About Me
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| David Lewis 2014 |
I have lived all over the U.S. but spent my early years in the South. I would have to call Birmingham, Alabama, my hometown since my family is there. I grew up there, but I completed my bachelor's in Mobile. I received a BS in Biology at the University of South Alabama, but that was many years ago. I have moved on to bigger and better things!
As a college student, I dreamed of writing textbooks. So, following my graduation, I was lucky and was able to move to San Diego, California. There, I entered SDSU's Educational Technology program. My timing was perfect! The internet "happened" ...well, it became something of a real phenomenon. As a graduate student, I found textbooks were just the beginning since multimedia and distance learning were new and evolving fields. While there, I was very lucky to have worked with several good people, Bernie Dodge, Alison Rossett, Fred Saba, Donn Ritchie, and many others. They got me started.
After I finished my Master's degree, I left San Diego and moved to Tampa, where I got my Ph.D. in Instructional Technology, at the University of South Florida. As a doctoral student, I was very lucky to have worked with Lou Carey and Ann Barron.
While I was at USF, I worked full-time as a Network Administrator and then as an Instructional Designer, all the while plodding along and writing my dissertation. I truly enjoyed the dissertation process. Mine was interesting since I concentrated on Sweller's cognitive load theory and its applications to the design of web-based multimedia.
After graduating with my Ph.D., I was invited to Washington, D.C., to serve at the National Science Foundation (NSF), first as their Assistant Director of Instructional Technology and then later as Instructional Technology Officer. After that, I spent a few years in Miami as an Instructional Technology and Distance Education Professor at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). As a faculty person, I learned that I wanted to help faculty do what they do. So, after much thought, I decided to change career paths and return to faculty development. It was an easy decision since I was an Instructional Designer for many years. It had become who I really was.
Now, I think I'm ready to stop moving around and stay in my favorite state - Florida! I retired from the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine in 2022. I worked there for UM for many years, specifically in the Department of Medical Education. Now, I am spending my time doing what I love...writing a textbook in the Florida sunshine...
Scratch that... I got a little bored in retirement, so I have gone back to school. Now, I am currently working on an online Master's degree. In a year or two, I should have my Master's in Genomics from St Joseph's University in Philadephia.