Andy Halvorsen,
Becki Quick, Tom Tasker 
& Linda Wesley

Thomas F. Herman Award for Outstanding Online Education
(Not pictured: Becki Quick. Executive Director for AEI Cheryl Ernst holds a computer with Linda Wesley on a video call.)

Inclusive, engaged, research-led

Becki Quick: "Like anyone, it feels good to have your hard work appreciated. It also shows that UO recognizes collaborative work."

Tom Tasker: "It’s an honor to be nominated by colleagues for my contribution to a collaborative effort in online education, and a nice reminder that the work we do is valued."

Passion & purpose

Andy Halvorsen: "I developed an interest in language teaching as a volunteer tutor for a refugee assistance program in Seattle. I greatly enjoyed the process of helping relocated refugees develop their English-language skills, and I was inspired to go back to school and work on my degree in education in order to be a more organized and effective teacher."

Linda Wesley: "I thought I was making a temporary 'detour' from my previous profession —photojournalism. But after just one year of teaching, I knew that this is what I was meant to do . . . and that was over 30 years ago!"

Conversation & collaboration 

Andy Halvorsen: "In international teacher-training contexts, I often meet teachers working 16-hour-days at three different jobs and making little or no money. And yet, they find the time to come home at night, log in to an online course, and continue to try to learn and better themselves for the sake of their students."

Becki Quick: "Teaching a 'Culture in the Classroom' course to visiting Iraqi professors here at UO. In an interview of U.S. identities, an Iraqi professor of literature – specializing in the different expressions of love in literature – interviewed a gay woman. He must have been in his 60s, but this was the first openly gay woman he had ever spoken with. This interview went way beyond the time limit, and I remember this Iraqi professor being really moved by the experience."

Tom Tasker: "All of my best teaching ideas and practices are made so much better through conversation and collaboration with the people I work with every day."

Linda Wesley: "Most recently, I was inspired by an El Salvadoran gentleman who in addition to being a police officer is also an English teacher. He has made a makeshift, outdoor classroom with logs as seats for local children to come and study."