DL&I Welcomes New EdTech Director
Ernie Perez has been named Director of Educational Technology with Boston University’s Office of Digital Learning & Innovation. As director, Perez plays a leading role in the visioning, management, selection, and deployment of enterprise-level educational technology services. He leads and oversees several teams including educational technologists, platform administrators, and instructional designers in the educational technology organization.
Perez, who assumed the position in September, also advises university leadership and promotes the transformation of teaching and learning at the university.
“The Office of Digital Learning & Innovation is excited to welcome Ernie to the role of director of Educational Technology,” says Chris Dellarocas, Boston University’s Associate Provost for Digital Learning & Innovation and Richard C. Shipley Professor of Management at the Questrom School of Business. “Ernie brings solid experience in a large University system that has substantial digital learning activities, plus energy and enthusiasm that will help move our Educational Technologies unit to the next level.”
As director, Perez conducts need assessments, envisions, leads and participates in educational technology projects, including projects associated with emerging technologies and university strategic educational technology initiatives. He also leads significant outreach activities on the topics of teaching with technology in higher education to the BU community at large.
“I am thrilled to join the BU family. The Educational Technology team in the Office of DL&L has accomplished great things since its inception and I am ready to continue to expand its offering to include the delivery of the online MBA at scale to many new students that otherwise would not have had the chance to come to Boston to get a world-class education.”
Although Perez is new to Boston University and the Office of Digital Learning & Innovation, he quickly rolled up his leadership (and public speaking) sleeves and served as emcee of the 2019 Teaching with Technology Festival held at BU’s George Sherman Union on October 3.
“It was an honor to emcee the 4th annual Teaching with Technology Festival,” Perez says. “When asked to emcee the event, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a great way to meet and learn from the many faculty that attended and presented at the event.”
Prior to joining Boston University, Perez served as the Director of Instructional Technologies at California State University Northridge (CSUN). In this role, he provided leadership and hands-on management in the strategic adoption and use of educational technologies for teaching online, hybrid, and technology-enhanced courses. He managed projects, initiatives and assists the University community to leverage technology in their pursuit of teaching and learning.
“Having had the opportunity to lead several major initiatives at CSUN, a campus of 42,000 students, has helped my think about developing ed tech initiatives at scale, which is exactly what we will be doing with Questrom’s Online MBA delivery next Fall”
Perez also previously served as the Instructional Technology Manager for the Information Technology Assistance Center (iTAC) at Kansas State University. He oversaw all centrally funded instructional technology environments on the Kansas State campus, which included technology classrooms, studio environments, a Learning Commons, and the university computing labs. He also oversaw Video Conferencing Services and the new learning space design and consultation group.
Perez is currently investigating wearable technologies, virtual reality and augmented reality and their use in teaching and learning. DL&I’s sponsorship of the XR InLearning Global Summit, scheduled for October 28, is 100 percent in alignment with Perez’s interests and vision, he says.
“Being part of the XR InLearning Global Summit will help technologists, instructional designers, and faculty, start thinking of how Boston University will lead in the adoption of XR technologies,” Perez says. “It will continue the conversation on how to infuse these technologies into the curriculum using sound pedagogical practices. In addition, the Summit will assist us in educating attendees to help us start thinking of how we can use these technologies at scale.”
Perez holds a M.S. in Adult, Occupational and Continuing Education and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Kansas State University. More recently, he contributed to the Educause 2020 Top 10 IT Issues, specifically the Sustainable Funding, Student-centric Higher Education and Higher Education Affordability issues.
Being new to Boston, Perez quickly adjusted to the Boston University landscape, and cityscape. When asked what have you enjoyed most about your transition to BU, Perez says, his BU colleagues.
“The DL&I team has been amazingly helpful through my transition and has allowed me to hit the ground running.”
