UH Online 5-Week Cohorts
Meet the faculty, instructional designers, and learning technologists from across the UH system who are participating or participated in the UH Online 5-Week Professional Development Program. Below, you will find the profiles of instructional designers and learning technologists who helped support and facilitate. You can use the dropdown menu to view each year’s cohort (e.g. 2021 Cohort, 202 Cohort, 2019 Cohort).
Faculty
- 2021 Cohort
- 2020 Cohort
- 2019 Cohort

Michael Bauer
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ICS 100: Introduction to Computer Programming
2020 PD Takeaways: “I have well designed online courses, but have been using a document with a suggested pathway through the course material. This PD has given me a technique to present the same organization through the Laulima Lessons page. The benefit to the student is that they don’t have to go back and forth between Resources, Assignments, Forums and Tests & Quizzes. It’s nicely laid out for them in the course.”

Sara Bolduc
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PLAN 310: Introduction to Planning
2020 PD Takeaways: “What I have enjoyed most about this PD is the focus on students’ experiences. We rarely get the opportunity to see what others are doing, and getting a glimpse of what other instructors are doing to make their students’ experiences as interesting, valuable, and enjoyable as possible has been inspiring!”

Kisha Borja-Quichocho-Calvo
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
POLS 304: Indigenous Politics
2020 PD Takeaways: “Some useful takeaways from this PD include challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone and be open to learning new things with technology and online teaching; learning how to better engage with Laulima; and learning how to use various online tools such as Padlet and Flipgrid.”
“This was definitely one of the best PDs I’ve participated in. Thank you to all of the IDs who helped us throughout this process. I am surprised at how much I learned and could immediately apply in a short time.”

Eunice Brekke
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
SOC 231: Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency
2020 PD Takeaways: “There are many ways to accomplish a learning objective! It feels overwhelming to see so many options and to see how many different approaches others use but I think for me – there’s no right or wrong. It really does take real thought but the IDs are so patient!”

Terianne Brown
Campus: Hawaiʻi Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BUSN 150: Intro to Business Computing
2020 PD Takeaways: “The most useful takeaway from this PD would have to be utilizing the course map. I have already used the course map template for my summer classes and for two of my 8-week courses in the Fall.”
“The ID’s were a great resource for getting the help that I needed. Future cohort participants should know that it’s okay if their Laulima course isn’t perfect and that developing your course is an ongoing process of tweaking and adjusting to the needs of your students.”

Ruben Campos
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ES 392: Change in the Pacific
2020 PD Takeaways: “These five weeks have not only reminded me of my original goal but given me confidence that I can teach online, I can do it well, and I have a skill that pivoting institutions absolutely need, I just need to keep pulling doors open. Thanks!”

Donald Carreira Ching
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ENG 200: English Composition II
2020 PD Takeaways: “Overall, I appreciated how this experience challenged the way I taught my online courses in the past and fostered my appreciation for tools that I had never used before. The template, although similar to the way I have organized my lessons in the past, allowed for a cleaner layout.”
“In addition, having had little to no experience with tools such as Padlet and Flipster, the PD’s activities got me to think about how I might use these things within the online environment.”

Cara Chang
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ENG 209: Business Writing
2020 PD Takeaways: “Learning how to use the Lessons tool in Laulima and different tools/technology to better engage students was a very important takeaway from this PD. Learning how to close caption my videos was also very helpful, but it also made me feel overwhelmed since I have so many videos to close caption now.”
“Lastly, I appreciated all the work and planning that went into organizing both the synchronous and asynchronous sessions. I feel like I got the best of both worlds. Though Iʻm not completely done with my course yet, I appreciate that our assignments required us to work on our course.”

Lily Grace
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BUS 166: Employment Professional Preparation
2020 PD Takeaways: “I truly enjoyed this course. I learned so many things that made my course so much more interesting and engaging. I’m more of a visual person and one of my takeaways is utilizing the course map, the second, the course design sheet, the third was the chunking and sequencing, and lastly all of the technological support. All of these helped me to visualize my class in parts and then start to make a more sensible connection from one section to the next and also made it more engaging for my students.”

Roderick Labrador
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ES 480: Oceanic Ethnic Studies
2020 PD Takeaways: “This PD was an eye-opening experience. Being the student was an important aspect of my experience, making me better empathize with students. I’ve prided myself on being a student-centered instructor but the insistence on course design from the learner’s perspective was a welcomed reminder and challenge.”
“This PD has forced me to rethink my teaching approach (how to effectively deliver my teaching philosophy in an online setting) particularly how to better engage students in an online, asynchronous course.”

