Pedagogical Support for Instruction Using Technology: The plight of faculty support offices.

Abstract

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA Sebastian Foti, former faculty member Former UF College of Education faculty member Sebastian Foti died suddenly on Dec. 16, 2008, while visiting California with his wife, Mary. He was 59. Foti had an international reputation in communications and educational media and was a former Fulbright Fellow in Porto, Portugal. While at the college, Foti served in various capacities, first as a graduate student assistant beginning in 1989, then as an assistant professor in Instruction and Curriculum from 1993 until 2001. He also was an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Teaching and Learning for a year and ended his UF tenure in 2003-04 as a lecturer in the UF Alliance and Center for School Improvement. Foti utilized audio, video, print and electronic media to coordinate Alliance and CSI communications with their stakeholders. Foti received a Teaching Improvement Program award from the university for 1996-97. A pioneer in education technology, he was named the 2007 Top Online Educator by Surfaquariam.com, a website that provides and tracks Internet resources for students and teachers. Mark Outten, a former COE student, described Foti as an "inspirational leader," a sentiment shared by many students and colleagues, past and present. Foti worked as assistant professor of instructional technology at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, at the time of his death.