Episode 83: William Jackson

Introducing William Jackson

William Jackson has advanced degrees in education with a focus on educational technology, social media, and STEM. William has worked for NASA as an internet and technology instructor, and as a technology consultant with the Florida Department of Education. He is a past professor at Edward Waters College.

Show Notes

Website | My Quest To Teach

Twitter | @wmjackson

Instagram | @williamdjackson

Episode Transcript

Tara: This is Hallway Chats, where we meet people who use WordPress.

Liam: We ask questions, and our guests share their stories, ideas and perspectives.

Tara: And now the conversation begins. This is episode 83.

Liam: Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Liam Dempsey.

Tara: And I’m Tara Claeys. Today, we’re joined by William Jackson. With advanced degrees in education with a focus on educational technology, social media, and STEM, William has worked for NASA as an internet and technology instructor, and as a technology consultant with the Florida Department of Education. He is a past professor at Edward Waters College. Hello, William. Welcome.

William: Thank you. Glad to be here and happy new year.

Liam: Thanks, William. Welcome very much to our little conversation out here in the virtual hallway. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, please?

William: Definitely. I am a teacher of 31 years in public education. The majority of my teaching experience is in elementary age where I’m a physical education teacher and technology teacher as well. I focus on STEAM which is science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, and a little bit of music. I just love engaging with the students and being an inspiration and a role model, and just being involved and getting them to be global thinkers and learning more about the world around them. Not just the local education, but a global education.

Tara: That’s wonderful. How did you get started with that?

William: Well, I’m a fourth generation teacher so it was kind of ingrained in me to be a teacher. When I was growing up in high school, I had an opportunity to be a part of a program called the Naval Sea Cadets in Philadelphia. I’m born and raised in Philadelphia. So I had an option of either going into the military or going to college and I chose the college route because I wanted to work with young people. So it was a good fit, and rest is history. Going to college, majoring in education. I wanted to have an environment where I was outside. Physical education was a great fit. I do love the sciences and technology but I have more opportunity to engage with kids with physical education.

Liam: You said you grew up in and around Philadelphia and you work for NASA and you’re a technology consultant, or you work as a technology consultant with the Florida Department of Education. I believe that Edward Waters College is down in Florida as well. When and how and why did you make the shift south? How did that go about?

William: That’s an interesting story. When I graduated college, I wanted to go someplace that was different and the furthest south I could get was Florida so I’ve decided to come down to Florida and got involved in the school system down here. I initially started in Putnam County, taught there for about 10 years. Moved up to Jacksonville and there were more opportunities with Jacksonville being a larger city. I had the opportunity to work at Edward Waters College. They were actually looking for someone to teach technology at time, and this was like the middle ’90s,