Graduate Student Instructor Program Staff
Mark Decker | 512.232.1774 | markldecker@austin.utexas.edu
Prior to becoming a member of the GSI Program, Mark headed the Center for Instructional Technologies' Courseware Group which provides training, support and consulting for Web course development tools--WebCT, and then Blackboard beginning in fall 2000. During this time period, Mark also presented at regional and national instructional technology conferences.
Before heading the Courseware Group, worked on a variety of projects at the CIT, including being the content and quality assurance manager for UTCD '99 and the quality assurance manager for UTCD '98. He has provided research and administrative support to the Faculty Computer Committee, the Multimedia Instruction Committee, the Telecommunications and Networking Committee, and the Long-Range Planning for Information Technology Steering Committee. Mark came to ACITS (now ITS) and then to CIT from the Center for Social Work Research.
Mark received his B.A. from Texas Tech while majoring in English and psychology, and has a master's degree in social work with an emphasis in administration and planning from the UT School of Social Work. Mark has also served in the US Navy as a submarine radioman, and in the US Army as a signals intelligence analyst and an electronic warfare specialist.
Rachel E. Barrera | 512.232.1771 | rachel@austin.utexas.edu
Rachel E. Barrera is a doctoral student specializing in instructional technology in the Curriculum and Instruction department. Her research interests include access to higher education, building learning communities, and the design of innovative learning environments. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from UT-Brownsville and an M.S. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington. Rachel's work experience has included working with pre-service minority teachers, and running a camp for middle school students with Project TEAM at IU-Bloomington. She spent several years documenting the practices of folk-healers along the U.S.-Mexico border with her digital camera. Rachel enjoys creative writing, traveling, cooking, and painting in her spare time.
Josh Iorio | 512.232.1772 | joshiorio@austin.utexas.edu
Josh has a BA in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA in English with a focus on Applied Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language from East Carolina University. Currently, Josh is enrolled in the PhD Program in Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin with a focus on the sociolinguistics of online communities. His current research interests include defining what constitutes online identity and how online identity is both a constructed and perceived notion.
Josh has had a variety of different teaching experiences over the past 5 years. He's taught rock climbing and tennis to teens at a summer camp in Maine. He's taught English literature and grammar to 9th graders at a high school in Greenville, NC. He's taught English to adult speakers of English as a second language at a Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC. He's taught freshman level composition courses at East Carolina University.
Josh is excited about the opportunity bring his love of language together with his love of teaching in his work with the GSI program.
The ASPECTS Staff Is Here For You
If you have any questions or comments about the ASPECTS program, please feel free to e-mail us at aspects@utlists.utexas.edu.