About Dr. Cooper

Welcome to Freshmancomp.com, my teaching and learning website for Glendale Community College. This is my 1st year at GCC, but my 12th in the Maricopa Community College district. I taught 11 years at South Mountain CC previously, and this is my 20th year teaching overall.

I started teaching in 1990 right out of college. I taught 2 years at Deer Valley HS, 2 years at Westwood HS, and 4 years at Central Arizona College before going to South. Before starting my teaching career, I studied mass communications at Phoenix College. I later changed my major and my location and earned a:

  • B.A. in English Literature from California State University, Bakersfield in 1989, and a
  • M.Ed. in English Secondary Education from Northern Arizona University in 1993.

In 2004-2005 I took a sabbatical from Maricopa to finish up my doctoral dissertation on the effects of hybrid courses on retention and student satisfaction, and I finished my:

  • Ed.D in Instructional Technology & Distance Education at Nova Southeastern University in 2006.

I am a big advocate for the use of technology in the classroom, and I’ve been doing a lot of research on podcasting/vodcasting and many other Web 2.0 technologies that have popped up on the web in recent years. Currently I teach all my courses using technology. The following slideshow explains how I use a social network to help build community in my classes.

Building Community with Ning

The following is a list of the current courses I teach at South Mountain Community College.

I share my experiences with teaching with technology on my various blogs and wiki:

You can find me online in various social networks:

Do you need to talk to me? Call me. Put your information in the box below. Your phone will ring first, and then you’ll be connected to my phone. It’s cool. Try it.