SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2021: Dutchess – Maureen Peters Gittelman

Maureen Peters Gittelman is an Instructor in the Department of Business, Aviation and Construction Professions at Dutchess Community College. She earned her BBA in Management from Hofstra University and MBA with a concentration in marketing from the Joseph M. Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Maureen joined DCC as an adjunct in Fall 2015 and as a full-time instructor in Fall 2017. Before entering higher education, she served in executive roles in the non-profit field. 

 It is an honor to be named a SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador. I taught my first online course in an accelerated hybrid format, a class that attracted mostly non-traditional students with full-time jobs. I came to quickly appreciate the value of this blended format in terms of the flexibility that it allowed students and the opportunity it gave me to offer a more interactive, flipped classroom experience. I’ve continued to teach blended formats, fully asynchronous, and remote synchronous environments at DCC.  I’ve become an even bigger proponent of online and blended learning; it has made me a better educator as I explore ways to deliver outcome-aligned course content in multiple formats. Students have responded positively and are empowered to be more active learners. I believe that online learning options have an additional benefit for students who will eventually step into careers that require the discipline, motivation, time management, and technical proficiency that is learned in online classrooms.