Rita-Marie Conrad is a digital learning strategist, online educator, award-winning author and consultant. She is currently the senior consultant focusing on digital pedagogy in the University of California-Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning. In this role she is working in supporting, enhancing and promoting the development of 21st century learning experiences. Rita-Marie also served as the instructional strategist and technologist for Duke University's Institute for Educational Excellence in the School of Nursing where she assisted in establishing instructional guidelines and helped faculty utilize the most effective instructional strategies and technologies online and in the classroom. Prior to that she spent over a decade at Florida State University as a faculty member in the College of Education and the College of Information where she assisted in the development and leadership of several online programs. She has designed and taught online courses for various universities on topics such as online collaboration, learning theories, designing online instruction, and developing eLearning strategies. Since 2000 she has interacted with thousands of educators nationally as lead faculty for the course Designing Online Instruction in the Certified Online Instructor (COI) program sponsored by the Learning Resources Network (LERN). Dr. Conrad is a frequent presenter and invited speaker at national conferences and has co-authored several books: The Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web in 1999 and 2004, Engaging the Online Learner in 2004 and 2011, Assessing Learners Online in 2008, Continuing to Engage the Online Learner in 2012, and The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips in 2010 and 2016. Engaging the Online Learner received the IAP Distance Education Book Award in 2012. Rita has a Ph.D. in instructional systems from Florida State University and a Master's degree in educational media and computers from Arizona State University.
