February 26/99

Chris Gratham
Manager, Educational Technology Resource Centre; Geography instructor

The main functions of my job include working with faculty to incorporate the
use of technology in their teaching, and acting as the College’s representative on
Ed Tech and new media bodies.

I started working at Capilano College in 1991 as a Geography instructor. Prior
to that, I acquired my B.Sc. in Atmospheric Science from UBC in 1989 and
started working as a weather forecaster for Environment Canada in Whitehorse,
Yukon Territory. Two years later I received an M.Sc., also from UBC. Part of my
master’s thesis and my job as forecaster involved the use of computers in the
analysis of weather systems. When I came to Capilano College, I started
incorporating the use of computers in my classes. In 1996, I replaced Jim
Bizzocchi on the Ed Tech committee and was elected chair at the same time.

What I see as the greatest challenge in my job within the NMC is trying to
foster best practices in the use of technology and new media at the College — and
handle the workload. As a benefit, I have found that incorporating new technology
into my courses has forced me to re-examine what and how I teach. Also, these
new technology projects have necessitated the involvement of a team. I have
found that working in a team environment, as opposed to the solitary way faculty usually work, has been an invigorating and
rewarding experience.

I would like to see the NMC evolve to fill two roles. Providing services in media production and educational technology
and providing an environment to foster research and experimentation in new media.

What gives me the greatest pleasure these days? My two-month-old son, Evan.

Alan Hovden
Online technician, Educational Technology Resource Centre

My main job functions include creating Web-enabled database applications to
deliver online learning, information management, and collaborative work
environments.

I started working at Capilano College in 1979 as a driver for Central Stores. My
years as a musician, songwriter, studio engineer, computer-generated music
composer and my lifelong pursuit of creative endeavours of many kinds has led me
to my present position in the NMC. As a child, I liked to take things apart to see
how they worked. Songwriting, especially lyric writing, taught me to have the
patience necessary to do what I now do on the job. New technology has always
attracted me and computer programming allows me a feeling of independence and
self-control.

The greatest challenge in my job is integrating the project vision into a user
interface that is at once engaging, straight forward to use, and is a reliable, well-
functioning tool. The greatest benefit of the Centre to me and the College is that my
job becomes more complex and interesting, and many employees at the College
will, I hope, find parts of their jobs easier to do.

What I hope to see the NMC evolving into within the next five years is a hub for
the management of all the College’s digital media — from online learning, to collaborative work projects. Perhaps that hub
could be part of a larger network of hubs between other schools and agencies in different cities, provinces, or even countries
that need to share information.

What gives me the greatest pleasure these days? Nothing can beat going to the ocean with my sweetheart; strumming my
guitar and trying to chase down a lyric; a fine, cold beer or, perhaps, a few fingers of single malt.

@nformer one