Susan Burwash

email: sburwash.ot@me.com
Blog: http://susanburwashstudios.com/sbsblog/
Digital dossier: http:sburwash.wordpress.com
Twitter: @subu_ot

About me

I’ve been an occupational therapist since 1978, working as a clinician and educator in Canada and the US. I recently completed my PhD in Rehabilitation Science, using narrative inquiry to explore therapists’ experiences of occupation-based practice. I am currently an OT faculty member at Eastern Washington University after teaching at University of Alberta. When I am not teaching or learning about occupational therapy, I spend time in my studio working as a glass artist. I am often labelled as an early adopter/evangelist when it comes to technology. While teaching at University of British Columbia (1994 – 97), I developed online resources for students, traveled around the province teaching clinicians about the potential of the web, wrote a column (“Web Goddess”) for the Canadian OT Association practice magazine, tried out WebCT, and taught myself how to design web-sites. With help from OT friends, I lobbied for the development of an OT newsgroup.While teaching in Texas, I became familiar with distance learning using interactive TV to connect 3 campuses. During a break from working as an OT, I spent 4 years in the studio and much of my learning came from participating in online fora and newsgroups related to my artist/artisan interests. This experience fueled my interest in the concept of online communities of practice. Since resuming my OT career I have continued to be interested in using technology for teaching. I’ve become a big fan of wikis and also encourage students to use tools such as Google Drive, Google sites, WordPress, Pinterest and Learni.st. I love my iPhone and hope at some point to have time to learn about developing apps. My blog speaks to my interests in art, design and occupational therapy. I spend far too much time on Twitter and Facebook, where I share information about OT and/or art.