Colin Matheson, the Carmel Unified School District’s professional development coordinator and web master has, for the past eight years, contributed considerably to CUSD’s development through the spread and use of technology among students and faculty.
Matheson first started off as a biology teacher at Carmel High School and was offered his current position in 2008. This was a new position in the district, but since then, more and more schools have created similar ones.
“As the world is changing so rapidly, we can use technology to change, with the goal of improving the experience for students,” Matheson says.
Likewise, he has also been working on effectively integrating technology into student learning by guiding teachers in finding the right technology for any academic or teaching need, whether that’s helping English teacher Whitney Grummon with creating Moodle quizzes, aiding librarian Elena Loomis with digital citizenship or incorporating Geographic Information Systems into social studies instructor Bill Schrier’s classes.
“Colin Matheson is a huge asset to Carmel Unified,” French teacher Suzanne Marden says. “He is able to coach students in technology and helps me come up with projects to enhance student learning through technology.”
With an undergraduate major in digital music and science from Stanford University, Matheson resisted going into the music industry. Instead he headed back to his home in Willits, Calif., where he was offered to teach science at a local charter school.
Matheson enjoys hiking; his favorite spot is the Trinity Alps.
This sparked his interest in teaching, and Matheson returned to college to receive his teaching credential at Humboldt State University.
Matheson also enjoys several other things that do not revolve around his job, including backpacking, ultimate Frisbee, making music and, the most radical of all, dancing at festivals of electronic dance music, or EDM.
“I love music, and I think the best expression of music is dancing,” Matheson says. “I have gone to several kinds of concerts, and what I have noticed is that at an alternative rock concert everyone is just sitting there, refusing to dance, when the music can be fun.”
The tech instructor finds himself in an enjoyable dance atmosphere while attending EDM music festivals, where the complexity and creativity of EDM artists is so great. For him, it is music that is meant to be danced to.
–Joyce Doherty
