Bret Olsen
Area of responsibility: Program Development
Home office: Middlebury, Vermont
By way of: Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Phone: (734) 661-1008
Cell: (802) 989-0109
E-mail: bret.olsen@nitle.org
Bret develops, oversees, and teaches a range of learning opportunities for participants that demonstrate how to achieve pedagogical objectives by effectively deploying a variety of technologies. As part of the NITLE Program Team, he develops and implements professional training for faculty and staff in the areas of digital media production, web development, utilization of information resources such as ARTstor and JSTOR, and other computer skills. He also consults with directors of instructional technology and/or other appropriate campus administrators regarding technology training needs, pedagogically appropriate uses of digital media technology, lab design, and the deployment of hardware and software in support of instruction.
Bret attended the University of Buffalo, earning a B.A. in Media Studies. At Buffalo, he realized he could take his hobbies of photography and video work and bring them into the computer; thereafter, he was a changed man. At the Center for Educational Technology, Bret worked as a technical instruction and support specialist. There, and now at NITLE, he has continued doing what he likes to do, which is teach.
Bret lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Christine, a registrar at an art museum. When he is not working, he enjoys being outside and active. Hiking, skiing, snowboarding, tennis, skateboarding and-—his latest obsession, rock climbing-—are some of the things that keep him going.