Introducing: Patti Palczewska

Patti is the new Educational Technology Specialist at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. An alumnus of Lewis & Clark College of Arts and Sciences, Patti helps to partner with students, staff, and faculty to explore the use of technology in teaching and learning environments. She sits down to talk a little bit about her journey to the Lewis & Clark College IT department.

What attracted you to Lewis & Clark?

There is an amazing sense of community at Lewis & Clark that I haven’t really found elsewhere. Faculty work so closely with each student, and truly care for their academic growth, and I want to be able to be a part of promoting that growth for as long as I can.

The EdTech department takes a drone selfie.
(from left to right) Kelly Wainwright, Julio Appling,
Miranda Carney-Morris, Patti Palczewska, Justin Counts
  

What is your role at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School?

I work as the Educational Technology liaison at the graduate school. The EdTech department works with faculty, staff, and students to inform them of how emerging technology can be applied to their current curriculum, activities, job duties, or research. When it comes to systems and software that can be used in the classroom, I’m the one to come and chat with!

I am also the primary AV technician at the graduate school and am on call to resolve any classroom equipment emergencies.

What is your favorite everyday technology?

My smartphone. Being able to have a small computer in my hand from which I can check my emails, edit documents, make phone calls, manage my bank account… it makes things so easy. A smartphone makes so much available to us at our fingertips -- it’s no wonder more and more students have smartphones. Smartphones can seem like they would be mostly distracting in the classroom, but being able to bring a smartphone into a class activity allows students to participate in ways that weren’t really possible before.

Patti's cat, Cupcake, dressed up in a cute bow.

Your bio on the IT staff page says you have a cat named Cupcake. What made you choose the name?

We didn’t choose it, actually! She was a rescue and came with two names - Cupcake and Biscuit. I guess her original owners were hungry when they named her!

What technology do you see becoming really big in the future?

I think automation is really moving us in an interesting direction. It may take us a while to get there, but self-driving cars may change our roads forever, and possibly for the better. AI and automation are part of an exciting future I think we’re moving towards, but I also think we haven’t really fully explored and prepared for what that future could look like.

Patti Palczewska can be contacted at palczewskap@lclark.edu, or at 503-768-6195.

Her office is located in Rogers 403.