Kathi is focusing on how to foster an ecosystem of innovative tools and services around an education highway (metaphorically) made of open education resources (OER). Currently OER is available in incompatible formats in many individual projects. Kathi’s goal is to accelerate both the production of high-quality, reusable OER and the development of innovative learning environments that build upon OER, by providing ‘sign posts’ and ‘on ramps’ to extend the highway metaphor. Ecosystems on the web require proper infrastructure so that innovators’ services can work seamlessly together. Working with as many OER innovators as possible, Kathi is focused on providing some of the infrastructure that has been missing, and then working with communities to develop a catalyst service that will unleash content and creativity.

Her interest and focus for the past seven years has been using the web and technology to create vastly expanded learning opportunities. She is broadly interested in open and reusable learning materials that improve through use, adaptation, and reuse in a continuous cycle. Her interests extend to research in how people learn and how simple, scalable technology can be used to improve learning.

Prior to accepting this fellowship, Kathi spent four years directing the technical development and managing the team at Connexions, a global education repository that is free and open to all educators and learners. Before joining Connexions, she helped run a small business focused on middleware software, taught computer engineering courses at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and conducted grant-supported research in K12 science education. She has a Master’s Degree in Computer Science.