Malia Lau Kong
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HIST 151: World History
2020 PD Takeaways: “This PD was exactly what I needed to make my online course into something that is comparable to how I teach F2F. Learning how to utilize the Laulima Lessons tool is a total game changer for me and has allowed me to put everything students need in one location while also allowing me to feel confident that I have incorporated RSI techniques into the course.”
“Incorporating Flipgrid into my course has also helped me to make me feel like my course has living interaction rather than being the static course I used to teach that basically had students reading and writing.”

Tina Lee
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 201: Introduction to Financial Accounting
2020 PD Takeaways: “The greatest takeaway from this 5-week PD was all the cool things you can do in Laulima. I know nothing about web design but this course gave me a sense of how to visually organize things to make it easier for the viewer to navigate and follow.”

Kerri Lum
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BUS 120: Principles of Business
2020 PD Takeaways: “I learned so much during these 5 weeks and actually the past few months since we started taking the online classes. I really appreciated learning about more types of technologies that can be used and am excited about trying them in all of my classes.”

Alyssa MacDonald
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ZOOL 101: Principles of Zoology
2020 PD Takeaways: “I feel like my course has progressed nicely and these daunting tasks are finally looking like a quality course! The best takeaways from this experience are: 1. Start early! There were some weeks I procrastinated and wish I had kept up with my initial schedule to complete the assignments. 2. Don’t get overwhelmed – it can seem like a lot of work, but if you break it into manageable chunks you will be surprised how quickly you progress. 3. Have fun with it! Make the course interesting and fun for you and the students.”

Foley Pfalzgraf
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
GEOG426
2020 PD Takeaways: “Through this course I gained exposure to many online teaching tools–such as Padlet, Sutori, Quizlet, and so many more. Further, this course helped me to think critically about how to integrate these tools into my online course. I also learned about accessibility and think this is an important area for me to continue learning and improving in.”

Guido Pigliasco
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ANTH 350: Pacific Island Cultures
2020 PD Takeaways: “Learning in just a few weeks the potential of a well crafted intense online 5-week course with embedded links to Flipgrid and Padlet was a great discovery and an ongoing process of personalizing our courses edu-creating new possibilities.”
“COVID-19 was certainly a game changer in education, the good news is that people like Laura, Alice and everyone at UH Online Teaching Resources are rising to the occasion. Mahalo nui loa.”

Steven Stegeman
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PHIL 111: Intro to Inductive Logic
2020 PD Takeaways: “This PD is a boot camp for online teaching. WAY MORE than 10 to 15 hours a week! You will ABSOLUTELY have a greater grasp of online-class organization by its end, though.”
“One of the most challenging aspects of developing my class was figuring out how to get the material we need to cover to fit neatly into the weekly-lesson format. I did not have five clear-cut chunks. I solved this by breaking the content down into modules within the weeks.”

Susan Waldman
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ENG 209: E-WI-Bus Writing
2020 PD Takeaways: “I have been teaching online for a few years now, but I have never made the connections between activities and outcomes so clear for my students. I am used to doing that in the f2f class just spontaneously and unconsciously.”
“Doing this course design process forced me to make connections explicit, which I am sure will really help my students understand and engage with the writing process.”

Sarah Wiebe
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
POLS 387: Politics of the Ocean
2020 PD Takeaways: “I appreciated this opportunity to learn from fellow colleagues and the facilitation team was exceptional! This was the most valuable professional development training I’ve experienced.”
“Overall, I think the pacing was very well-balanced over the five-weeks. I learned so much from the previous faculty experiences in particular. I am so impressed by the various templates and platforms and how well the instructors incorporate a range of technologies, i.e. Flipgrid, Padlet etc., which I hope to incorporate into my classes.”

Kawēlau Wright
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
GEOG365
2020 PD Takeaways: “Fantastic opportunity that has helped me to make my online teaching conform to accessibility requirements and easy to understand for my students.”

Lu'ukia Archer
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HWST 107
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Ashley Biddle
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PSY 100
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Merissa Bunton
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PSY 100
2019 PD Takeaways: “Overall, I’ve learned a TON and more than anything, have a new appreciation for our students and all the challenges they face.”

Caterina Desiato
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
WS 424
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Cynthia Foreman
Campus: UH Maui College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ECON 131
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Jiajia Garcia
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
MATH 100
2019 PD Takeaways: “Careful planning is the key ingredient to a successful online course. A lot of decisions to be made in order to compress a 16-week course into a 5-week course. The backward design helped me to focus on the core of the course.”

Anika Gearhart
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PSY 100
2019 PD Takeaways: “I think I learned a bit more about Laulima as a platform, especially about embedding content directly into the site. I also really like some of the design elements incorporated into the template…”
“Being conscientious of accessibility issues required me to completely re-evaluate the way I think about my class.”

Deacon Hanson
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 201
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Francie Julien-Chinn
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
POLS 387: Politics of the Ocean
2020 PD Takeaways: “I appreciated this opportunity to learn from fellow colleagues and the facilitation team was exceptional! This was the most valuable professional development training I’ve experienced.”
“Overall, I think the pacing was very well-balanced over the five-weeks. I learned so much from the previous faculty experiences in particular. I am so impressed by the various templates and platforms and how well the instructors incorporate a range of technologies, i.e. Flipgrid, Padlet etc., which I hope to incorporate into my classes.”

Jordan Lewton
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
IS 103
2019 PD Takeaways: “I don’t know what my course would be if not for being able to participate in the summer PD 19. From the Laulima course site template to the wonderful tools (within Laulima and external) to the guidance of the IDs to QM standards; everything shaped my course.”

Poo Lum Jong
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
SW 200
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Tracy Ku'ulei Kanahele
Campus: Hawai’i Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HAW 101
2019 PD Takeaways: “Participating in this summer PD has motivated me to make my Laulima site as engaging and user-friendly as possible, for my accelerated course as well as my other online courses. I have learned so much in this short time and am excited to implement all Iʻve learned in the fall!”

Ryan Koo
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HIST 152
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Ashley Maynard
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PSY 449
2019 PD Takeaways: ““

Teena Michael
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BOT 130
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Mellissa Moody
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BUS 101
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Kelli Nakamura
Campus: Kapi’olani Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HIST 152
2019 PD Takeaways: “Thanks for this opportunity! Mahalo nui loa!”

Penn Pantumsinchai
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
SOC 459
2019 PD Takeaways: ““

Ron Pine
Campus: Honolulu Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PHIL 111
2019 PD Takeaways: “Great course. Some micromanaging of pedagogy, but overall very useful.”

Puali'ili'imaikalani Rossi
Campus: Kauai Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 202
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Jeff Stearns
Campus: Honolulu Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ENG 100S
2019 Feedback: “…the 5-Week Professional Development provided the understanding of how to see the course from the students’ perspectives.”

Christy Takamure
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
SP 151
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Lisa Vallin
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
WS BIOL 350
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Janet Wang-Lee
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BIOL 100
2020 PD Takeaways: “”

Evelyn Wong
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 202
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Vera Zambonelli
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
WS 375
2019 PD Takeaways: “”

Ann Abeshima
Campus: Honolulu Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ECED 131

Lynn Akeo
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 255

Debasis Bhattacharya
Campus: UH Maui College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ICS 320

Darci Francis
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
MATH 115

Jiwnath Ghimire
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
PLAN 414

Katharina Heyer
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
POLS/SUST 380

Jeff Ho
Campus: Windward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
SP 151

Priscilla Lopez
Campus: UH Maui College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ICS 169

Mark Alapaki Luke
Campus: Honolulu Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HWST 107

Sarah Medoff
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ECON 409

Mark Ombrello
Campus: Kaua’i Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
HIST 151

Duane Seabolt
Campus: Kapiʻolani Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
BLAW 200

Derek Snyder
Campus: UH Maui College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ENG 316

Maya Ward
Campus: UH Mānoa
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ECON 442

Kelly Watanabe
Campus: UH Maui College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ACC 300

William Wright
Campus: Leeward Community College
UH Online 5-Week Course Developed:
ICS 101
Instructional Designers and Learning Technologists
For contact information, view the UH Instructional Designers Directory.
- All Campus
- UH Mānoa
- Kapiʻolani CC
- UH Online Innovation Center
- Leeward Community College
- Windward Community College

Laura Armer
Campus: UH Mānoa
Laura is the Director of CSS Online Programs for the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, where she supports Dean Konan’s initiatives in digital learning. She coordinates the development of new fully online degrees and fully online certificate programs for the college, and provides professional development opportunities and instructional design support for faculty to create high quality online courses for students.

Hui-Ya (Laura) Chuang
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Hui-Ya (Laura) is a Faculty Development Specialist with interests in course design, faculty professional development, and Multimedia learning. She is also a Google certified educator (Level 1 and II).

Vanessa Cole
Campus: Windward Community College
Vanessa Cole is a STEM Curriculum Developer at Windward Community College. She previously taught ICS courses and has used Laulima for her classes for over a decade. She now enjoys teaching faculty how to use this flexible LMS and has created nearly 50 short videos on its use. She is now retired, but is volunteering her time to help faculty.

Brent Hirata
Campus: Leeward Community College
Brent is an Educational Technologist and Distance Education Coordinator for Leeward Community College in the Educational Media Center. He guides campus faculty in sound course design and collaborates with colleagues throughout the UHCC system on educational technology for engaging learning.

Dorothy So Hirata
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Dorothy is the Instructional Design Manager for the University of Hawaiʻi system in the Information Technology Services Academic Technologies division. She leads the instructional design team and works cross functionally with diverse faculty and staff to support quality online learning initiatives across the three 4-year universities and seven community colleges.

Rachael Inake
Campus: Leeward Community College
Rachael Inake is an Educational Technologist at the Educational Media Center at Leeward Community College. She supports and partners with faculty to use technology to enhance teaching and learning.

Laureen Kodani
Campus: UH Maui College
Laureen is the Educational, Communications and Technology Developer at UH Maui College. She believes in supporting student success and the achievement of learning outcomes by helping faculty achieve success! She enjoys assisting faculty with designing and developing courses with the best possible, student-centered learning environments (face-to-face, hybrid, distance, online) while staying current with the latest learning technology tools. She also enjoys collaborating and learning with colleagues at other UH campuses.

Jeffrey Mexia
Campus: Kauai Community College
Jeff is an English teacher and the professional development coordinator at Kauaʻi Community College. He provides training and instructional design support for his campus.

Hong Ngo
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Hong was a former instructional designer for the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) System. Her research interests include instructional design, online learning ecologies, technology-enhanced learning, educational leadership, and domestic violence.

Matt Parcon
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Matt Parcon is an instructional designer supporting various system-wide academic and collaborative technologies and reviewing courses for the UH Online 5-Week program. He also conducts Laulima training and works with faculty and staff when they need assistance with multimedia.

Elizabeth Ratliff
Campus: Windward Community College

Jamie Sickel
Campus: Kapiʻolani Community College
Jamie is an Instructional Designer at Kapi‘olani CC with a background in education, visual communications, and instructional design. She is also a Generation XIII Wo Learning Champion. Jamie has a passion for building (online) community and fostering safe, brave spaces for colleagues to share their questions, strategies, struggles and triumphs in their journey as lifelong learners.

Alice Swift
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Alice Swift is a Multimedia Instructional Designer, whose focus includes multimedia development and the use of educational technology to support online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses. Her favorite challenge is to find online solutions that help answer the most common issue “I do [insert in-class activity] in my face-to-face course, but I don’t know how I could possibly do the equivalent in my online course?”

Helen Torigoe
Campus: Kapiʻolani Community College
Helen is an Instructional Designer at Kapiʻolani Community College in the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology (CELTT). Through faculty development programs, workshops, and one-on-one guided support, Helen loves to engage and empower faculty to be the best teacher they can be online, hybrid, or in-person. She has been collaborating with faculty at Kapiʻolani CC and other UH campuses to create engaging online and hybrid learning environments that help the diverse students of Hawai‘i succeed.

Robin Worley
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Robin Worley is a part-time instructional designer, primarily reviewing courses for the UH Online 5-Week program. Her interests include creating learning communities online to promote engagement and authentic assessments.

Marisa Yamada
UH System: UH Online Innovation Center (UHOIC)
Marisa Yamada is an instructional designer with interests in course/web design, development, facilitation, review, trending and innovative technology and mobile learning.

Youxin Zhang
Campus: Kapiʻolani Community College
Youxin Zhang is an instructional designer at Kapiʻolani Community College. She provides campus-wide instructional design consultation, media production, professional development training, and technical support to faculty and staff.