Beth Oyarzun
University of North Carolina

My name is Beth Oyarzun, and I am a Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director for the Learning, Design and Technology program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. My research revolves around effective online teaching design and delivery.  I also provide professional development for faculty in online teaching best practices and review online courses for quality assurance. Before joining UNC Charlotte, I was an instructional designer in the higher education environment for eleven years, teaching online courses in instructional technology and providing professional development for faculty in online teaching best practices.

I am an active member of the Association for Educational Communications Technology (AECT), presenting my online learning research within the Division of Distance Learning (DDL) Division and previously serving as a judge for the Design and Development competition for the past six years and currently serving as a mentor for finalist teams. I have previously served as the Board Associate for the Design and Development division. I currently serve as the Vice President of Communications for DDL. I have also been honored to receive 3rd place for the Crystal award in DDL in 2019 and the AECT Presidential Special Service award in 2022.

I look forward to continuing my involvement in the leadership of AECT and would appreciate the opportunity to serve as the president-elect for DDL. I envision my initiatives as DDL president to sustain the excellent initiatives currently in place: the quarterly newsletters, webinars, mentoring seminars, and awards. I would also like to explore/revise the roles and responsibilities of the board members and the create subcommittees to increase workload capacity of the board. This would allow for more collaboration opportunities with other divisions and more engagement with members.  This would also allow new initiatives/ideas to emerge, such as a DDL student competition or PD, celebrations/giveaways for distance learning week.  I would also like to collaborate or elevate DDL research and publications, such as a special issue with the Journal of Applied Instructional Design.  It would be an honor to continue to serve the DDL division in this capacity.