain course information past their enrollment in a course. The faculty also has a more streamlined approach to modifying content. The book was developed using exclusively free resources, and is published under the Creative Commons [Attribution, ShareAlike, Noncommercial] license.

Popular Presentations

Interactive whiteboards are closer and closer to becoming a staple in classrooms everywhere. The SMARTBoard interactive whiteboard, specifically, is so much more than a tool to project lessons. This workshop is

intended to help participants learn how to squeeze every ounce of technology out of the board. From basic usage to the small tips and tricks that yield massive payout, this is a must for all SMARTBoard users.

SMARTBoard

Apple’s release of iBook Author two years ago went virtually unnoticed in the educational realm. However, this might be the most effectual software Apple has ever designed. It’s intuitive, simple, and creates breathtaking products. By the end of the workshop,

participants will have created a media-rich publication that boasts several of the impactful tools Apple has freely made available.

iBook Author

eBook Publishing Online education has proliferated over the past five years, and

shows no signs of slowing down. This workshop is designed to introduce users to popular learning management systems (LMS). Participants will learn basic navigation, best practices for course design and the fundamental mechanics for interactive elements (drop boxes, assessments, and discussion forums).

Microsoft Publisher Although Microsoft Publisher has been around for over a decade, many educators dismiss it as unimportant and irrelevant. However, harnessing the power of Publisher will lead to a more refined educational experience.

This hands-on workshop exposes the participants to four basic concepts in desktop publishing that will equip them to create professional documents (layers, grouping, aligning, and guides). Essential elements of design, as well as printing guidelines will be covered.