Ron Bumgardner: Designing tomorow's electronic classroom today

While Ron Bumgardner was teaching Army soldiers and generals to use the Multiple Launch Rocket System over the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm, he didn't think he would one day work with faculty members trying to start Internet-based courses at UNT. But the experience actually prepared him for what he does today.

"A lot of the skills I use now, I learned in the military. My job in the Army was to prepare my unit to accomplish its combat mission," Bumgardner says. "Now, I train faculty members to use WebCT so they can help their students reach their goals and learn more efficiently."

Bumgardner serves as an instructional designer for the Center for Distributed Learning. He works with faculty members hoping to establish online classes through WebCT.

"I help faculty members take their teaching from the lecture hall to the Internet. We have to add things to their lectures like video clips, graphics and other media to make them seem like a classroom to students who could be thousands of miles away," he says.

The Internet, which today plays such an important role in society, was a completely unknown concept when Bumgardner enlisted in the military almost 30 years ago.

After two years on a football scholarship at Concord College in Athens, W.Va., Bumgardner joined the Navy. He became a medic at Bethesda Naval Hospital just outside of Washington, D.C., where he served for four years.

Bumgardner used the G.I. Bill to finish his degree at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. He intended to return to the Navy and receive a commission but instead participated in the Army ROTC. Upon graduation, he received a commission as a second lieutenant field artillery officer in the Army. He directed two full battery commands in Europe in the 1980s. He was also stationed in Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Bumgardner retired from the Army in 1997 as a major while he was a professor of military science at Texas Christian University. After his retirement, he spent a brief time working in the telecommunications industry designing online training for Internet customer service specialists.

He says he enjoys working with faculty members because of the broad spectrum of people he deals with.

"I like working here because people have a friendly but professional nature. The faculty members want to help the students," Bumgardner says. "Students aren't just numbers here."

BY ALLISON YEAMAN paiswri3@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue:

• UNT regents OK negotiations for purchase of TI property in Denton
• Lecture touts importance of saving forests
• Play therapists called to New York to help children, families
• UNT radio station receives 'Best of Dallas' award
• Conference explores music history, celebrates UNT doctoral program
• Guest column: Don't overlook SECC charities
• UNT web site adds 19th-century Texas laws
• Staff awarded at annual convocation
• Sculpture honors UNT alumnus' 90th birthday
• Hurley recognized for 16 years of service on the North Texas Commission

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