Curriculum Vitae

Skills summary

  • Teacher: teaching and training adults in academia and privately, face-to-face and online. Proficient in Blackboard, Angel, Canvas and Moodle.
  • Writer, editor, proofreader:  published author, over five years experience as print and online writer/editor, deep understanding of language.
  • Online community developer: created and administered dozens of online communities for a variety of platforms that have been producing real-world results since 1994.
  • Communications facilitator: city-wide neighborhood planning group facilitator, Vice-Chair Eastwood Chamber of Commerce, webmaster and email group admin for various community groups.

Professional employment

2016 – present: 

2002-2015:

  • Adjunct faculty teaching Spanish in class and online at Onondaga Community College, also teaching at The Jesuit Novitiate at St. Andrew Hall, and Syracuse University. Taught English pronunciation, writing, and presentation skills at the English Language Institute at Syracuse University.
  • Online pronunciation tutor using Skype to teach English and Spanish pronunciation at a distance.
  • Personal tutor of Spanish to U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador and to Vice-president of AXA Financial.
  • Spanish language program instructor for AT&T customer service representatives.
  • Writer of online courses for workplace safety for BLR.
  • Real estate investor bought properties in Syracuse for rehab and rental, working with Catholic Charities’ Refugee Resettlement program and HUD’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program to provide appropriate housing. Awarded the Real Estate Investors of CNY “Outstanding Member of the Year” award for 2002, Preservation Association of CNY Preservation Merit Award 2005.

2000-2001:

Director of Content Development, Dyvic Innovations, Inc., with Jon Morrow and Kenzi Mudge.
Developed content for distance education platform. Wrote and edited online content, marketing materials, business plan and website content. Demonstrated prototype to potential investors.

1995-2000:

Online content manger, Syracuse Language, Inc.
Hired and trained writers and editors. Wrote project guidelines and main components of user’s manual for Word-a-day Builder software. As lead editor for award-winning Business English software project, was responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving all final content. Developed and wrote website content for language learners. Edited several other English language learning programs and users’ manuals. Wrote content for Language Your Way website. Wrote key content areas for online distance language classes. Advised web design department on reader usability issues.

Instructional designer: Spearheaded and directed development of PuebloLindo, online multimedia virtual world for language learning, in a joint project between Syracuse Language and Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Designed games for foreign language instructional software incorporating speech recognition and smart feedback.

Personal and professional coach, Lonnie Turbee LLC
Employed the people skills acquired over three decades of local and distance teaching and training to facilitate personal and professional growth for individuals in education and technology fields.

1990-1995:

Language Instructor and Computer-assisted language learning specialist, Syracuse University, in Spanish and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
Adjunct instructor, novice to advanced level Spanish and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
Founder, lead administrator: MundoHispano MOO for Spanish language learners, teachers and native speakers. With over 4,000 user accounts by 1995, this was the world’s first large social network in Spanish.

Education

Syracuse University:
M.A. Linguistics, concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), magna cum laude

LeMoyne College, Syracuse, NY:
B.A. Spanish, concentration in Education, summa cum laude
Bishop David F. Cunningham Medal in Junior Liberal Arts

Published papers

Please note: last name changed from Turbee to Chu, 2/16/01

Chu, L. (2001). MOOing in a foreign language. In Suite101.com (Eds.), Real People Real Stories: How the Internet is Touching Lives.  Suite101.com, Inc. Vancouver, BC.

Turbee, L. (1998). MOO, WOO and more: language learning in virtual environments. In Egbert, J. and Hanson-Smith, E., (Eds.), Computer-Enhanced Language Learning: Theory into Practice. TESOL Publications, Alexandria, VA.

Turbee, L. (1997). Educational MOO: Text-based Virtual Reality for Learning in Community. ERIC Digest, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, Syracuse, NY.

Warschauer, M., Turbee, L., & Roberts, B. (1996). Computer learning networks and student empowerment. SYSTEM, 24(1), 1-14. (EJ 527 752)

Turbee, L. (1995). MundoHispano: A Text-Based Virtual Environment for Learners and Native Speakers of Spanish. In MarkWarschauer, (Ed.), Virtual Connections (pp. 233-234). Manoa, HI: Second LanguageTeaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Turbee, L. (1995). What can we do in a MOO?: Suggestions for Language Teachers. In Mark Warschauer, (Ed.), Virtual Connections (pp. 235-238). Manoa, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Presentations

October, 2003:
Syracuse University Project Advance
Seminar:
Motivation and Interaction in the Foreign Language Classroom

June, 2001:
2001 Distance Learning Institute for the New York State Staff Development Consortia
Presentation:
Interactive Distance Education for the Adult Learner: What’s up next? What’s in it for the teacher?

