Meet CTL's New Team Members, Anita Parker and Mandy Penney

Anita Parker, MEd, BSc, BEd

Lead Educational Developer, Online and Hybrid Instruction and Strategy

Anita brings two decades of science teaching in in-person, online, and hybrid secondary and post-secondary classrooms to her educational development portfolio at CTL. She is also experienced in leading professional development workshops and individual coaching for instructors with a focus on maximizing student engagement with authentic activities and assessments. Since 2015, Anita has worked closely with instructor teams from across the University with their blended and online learning resources and projects. This includes helping build course frameworks on eClass, planning student-centred learning experiences, and storyboard creation for pre-recorded lecture video content.

Anita enjoys being part of a team that supports teaching and learning excellence in online, hybrid, blended, and face-to-face environments.

Mandy Penney, MA, BSc, BA(Hon)

Lead Educational Developer, Digital Pedagogies and Writing Across the Curriculum

Mandy (she/her) is a queer settler and scholar and an experienced educator originally from Newfoundland. Holding degrees in both the sciences and the humanities (BSc, BA(Hon), and MA), she is passionate about digital pedagogies, writing instruction, accessibility, and communities of practice/care. She has worked as both faculty and academic staff (i.e., parafaculty), including as a coordinator of a writing and learning centre. Mandy advocates for equitable, values-driven, and relationship-based practices in teaching and learning: practices that can be approached through digital and writing-based community-building. She is an active member of the Canadian Writing Centres Association and the International Writing Centres Association, as well as a co-editor of a special conference edition of Discourse and Writing / Rédactologie. Mandy aims to collaborate with the University of Alberta community toward (re)imagining teaching and learning possibilities at this important and challenging global moment.