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One virtual relationship that became up close and personal is the one between Pam and her husband Kevin. After losing more than 100 pounds, Pam, a widow with children off in college, joined Yahoo Personals.
“I met a wonderful man on-line who luckily lived in San Antonio. We were married July 2005 in Vegas,” Dooley said. “Our wedding was broadcast on the Internet for all of our friends and family to enjoy.”
Pam often assists her husband, who is a Cajun chef, as they cater corporate parties, backyard celebrations and an occasional wedding.
“My husband cooks and I run the crawfish races, serve food, clean-up etc.,” she said.
To view a race, CLICK
HERE
When Pam does have free time, she likes to read murder mysteries while soaking in a relaxing tub.
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....anywhere … anytime
learning with Pam Dooley!
Pam Dooley knows that relationships can be developed through online connections. From a virtual shoulder for a student to meeting her husband through online personals, she can attest to the value of internet emoting.
“I recently had a student who was working hard to graduate from high school despite being a single mom with a handicapped child,” Dooley said. “We chatted a lot on-line while she worked on the last class she needed to graduate.”
Dooley still hears from her former student and feels she has made a difference without having seen her student face-to-face.
Home based at San Antonio’s Health Careers High School, Dooley serves as campus instructional technologist. She administers a web mastering class, in its eighth year, and a blended course in music appreciation.
“Two years ago I rewrote the entire web mastering course and put it in to the Moodle environment,” Dooley said. “This has given me many more options for evaluation of student work than I ever had before.”
 Adapting to technological change has contributed to Dooley’s success as she shares free tools from the Internet and trial software downloads with students. Due to the disparity of access, Dooley confronts difficulties while offering distance learning opportunities.
“The biggest challenge I have in integrating the latest technology is that the students I work with have such varied resources,” Dooley said. “Some of the students have dial-up Internet while some have high speed service and brand new laptops.”
In addition to her role assisting teachers with discussion forums and wikis, Dooley also teaches eight online technology classes for Aventa Learning.
“I like to call it pajama teaching. I get home from school every evening. Fix dinner and then settle down in bed next to my husband,” Dooley said. “We watch TV and I answer my e-mail, chat with students, grade papers and contact students who need encouragement.”
Committed to her online relationships, most of Dooley’s high school students are those who needed the virtual classroom setting because the course was not offered at their school or their schedules would not accommodate the class.
In the years ahead she sees online courses providing more variety and reaching out to the smaller schools in Texas.
“Texas is going to have to recognize the importance of allowing students to take online classes and perhaps even recognize the need for a totally on-line high school program,” Dooley said. “When that happens, I want to be part of it!”
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