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Penny Pearson
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Bio
A graduate of CSU Sacramento with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Communications, Penny Pearson has always been an EdTech enthusiast with certifications and digital badges in Microsoft Word, MOOC Facilitation, Leading Edge, and Creative Commons Licensing to prove it.
Penny started at the Winterstein Adult Education Center in the San Juan Unified School District in 1995 where she taught vocational classes, created staff development workshops on technology topics, and implemented "Tech Talk Daze," an early version of office hours where teachers could drop in and learn new technology skills. She was a participant and then mentor in OTAN's Technology Integration Mentor Academy or TIMAC, a previous one-year academy for adult educators from around the state. In 2007, Penny moved her EdTech passion over to OTAN as a Project Specialist and later as the Distance Learning Coordinator before retiring in 2022.
A champion of accessibility and licensing of materials, Penny brought new learning through online curriculum, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Open Educational Resources (OER), Accessibility, and Creative Commons to agencies and students. She played a prominent role in OTAN's commitment to accessibility and was at the forefront of their move to include captioning and transcription in our recorded webinars and other video resources. This meant equitable access to all OTAN recordings no matter the disability. She led workshops and brought Moodle to adult education years before the pandemic forced the field to look at alternate learning formats. She helped to bring Canvas in as the new LMS to sunset Moodle.
Penny has always been supportive, open to new ideas, innovative, creative, has a good sense of humor, and commitment to adult education. She promoted teacher and administrative growth in the world of adult education in so many ways. Penny’s leadership qualities and welcoming open attitude towards adult education technology solutions, gave a core strength to her team and anyone she was working closely with. As an OTAN leader, mentor, technology-integration specialist, and adult education advocate, Penny put her teaching energy to good use to inform and train faculty, administrators, and support staff throughout California. From the sharing of a cutting-edge mail merge system back in the day, to copyright laws, accessibility guidelines, and later heading up mentoring academies and managing countless technology projects near and far, she knows what’s happening with adult education and is enthusiastic about its past, present, and future. She could train equally well in person or online, engage her audience, and be the topic expert, all with tremendous compassion and kindness.
Penny’s main contributions to CCAE at both the state and section levels has been through her participation in and presentations at CCAE conferences, which most of the field has been in at some point or another.
Penny Pearson is a woman of many talents and craftiness and the very example of a lifelong learner – pottery designer, candy maker, wedding planner, etc. in her personal life and just as many examples in work life. We always expect to see Penny in the future each time with a delicious treat or creation in hand from time spent working on a long list of fun activities and passions. Penny is truly one of a kind and her talents are endless for adult education and her life!
A graduate of CSU Sacramento with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Communications, Penny Pearson has always been an EdTech enthusiast with certifications and digital badges in Microsoft Word, MOOC Facilitation, Leading Edge, and Creative Commons Licensing to prove it.
Penny started at the Winterstein Adult Education Center in the San Juan Unified School District in 1995 where she taught vocational classes, created staff development workshops on technology topics, and implemented "Tech Talk Daze," an early version of office hours where teachers could drop in and learn new technology skills. She was a participant and then mentor in OTAN's Technology Integration Mentor Academy or TIMAC, a previous one-year academy for adult educators from around the state. In 2007, Penny moved her EdTech passion over to OTAN as a Project Specialist and later as the Distance Learning Coordinator before retiring in 2022.
A champion of accessibility and licensing of materials, Penny brought new learning through online curriculum, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Open Educational Resources (OER), Accessibility, and Creative Commons to agencies and students. She played a prominent role in OTAN's commitment to accessibility and was at the forefront of their move to include captioning and transcription in our recorded webinars and other video resources. This meant equitable access to all OTAN recordings no matter the disability. She led workshops and brought Moodle to adult education years before the pandemic forced the field to look at alternate learning formats. She helped to bring Canvas in as the new LMS to sunset Moodle.
Penny has always been supportive, open to new ideas, innovative, creative, has a good sense of humor, and commitment to adult education. She promoted teacher and administrative growth in the world of adult education in so many ways. Penny’s leadership qualities and welcoming open attitude towards adult education technology solutions, gave a core strength to her team and anyone she was working closely with. As an OTAN leader, mentor, technology-integration specialist, and adult education advocate, Penny put her teaching energy to good use to inform and train faculty, administrators, and support staff throughout California. From the sharing of a cutting-edge mail merge system back in the day, to copyright laws, accessibility guidelines, and later heading up mentoring academies and managing countless technology projects near and far, she knows what’s happening with adult education and is enthusiastic about its past, present, and future. She could train equally well in person or online, engage her audience, and be the topic expert, all with tremendous compassion and kindness.
Penny’s main contributions to CCAE at both the state and section levels has been through her participation in and presentations at CCAE conferences, which most of the field has been in at some point or another.
Penny Pearson is a woman of many talents and craftiness and the very example of a lifelong learner – pottery designer, candy maker, wedding planner, etc. in her personal life and just as many examples in work life. We always expect to see Penny in the future each time with a delicious treat or creation in hand from time spent working on a long list of fun activities and passions. Penny is truly one of a kind and her talents are endless for adult education and her life!
