Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2019: Finger Lakes – Michael Van Etten

Michael Van Etten is currently an Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Study Abroad Faculty, and eSports Coach at Finger Lakes Community College where has has been teaching online for over eight years. He also taught Spanish courses at SUNY Brockport and The University at Buffalo with significant amounts of technological integration. Before his full-time academic position he worked as a media production specialist for SUNY minority programs, and served many years in IT roles, including hardware support, network administration, and programming.

Most recently, Michael has written and integrated a new OER language-learning resourced called “The LEAF Project” into all online language courses at FLCC. The LEAF Project is designed to be a free and open multimedia resource without keys, codes, or access restrictions. Currently, eight language courses have achieved OER status, with more in the process.