Long Bio
Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock is a noted leader in higher education with expertise in online teaching, course design, and professional development and advocate for access to higher education. Michelle’s work has helped college professors, instructional designers, and institutional leaders across the nation and beyond understand how to craft relevant, humanized online learning experiences that support the diverse needs of college students. Michelle's earliest memory of technology is from the 1980s when her dad pointed to his huge computer screen and said, "See that? That's a message from my co-worker." The simple notion that a computer could connect two people across distance formed her earliest thoughts about technology. Over the decades, Michelle's work has consistently examined the intersection of relationships, technology, and learning, emphasizing the vital role that emotions play in one's ability to achieve their full potential. In addition to holding positions in teaching and faculty development, she is an author, award-winning teacher, and has led two grants totaling $2 million that advanced a model of humanized online teaching across California public higher education. Currently, Michelle is leading statewide professional development efforts in support of AI literacy in California's community colleges.
Condensed Bio
Michelle's work has helped educators across the world understand how to craft relationship-rich online learning experiences that support the diverse needs of college students. Over the decades, her work as a teacher and educational developer has consistently examined the intersection of relationships, technology, and learning. She is a in humanized online teaching, an author, researcher, award-winning teacher, and has a passion for creating new structures within complex systems. In her current role with the California Community Colleges, she is implementing regional professional development networks and untethered events to engage the system's 60,000 faculty with AI literacy. In her free time, you will find her spending time with her family, doing pilates, or adoring her two miniature wiener dogs, Zeus and Dwight.