SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2021: Poly – Robert Edgell

Dr. Robert Edgell is currently a Professor of Technology Management, Co-Director of the Joint Center for Creativity, Design, and Venturing, and had volunteered for one year to be the Interim  Dean of the College of Business Management at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. During May 2019, he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Swiss Business School in Zurich and has delivered research papers and lectures at Stanford University’s Law School, the University of California San Francisco’s School of Dentistry, the  California College of the Arts, and the University of St. Gallen. Previously, he was an Assistant  Professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business where he was named Outstanding  Faculty. Also, he has taught at the University of Shanghai Science and Technology, Hong Kong Baptist University, and San Francisco State University’s College of Business. Dr. Edgell has served in various leadership capacities as a department chair, interim dean, and on several committees. He was a former board member of the Cyber Security Institute at Griffiss Institute and currently serves as a board member of Sculpture Space. He has presented his  scholarship, reviewed papers, and chaired sessions at the Academy of Management and the International Atlantic Economics Society among others. Dr. Edgell received his PhD in international multicultural management (magna cum laude) from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He holds an MBA from Columbia University Business School in the City of New York and a five-year  Bachelor of Architecture from Kent State University, College of Architecture and Environmental Design. Through Columbia’s Chazen Institute of International Business, he studied at Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management in The Netherlands. He is a registered Architect and has studied at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design. To learn more, go to http://robertedgell.com/.

I am immensely thankful for this recognition and invitation to participate in SUNY Online’s  burgeoning community of practice. Distance learning is exceptionally important since it enables very diverse populations to robustly access education. As the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us, online modes are invaluable technological actants for overcoming tremendous situational, temporal, and spatial limitations. As an online educator, I aspire to offer experiences that not only are infused with the comparable richness of face-to-face courses, but also creatively leverage all which the online medium uniquely affords. Given my past practice as an Architect, I integrate design theory into my teaching with the aim of transcending the coded language constraints of traditional pedagogies. Through distance modes, I am able to more fluidly synthesize experiential and applied learning such as case studies, research projects, visualization techniques, online simulations, virtual teamwork, and interpretive reflections. Distance learning platforms are ideal for enacting highly effective flipped classroom models since both learning resources (e.g., recorded lectures, etc.) and application activities (e.g., simulations, virtual whiteboards, etc.) are conveniently facilitated. Perhaps most importantly, the online environment enables amazing and inclusive discursive practices since students are able to congregate and collaborate across geographical barriers or other differences.