I will be porting content over from my old website at http://www.educ.uvic.ca/virvine in the coming weeks to this site (and changing themes, adding pages/widgets, etc. Please come back soon to see the new site!
I decided to name my blog Exordium. Its meaning derives from Latin “to begin,” or as Random House would suggest: 1. the beginning of anything. 2. the introductory part of an oration, treatise, etc.
So… welcome to my space! I am also on various other social tools (Twitter, Skype, LinkedIn, etc.) and I will happily receive a phone call or email from you. Those with full video conferencing facilities are even welcome to contact me via one of our own HD units. See my contact page for deets.
Dr. Valerie Irvine Assistant Professor of Educational Technology Co-Director, Technology Integration & Evaluation (TIE) Research Lab Faculty of Education, University of Victoria British Columbia, CANADA
ACADEMIC PROFILE
I have been involved in the field of educational applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) for over fourteen years. My main areas of research focus are distributed e-learning (specifically multi-access learning environments which is a concept I came up with in 2009 and have achieved in 2012). I am interested in its implementation and evaluation in education and health sectors. I am also extremely interested in social media in education and technology adoption theory. You can find me on twitter at @_valeriei.
After completing my undergraduate work in Education at the University of British Columbia, I went to the University of Alberta where I was trained in statistics (univariate, multivariate, test theory) by the experts in the Centre for Research in Applied Measurement and Evaluation and in structural equation modeling (LISREL) by Les Hayduk in Sociology. I am very much a mixed-methods researcher, however. I have held over $100,000 in funding during my graduate work, including awards and scholarships at local, provincial, and national levels, including the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta. In my tenure-track career, I have already been associated with over 1.5 million dollars in funding including SSHRC Standard Research funding.
I am now founder and co-director of a $800,000 Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) funded “Technology Integration and Evaluation (TIE) Research Lab.” To learn more about the TIE lab, please visit http://tie.uvic.ca. This is an amazing opportunity for research into educational technology and I encourage faculty from across disciplines, industry, K-12 education professionals, community groups, and graduate students alike to contact me about research, teaching, or service collaborations. I am always happy to give a tour of the facilities.
Universiy of Alberta
Ph.D in Educational Psychology (2006)
Specialization in Instructional Technology
Supervisor: Dr. T. Craig Montgomerie
(only student out of 300 to fast-track through Master’s based on 9.0 GPA, research proposal, and letters of support from faculty)
University of Alberta
University Teaching Program (2003)
University of British Columbia
Bachelor of Education (1997)
University of British Columbia
Bachelor of Arts: English Literature (1995)
PERSONAL PROFILE
I was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent most of my life in West Vancouver where I enjoyed the outdoors – often skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb (especially the Sudan Couloir, now known as Couloir Extreme), hiking the local mountains, or finding various ways to be out on the water, be it jetskiing or motorboating – yes, not a sailor yet…). After living in Edmonton during my graduate studies, I returned to the coast and now live in South Oak Bay (Victoria) with my daughters, Lauren (7) and Rachel (5), and my golden retriever, Sydney. We often roadtrip over to Vancouver to visit my brother (Uncle Peter) in North Vancouver (Edgemont Village). I enjoy socializing and am often hosting playdates, big gatherings, and parties for both kids and adults. I recently bought a 14′ runabout (20 HP 4-seater) and love getting out on the water! If you enjoy the ocean as much as I do, don’t hesitate to ask me to take you out on it! (always looking for an excuse!).