Background
I am an educator, instructional designer, and business partner based in Dubai. My academic foundation combines an M.A. in Instructional Technologies (San Francisco State University, 1997) and a B.A. in English Literature (San Francisco State University, 1993), supported by a California Secondary English Teaching Credential (National University, 2003). I have also been an active member of Toastmasters International for over thirty years.
My university teaching includes serving as adjunct professor at Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III (Censier) during academic year 2000, delivering over 200 stand-up training hours in computer instruction, applications, and curriculum development for college students. That work followed software localization and cognitive mathematics tutorial adaptation in France (Equivision France) and enterprise application training at Oracle Computers.
In business, I spent twelve years (2007–2019) as Partner in Onlink Services, an international hotel representation firm, directing information technology, computer security, website architecture, staff training, and B2B sales presentations. Today, I advise leadership teams through dgdedge and bring that operational grounding directly into higher-education classrooms.
M.A.Instructional Technologies (SFSU, 1997)
B.A.English Literature (SFSU, 1993)
Teaching Philosophy
Classrooms are not lecture halls for abstract theories; they are workshops for developing judgment and capability. Whether teaching academic writing, B2B negotiation, or generative AI workflows, my goal is direct cognitive transfer to authentic situations.
I organize courses around explicit backward design: define the final real-world performance first, establish clear criteria for mastery, and scaffold the intermediate steps so every student knows what quality looks like before submitting work. Theory is introduced to explain real problems, not to fill slides. When students evaluate business cases, draft research arguments, or prompt AI models, they are required to defend their reasoning, identify root causes, and verify outputs rigorously. I treat adult and university learners as emerging practitioners who learn best by building, testing, and refining under constructive feedback.
Courses I Can Teach
Business & Communications
Business Communication & Executive Presentation · B2B Sales & Account Management · Cross-Cultural Negotiation · Principles of Marketing · Root-Cause Analysis Frameworks.
English & Academic Writing
Academic Writing & Research Methodologies · English Composition & Rhetoric · English for Specific Purposes (ESP) / Technical English · Professional & Technical Writing.
Applied AI in Business & Education
Applied Generative AI for Business Operations · AI in Instructional Design · Practical AI Literacy & Workflow Automation · Prompt Architecture & Output Verification.
Applied Instructional Tools (GitHub)
I maintain an active public portfolio of self-directed educational software and curriculum tools on GitHub (github.com/pleabargain):
- Five Whys (five-whys): Interactive analytical tool designed to teach business students root-cause problem identification and structured operational inquiry.
- English Sentence Diagramming (English-sentence-diagramming): Visual syntax analyzer teaching grammatical structure and clause relationships.
- ED-Endings Pronunciation Trainer (ED-Endings-in-English-Pronunciation-Trainer): Interactive phonetic tool teaching regular past-tense pronunciation rules.
- AI Curriculum Scaffolding (AI-learning-complete-6week-plan): Systematic curriculum design framework demonstrating domain-specific multi-week syllabus generation using structured prompts.
I also produce Happy Computing with Dennis, an open-access screencast series documenting continuous technical self-education and tool evaluation.
Curriculum Vitae
Tailored academic CVs for departmental appointments in Dubai: