Services (DARS), who has taught in public and private schools on two continents as well as training in corporate America.
“My schoolteacher mother often says, ‘He’s been a teacher since he was a little kid,’ teaching other kids how to make origami cups or throw a Frisbee. I was also a ‘little scientist,’ tearing apart broken toys to extract motors and gears, leading eventually to an interest in what computers can help us accomplish. ELearning was a natural fusion of teaching and tech — I couldn’t be happier in this career!” states Stollings.
Stollings has undergraduate degrees in biology and Spanish as well as a K-12 teaching certification. He received Master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in Latin American Studies and Community and Regional Planning.
At the Center for Learning Management (CLM) at DARS, Stollings is on the Professional Development team (PDT) that supports the work of the agency with ILT trainers all over the state, as well as three eLearning staff members, each with particular areas of expertise. The PDT supports live and pre-recorded webinars, maintains the CLM web pages and the house-built accessible LMS, and builds and maintains a host of online courses using Lectora, SoftChalk, Dreamweaver, Adobe Presenter, AdobeConnect, and SurveyMonkey.
DARS was a 2014 TxDLA award recipient for Outstanding Commitment to Excellence and Innovation in Distance Learning. In 2015 DARS created a series of training videos and other events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ADA.
A TxDLA member for just one year, Stollings explains that he joined TxDLA through attending the conference last year, after first participating in the Central Texas Regional Group meetings and events.
Stollings acknowledges, “TxDLA people are that wonderful combination of techies who understand education and training. The breadth of knowledge and experience is astounding, combined with that unmistakable ‘Texas Friendly’ vibe that’s a little harder to come by elsewhere.”
Stollings will be presenting at the 2016 TxDLA Conference on “Be ‘Captain Awesome’ with Superhero Portable Freeware” on Wednesday, March 30, at 1:00 PM. Come meeting him in person!