Who We AreLaura Lewis is a former teacher with a degree in history from Oberlin College. In 1995 she received her M.A.T in Museum Education from the George Washington University where she developed an interest in computer aided instruction and began to see parallels between simulated computer environments and museum exhibits. Introduced to the World Wide Web by her husband, Laura saw the potential of the Web to act as a vehicle for communication between museums and schools. In 1996 she was hired by the Illinois State Museum to create an online exhibit for Illinois public schools. The result was "At Home in the Heartland Online." In 1997 Laura created the Virtual Museum Workshop with Jamie McKenzie (www.fromnowon.org). This workshop leads teachers and administrators through the process of creating a multi-layer, project-oriented, website. After completing the workshop teachers can model this process with their students. Over '97/'98 Laura used the same ideas in the workshop with teachers and students at the Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. The result was several fine student websites ranging from the French Revolution to Chaucer's The Manicple's Tales. In l999 Laura began a doctoral program in Instructional Technology and Curriculum at the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. In 2000 she directed the LearningPlaces project through the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design. LearningPlaces was both a virtual learning space and performance space for all children. Focused on improving literacy through having kids design their own websites showcasing their stories and original artwork. The Bayly Art Museum will joined forces in helping Learning Places create a modular curriculum that can be replicated by other sites. Laura is also helped to design the curriculum and web interface for the Teaching Social Justice project. This University of Virginia project created a database of over 10,000 documents and artifacts associated with the Civil Rights Movement in America. A curriculum for teaching social justice accompanied the site. Laura presented a half-day workshop at the Musee Expo conference in November, 2001 on enlisting the feedback of one's potential audience in the creation of an educational website and speaking on the collaboration behind "Creating Excellent Educational Websites." John Lewis holds a degree in History from Middlebury College. A self-taught Web developer John beta-tested the first generation Mosaic at Quantum Research Corporation. Soon John was spearheading the use of the Web fo rcompany projects and by l995 he was developing websites for clients such as The Smithsonian and the National Science Foundation. In 1996, he became the Webmaster for the Illinois State Museum project "At Home in the Heartland Online." While in Illinois John created a cyberspace office for the Illinois Math and Science Academy scientific literacy project. The website links science teachers all over the state of Illinois who are investigating local ecosystems with their students. From 1997 to 2000, John was the Director of Technology at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. He oversaw the design, installation and implementation ofa fully networked campus of over 2000 Ethernet drops, a fiber backbone, and a multi-server network room. He successfully managed introducing these computing and networking tools and skills to the community in a non-intrusive manner. Three years later, the school is a changed place, fully dependent on the network for most of its activities. John also completed a MS degree in Managing Information Systems at the University of Virginia, graduating in 2000. From 2000 to 2001, John was the Director of Technology Operations and Infrastructure at an Internet startup ReturnBuy based out of Charlottesville and Ashburn Virginia, overseeing the growing company's IT operations and infrastructure as it grew from a concept to earning millions per month. From 2002 to 2003 John was a Systems Engineer in charge of IT security and business continuity for the City of Charlottesville, VA. In 2003 he obtained his CISSP certification John is currently the Manager of IT Assurance (Security, Business Continuity and Change Management) for NTELOS, a regional telecommunications provider serving the Virginia and West Virgina markets.
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