DURHAM, N.H. — The New Hampshire Department of Education (NHDOE) has selected a University of New Hampshire (UNH) distance learning expert to join the Statewide Education Technology Council.

“One aspect of the council is to look at issues related to technological literacy in the state, and there’s poignancy, because we are looking within UNH at the same issue,” said Kent Chamberlin, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNH's College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS). “We want to produce students from all disciplines who are savvy in the use of the Internet and information technology.”

Formed by NHDOE in 1997, the council advises the department’s Office of Educational Technology on implementation of the State Educational Technology Plan. The plan’s primary goal is to integrate technology into the curriculum so that it becomes inseparable from the learning process. Council members help develop policy guidelines to foster that goal, as well as pursue funding opportunities, design infrastructure, identify and disseminate information and resources, enlist private sector support and evaluate progress toward the vision of effective technology integration.

Chamberlin has a wealth of experience in education technology. A faculty fellow in the UNH Graduate School, he is currently formulating the university's vision for distance education. As a faculty fellow at CEPS, he created and directed the Far View distance learning pilot program. UNH launched the program in 1998, when Chamberlin taught New England's first live, instructor-led, Internet classroom. He continues to teach Electromagnetic Wave Theory via the Internet. He also lends his distance learning expertise to the Seacoast Professional Development Center Advisory Board, created to help area teachers perform more effectively. During former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen’s administration, Chamberlin served on the Governor’s Distance Learning Commission.

Chamberlin has been a professor at UNH since 1985. Previously, he was an assistant professor at Ohio University. He has also served as a consultant for many private, public and academic institutions, including Raytheon, the Federal Aviation Administration and Penn State Applied Research Labs. Chamberlin holds several honors, including a 2000 Fulbright Distinguished Chair, a $25,000 UNH Industrial Research Consulting Center Research Award and numerous UNH teaching awards.

For more information on the Statewide Education Technology Council, visit the NHDOE’s Office of Educational Technology Web site at: http://nheon.org/oet/index.htm

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