Elaine Almeida
Elaine is a Senior Training & User Support Specialist for Educational Technology Services at Tufts University.  She is responsible for training and supporting faculty, staff, and students using Canvas and various teaching/learning tools.  She is a Blue Certified Administrator (Blue by eXplorance is an application Tufts utilizes for its online course evaluations).  Elaine, together with her colleagues in Educational Technology Services, transitioned five health sciences schools to Canvas in phases over a two-year period ending in Fall 2020.  Prior to Tufts transition to Canvas, Elaine was a database administrator, user support specialist, and trainer for Tufts University health sciences schools’ homegrown LMS - Tufts University Sciences Knowledgebase (TUSK) - which she helped develop. In 2001 TUSK received the prestigious CIO Enterprise Value Award, the first academic institution to receive this award.

Elaine completed the Canvas Certified Educator program in March 2022.   She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University and her career at Tufts has spanned over 30 years.

 

Sherri Braxton

Dr. Sherri Braxton is the inaugural Senior Director for Digital Innovation at Bowdoin College. By way of partnerships across the college, she leads efforts to identify, prioritize and pursue opportunities for digital innovation impacting both curricular and co-curricular learning spaces. Her work also extends to developing partnerships and collaborative initiatives with peers at other institutions as well as establishing new consortia relationships to prepare and position Bowdoin for the academic transformation on the horizon in the K-16 education landscape. 

Dr. Braxton also leads efforts to document, prioritize and build on teaching and learning lessons from COVID-19 impacted academic terms. 

Her participation in the Canvas Certified Educator program was very timely as Bowdoin prepares to migrate to the Canvas LMS.

Prior to joining Bowdoin College, Dr. Braxton served as Senior Director of Instructional Technology at UMBC where she was responsible for leading the Division of Information Technology’s (DoIT) strategy for end-user support of instructional technologies including online, hybrid, and traditional, “face-to-face” technologies. With over 20 years of experience in traditional classroom instruction and adult education strategies grounded in instructional design models, she also possesses years of experience using learning technologies in higher education settings, including the design and facilitation of online and hybrid courses.

 Dr. Braxton holds a Doctor of Science in Computer Science from The George Washington University with a double minor in Management Science and Educational Leadership. She holds a Master of Science in Computer Science with a Mathematics minor from North Carolina State University and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a Computer Science minor from Wake Forest University. Dr. Braxton is also a graduate of both the MOR Associates Information Technology Leadership Program and the EDUCAUSE Learning Technology Leaders Institute where she also served as a faculty member and co-director.

Erin Keefe (Facilitator)

Erin is the Canvas Certified Educator for Learning Services at Instructure.

Her teaching experience includes:  7-12 English Language Arts, School District & Charter School, Brick, and Mortar & Fully Online Instructor, Professional Development Coordinator, and School Administrator

Her Canvas experience includes: Project Managed Move from Moodle to Canvas, Canvas teacher, Canvas administrator, Canvas trainer, Instructure Principal Consultant, and Canvas Certified Educator 

 

Kristina Sanchez (CCE Instructor)

Kristina is the Associate Director for Educational Technology at the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning as well as a facilitator for the Canvas Certified Educator program. Kristina’s passion for educational technology began when she was serving as a high school teacher. This passion led her to the University of Oklahoma, where she gained her M.Ed. in Instructional Psychology and Technology. In her role on the Educational Technology team at Yale, Kristina and her colleagues successfully transitioned the University from Sakai to Canvas, awarding them the prestigious Linda K. Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service from the Office of the President. As a facilitator for the Canvas Certified Educator courses, Kristina provides technical and pedagogical support in collaboration with instructors to accomplish teaching and learning objectives with appropriate and emerging technologies.
 

Amy Schack

Amy Schack currently serves as the Professional Development and Member Relations Manager for the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP).  In this role, she works directly with professional development organizers to plan and execute workshops and webinars, as well as the Board of Trustees to advance the mission and vision of the organization. She is the Canvas Administrator for NERCOMP and completed the Canvas Certified Educator program. She is also the Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee, Co-Vice-Chair of the NERCOMP Annual Conference and Chair of the Innovation Task Force. 

Prior to joining NERCOMP, Amy worked as the Director of Residential Life at several colleges and universities in New York.  Amy holds a Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Counseling from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Eastern Connecticut State University.  She also previously taught high school courses on the undergraduate level.