Dr. Brian J. Dixon is the executive director of Helix Schools, a new charter school start-up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Brian is also the founder of the Internet Safety Foundation, a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to partnering with parents and teachers to keep children safe online. He regularly conducts Internet Safety seminars for schools, community groups, and churches in the Southern California region.

He was the director of High Tech High flex, a hybrid online/school/home education experience, providing hands-on learning opportunities for high school students. He is also the founding Multimedia Technology teacher at High Tech High in North County San Diego where he teaches a comprehensive digital arts program for a diverse cross-section of San Diego high school students.

Brian’s doctoral dissertation focused on adolescents’ learning experiences using web-based video sharing technology, such as that found on YouTube.com. His doctoral degree is in Educational Technology from San Diego State and the University of San Diego. He received a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from Columbia International University. Dr. Dixon received his Bachelor’s of Fine and Performing Arts from Providence College, a small liberal arts college in Manitoba, Canada.

In his forthcoming book, The Technophobic Teacher, Brian addresses the real issues behind classroom teachers’ reluctance to integrate today’s technology into their daily classroom practice. Rather than a simple analysis of the problems, this book clearly demonstrates practical solutions for integrating technology in the twelve primary areas of the teaching life.

In addition to teaching high school students on a daily basis, Brian has taught graduate classes in Educational Technology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He has also designed graduate courses for Ellis University and the University of Wisconsin.

Brian started his educational career as a seventh grade English teacher in a South Carolina public school where he led a one-to-one computing technology pilot program for struggling readers. After moving to California, Brian became the Instructional Technology Specialist for a K-12 private school in Solana Beach. There he led professional development workshops and assisted teachers in their integration of technology in their daily teaching practice.

Brian has conducted many conference presentations on current technologies and educational issues including podcasting, video blogging, social networking, Internet safety, and technology integration.

He is happily married to Julie, a fifth grade math teacher and superstar athlete. Brian enjoys all types of board sports (skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and wakeboarding). The Dixons live in La Costa, California.

Email your questions and comments to Brian.

Visit his blog website at: http://brianjdixon.com