Who are your BoomerTECH Adventures guides and what are they up to?
A little about us as a trio! Jill, Ed, and Chris have been friends and colleagues for 25 years at least. All three of us are/were educators wearing many hats over the years.
The common bond that brought us together was our commitment to middle level education (young adolescents in middle schools/junior high schools). Jill taught “in the middle” for 35 years. Chris was a long-time middle school principal. And Ed had a 25-year career in middle level education at the University of Maine.
During these years we came together to organize conferences and institutes; write articles and books; work with schools on the first state-wide laptop program in the country; and much more!
When it came time to refocus (not retire), Jill and Chris formed a much-used and dynamic consultant group, traveling the U.S. and the world. When Ed finished his work at the University of Maine, it seemed natural that we combine our skill sets in technology and learning, designing instructional modules, and working with adults…to start BoomerTECH Adventures.
As Boomers ourselves we knew that the other 78 million Baby Boomers wanted to stay current with their personal technology. Jill and Ed are the leading edge Boomers in our group (born in 1946 and 1948) while Chris is the youngster of the group (but still a Boomer, born in 1954).
Since 2014 BoomerTECH Adventures has offered individual and group consulting; planned workshops and institutes; produced tons of free resources in the form of blog posts and videos; a great website, and; our first online digital course, Wicked Good iPhone Intro Video Series. And all specifically designed for Boomers!
A good part of our work with BoomerTECH Adventures is giving back to our communities by teaching in adult education programs, senior college, and doing consulting at senior living centers.
Here is a little more about what we do individually!
Jill…This September was the first since I was five that I was not involved in the opening of the school year—it felt a little strange! However, last spring I decided to step away (notice I didn’t say retire) from educational consulting. My concentration now is BoomerTECH Adventures and teaching adult ed classes in technology related topics. When not learning additional functions of my digital devices, I can usually be found curled up with a good mystery. However, interrupted regularly by my new rescue pup Sammy to go for a walk, I don’t spend all of my time in a comfy chair! Determined to turn my grass into garden spaces, I also spend time playing in the dirt.
Like both Ed and Chris, I enjoy traveling. Recently, I visited the San Juan Islands north of Seattle—they are worth a visit! It’s been fun mastering the iPhone camera app in an attempt to take note-worthy pictures during my travels. That endeavor has lead to my newest dilemma—which iPhone should I up-grade to? Do I need Portrait Mode? Both a wide angle & telephoto lens? Face recognition to open the phone? Decisions, decisions, decisions!
Chris…My wife Joan says I’m failing miserably at “retirement”! Actually, I’m having a blast doing and learning new things. I continue to be involved with middle level education as the newly installed president of the Maine Association for Middle Level Education, MAMLE. I also serve on the board of Maine College Circle, where we work to raise the educational aspirations of Maine’s most challenged students by providing them with information about furthering their education after high school. I’m also on the board of Exploration Education that focuses on providing students with highly engaging, hands-on learning through problem solving.
I teach cooking, school law, school leadership, and I’m a registered Maine Guide. I enjoy arts and crafts and make driftwood trees and birch log candles when I get the chance. I enjoy using my iPhone for taking pictures and sharing with my friends, keeping up with news and information is also important to me. Books, music, videos, and shopping are also some of the fun things I do with technology.
Ed… I am active as a runner, biker, sailor, skier, swimmer, and tennis player. My wife and I have four terrific, adult children, their wonderful spouses, and five grandchildren under the age of 4 years. We love to travel; recent trips have taken us to Africa and Cuba with Australia next on our list. We escape part of every Maine winter with several weeks on the beach in Mexico; we spend our summers at “camp” on the water and in the Maine woods with our grandchildren and two and a half-year-old, Chobe, our always-a-pup, Chocolate Lab.
I’ve learned so much through our BoomerTECH Adventures work and thoroughly enjoy learning more about my devices, but even more importantly, learning about many other things through my technology. The older I get the more I recognize the critical importance for Boomers (and Seniors) to stay current and to learn about the technology that is such a vital part of our (and their) world.
That’s it about us! (If you made it this far into our blog post, we really appreciate it.)
One of the things we like most about our work with BoomerTECH Adventures is getting to know so many of you. As we like to say, this isn’t about the technology…it it about knowing how to use the technology to CREATE, CONNECT, and COMMUNICATE.
CLICK HERE to access your FREE Quick Start Guide to learn the basics of your iPhone.
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