in memoriam.

I have been fortunate to benefit from many strong and lasting mentorships, which have invariably brought a great deal of richness to my learning/working experience. It was therefore with great sadness that I received news today that a loved and respected teacher and mentor of mine, Dr. Sandra “Sandy” Turner, passed away this week after a long struggle with cancer. I just wanted to take a moment to recognize her as a tireless advocate and educator who worked to bring instructional/technology/experiential learning knowledge to many, including a group of Ghanaian educators as a part of a Fulbright she worked on in 2003-04. Her interests spanned from gender issues in IT to the role of mentorship in technology education for teachers.

She was a curious, supportive, challenging, and rigorous advisor who encouraged me to take the research I conducted as a librarian/graduate student at Ohio University to its full potential (which eventually became the report I published earlier this year). She was also deeply hilarious, thoughtful, and, to put it mildly, a knockout. My heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and fellow former students. She will be sorely missed.