Cheryl Chapman
Biographical Background Information

Cheryl Chapman has been involved in education throughout most of her professional career. During the past thirty years, her specialization has gradually evolved from teaching preschool and children or adults with special needs, to instructing adults, to reaching those students and others via distance learning, digital media and technology. Prior to starting her consultancy, Cheryl was the distance learning and satellite conference coordinator at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania, where she was also an adjunct professor teaching special education, multimedia, and graphics courses.

Currently, Cheryl is a Professor and CTE Department Chair at Coastline College in Southern California, where she serves on the Academic Senate, Curriculum, Professional Development and Technology/Distance Education Committees. She serves on various regional digital media and career pathways advisory boards, as well as the Coast Community College District LMS Committee. Recently, she was selected as an online course reviewer for the California statewide Online Education Initiative. As a training specialist, Cheryl focuses on instructional design for courses delivered online, in the classroom or using blended (flipped) modalities. She also develops curriculum and teaches graduate education courses online for Wilkes University, in Wilkes Barre, PA. Previously, Cheryl produced instructional modules and professional development modules for teachers, (included STEM and Common Core), worked with “cyber schools” to develop curriculum modules and trained PK-16 teachers to facilitate the online courses.

Cheryl began working with the TEACH3 Initiative, a program of the Coast College District in conjunction with the Teacher/Reading Development Partnership (TRDP), and developed online courses for the teacher and special education programs. She teaches education courses online, to pre-service and in-service teachers, in the areas of technology and methodology skills development and special education. She was also recruited by California State University, Los Angeles as their Multimedia/Web Certificate Program Coordinator, and developed/taught six courses online in the program. Blending her teacher education experience with curriculum and online course development, Cheryl incorporates the iNACOL, Quality Matters and ISTE (formally NETS) standards and rubrics into her teacher education courses, as well as into course design, and the continuous improvement review process.

Cheryl's ease and experience in adapting to the newest technologies both for education and corporate situations, puts her at the forefront not only in the educational arena but also as a dynamic and versatile participant in the field of digital media, evolving social services, Open APIs and Cloud technology. Cheryl designs and fosters digital solutions, including webinars for clients in business and education and is a consultant in the area of online media development with companies such as INTELECOM, in Southern California. Cheryl is frequently invited to present at instructional, educational and technology conferences in the United States and for international agencies.

While at Misericordia University, she assisted in the coordination of a Dwight D. Eisenhower Grant for Math and Science for K-12 students in Dallas, PA. She participated in related teacher in-service training, conducted workshops on multimedia integration, software applications, and telecommunications. Cheryl was also involved with training and implementation of videoconferencing delivery systems, distance education classrooms and course design. This work was associated with the Northern Tier Rural Distance Learning Consortium, a collaborative high school/university project.

Her distance learning tasks involved the creation, organization and implementation of distance learning projects for K-14 & Higher Education, and coordination/hosting of satellite conferences. She is familiar with equipment standards, operation, and maintenance, and investigates current information concerning distance education, course management and related technologies. Consortia involved included; The Northern Tier Rural Distance Learning Consortium, CAPE (Center for Agile Education in Pennsylvania), and PDEC (Pennsylvania Distance Education Consortium).

As a member of various distance education consortia, she served on or chaired a number of committees such as: Academic Affairs and Operations, Classroom Design and Implementation, Purchasing and Training. She also participated in two projects in coordination with a national organization, the Instructional Telecommunications Council, as co-author of the Digital Video Compression Standards Handbook and Quality Enhancing Practices in Distance Education, Vol 2.

Prior to her assignment at Misericordia University, Cheryl taught in the Special Education program (K-12 level), at the Luzerne Intermediate Unit and in the Wyoming Area School District, both in Pennsylvania. Earlier employment included the responsibilities of PC Instructor and office manager for a large jewelry company. She also participated in the "Train the Trainer" instructional program for the company's east coast stores.

Cheryl was involved with various task forces of the California Virtual Campus, an initiative created to coordinate the online and distance education offerings of accredited colleges and universities in California. Her role with the CVC included: Instructional/Web Designer for curriculum and online course development, as well as training and Mentor Coordinator. Cheryl was also a member of the @ONE Trainer’s Network, which is a statewide project dedicated to training faculty and sharing resources. Following her work with the CVC, Cheryl was commissioned as project manager to develop, design and implement the DecOnline.org Project (funded by CCCCO), an online program to train distance education coordinators for the State of California Community Colleges system.

Cheryl served on the Distance Education Coordinator's Network Task Force, developing informational and training modules for distance education coordinators in California. Until recently, she was a member of the Distance Education and Technology Advisory Committee, (DETAC), which makes recommendations to the CCC Chancellor's Office regarding distance education guidelines and practices. In 1999, Cheryl participated in the Distance Education Accessibility Workgroup, which in conjunction with the High Tech Center Training Unit, developed the "Distance Education: Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities".  Cheryl directed a select team of educators in developing modules to train distance education coordinators in the state of California.

Cheryl is a member of ITC (Instructional Telecommunications Council), GDLC (Global Distance Learning Channel), ASCD (Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development), NAPP Photoshop Professionals and AACC (American Association of Community Colleges).

Cheryl is the owner of a consultancy business that handles artist management, art/web design and public relations, primarily in the entertainment and educational fields. In her business, Cheryl develops K-14, Higher Ed and graduate level curriculum, creates digital and printed promotional materials, creates and edits video for clients, is the liaison between artists, agencies and managers, and handles any digital duplication needed. Recently, she received the L.A. Music Awards cover/jacket design award for art direction/execution.

Cheryl A. Chapman, a published poet, holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Education with teaching certificates in the areas of Early Childhood, Elementary Education and Special Education. She received a Masters of Science degree in Educational Technology from Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania, a program initiated and developed by Dr. Michael Speziale.