March, 1999:
TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Sixteenth Annual Convention and Exposition, New York, New York

  • Organizer/presenter for Pre-conference Institute:
    “Integrating virtual communities into the language class.” With Greg Younger.
  • Pre-conference Institute:
    Demonstration and learner activities based on chapter contributed to CALL Environments: Research, practice, and critical issues (Egbert, J. and Hanson-Smith, E.,(Eds.), with four other authors.
  • Presentation:
    “Language learning MOO theory and practical application” Panel report and discussion:
  • The First Annual TESOL Pre-Conference Online Workshop, with other leaders of the workshops Colloquium:
    Providing support for technology leaders, with Greg Younger, Heidi Shetzer and Leslie Hammersmith

November, 1998:
ACTFL ’98, Chicago, Illinois
Presentation and demonstration:
“Virtual Communities:  A Language Immersion Experience Without the Plane Ticket”

July, 1998:
CALICO ’98 15th Annual Symposium, San Diego, California
Pre-conference institute:
“MundoHispano and PuebloLindo: Two Generations of Internet Environments for Language Learning”

April, 1998:
BOCES/BETAC Conference: Technology for Language Teachers, Rochester, New York:
Keynote speaker: “Virtual Communities for Language Learners”
Workshop: “MOO/VIC Workshop”

March, 1998:
TESOL Fifteenth Annual Convention and Exposition, Seattle, Washington:
Organizer/Presenter for Pre-conference Institute:
“Real language learning in a virtual environment”
with Awaji Yoshimasa, Julie Falsetti and Eric Schweitzer and Greg Younger.

November, 1997:
ACTFL ’97 (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), Nashville, Tennessee:
Demonstration and talk:  “Heinle & Heinle and Syracuse Language Systems present PuebloLindo”

June, 1996:
Conferencia Internacional para Profesores de Inglés,  Lima, Peru:
Guest speaker for demonstration and discussion:
“MOOing and Language Learning: An Overview and Rationale”

June, 1996:
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Dual-Use Technologies and Applications Conference, Syracuse, New York:
Invited to give presentation and online demonstration:
“More fun than games: MOO as an Internet-based language learning resource” with Kenzi Mudge.

June, 1996:
Information Technology Education Connection, International Virtual Conference/Exhibition on Schooling and the Information Superhighway, at the Centre for Teacher Librarianship at Charles Sturt University, Australia:
Invited to present paper:
“MOOing in a foreign language: how, why, and who?”

March, 1996:
TESOL Thirtieth Annual Convention and Exposition, Chicago, Illinois:
Presentation and online demonstration:
“schMOOze University: Virtual community, real language learning”
with Julie Falsetti and Greg Younger.

February, 1996:
Annual Meeting of the International E-Mail Tandem Network (project funded by the European Union), Bochum, Germany:
invited as outside consultant to give two MOO workshops.
Group came to decision to use MOO as their next major focus beyond email.

November, 1995:
NEALL ’95 (Northeast Association of Learning Laboratories) conference, Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
Presentation and online demonstration:
“MOO for foreign language learning and teaching: a time for growth”
Two workshops:
“You can be outstanding in the field! A hands-on MOO workshop”

July, 1995:
National Foreign Language Resource Center Summer Institute Networking Symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii:
Workshops (two due to demand):
“MOOving to a new frontier in language learning: all the MOO is a stage, and the MOOers are merely players”
with Barbara Sanchez.

March, 1995:
TESOL Twenty-Ninth Annual Convention and Exposition, Long Beach, California:
Online demonstration:
“MOO: a text-based virtual world for ESL/EFL learners”
Paper:
“Launching your class into cyberspace with student lists” with Mark Warschauer and Thomas Robb.

November, 1994:
NEALL ’94 (Northeast Association of Learning Laboratories) conference, Albany, New York:
Due to demand, gave spontaneous, online half-hour presentation on MOO for foreign language learning.

Volunteer experience

  • Webmaster and online marketing developer, Preservation Association of Central New York: PACNY.net
  • Vice-Chair and webmaster, Eastwood Chamber of Commerce: eastwoodchamber.com
  • Webmaster, Sunnycrest Park Association blog: sunnycrestparkassociation.com
  • Webmaster, SALudos blog – the first Spanish-language blog in Syracuse
  • Founding member, webmaster and email forum admin: Walkable Eastwood walkeastwood.org
  • Webmaster and email forum admin: Real Estate Investors of Central New York: reicny.org
  • Webmaster: Slow Food CNY and CSA-CNY
  • Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today (TNT) Facilitator for Economic Development, creator and administrator of city-wide TNT facilitators’ email forum
  • Founding member, webmaster, email forum admin, Liverpool Schoolkeepers
  • Webmaster, Liverpool Willow Museum
  • Member and webmaster: Liverpool Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee