A Short Introduction:

Stephen is a technology trainer with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. His passion is teaching and focusing on student needs. He is completing his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology; his dissertation research area is the effects of podcasting in higher education. His research interests are podcasting and learning, the integration of multimedia and technology, and open-source alternatives for education.

He presents regularly at technology conferences on the topics of social software, podcasting, and web development and his latest publication is in Learning and Leading Technology, February 2006, “Gimp: Open Source Photo Editing”

In addition to technology Stephen is a professional photographer who enjoys shooting weddings and portraits. He is also an accomplished baker, specializing in breads and enjoys spending time making pottery.

Stephen is married to Carol L Chastain who is a great teacher for Blount County School systems where she teachers fourth grade. Additionally she extends help to teachers helping them help children experience the joys of reading. He has two daughters Rebecca and Joanna who are both accomplished educators.