SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2024: Dutchess – Michael Boden

Michael Boden is an Associate Professor of History at Dutchess Community College.  He joined the college in 2011, first as an Associate Dean, then as full-time faculty, after serving 23 years in the US Army as an Armored Cavalryman.  Mike earned a B.S. in History from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff College, and  Masters and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Modern European History.

In addition to teaching at Dutchess, he is an instructor for the Air Force Command and General Staff College’s on-line Masters Program, teaching courses on leadership and warfare studies.  He has also served on the faculty at West Point and Hofstra University, and is also on the Board of Trustees for the Dutchess County Historical Society.  He is currently on the County’s Rev250 Commemoration Committee, and is working on a study of Dutchess County Soldiers in the Civil War.

One thing that really strikes me about on-line learning is that there is no formulaic crutch when building an effective asynchronous learning environment; the tools and students are seldom consistent.  Those conditions challenge me as an educator to think of new ways to engage and work with all my students, in many different contexts.  Not only do these unique contexts allow me to better understand my students, who invariably come from a myriad of different backgrounds, they help me become a better resource for them, and to better help them achieve their individual educational goals.