Ray Schroeder was blogging before it was cool. And as one of the top technology officials at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Schroeder hasn’t slowed down, writing more than 25,000 entries on 49 blogs since 2001.
After teaching classes on emerging technologies since the late 1970s, Schroeder founded the university’s Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning at Illinois in 1997.
Blogging consumes at least two hours of Schroeder’s typical work day, and he says keeping up with the latest educational technology trends is a key part of his job.
"I enjoy doing it, and what keeps me going is hearing from people who read the blogs and tell me how important it is to them to get those updates," said Schroeder, 59, a visiting scholar in online learning at the University of Southern Maine, where officials are developing a blended learning program. "I [blog] in order to share important information with the broader community … and to keep our faculty members informed."