Bethany Winslow has been a driving force for instructional innovation at San José State University for nearly a decade. As an eLearning Specialist with the Center for Faculty Excellence & Teaching Innovation (CFETI), she serves as the dedicated lead for the School of Information (iSchool) portfolio bridging the gap between centralized university resources and specialized graduate program needs.

Since joining SJSU in 2016, Bethany’s work has evolved from providing campus-wide instructional design support at CFETI (formerly eCampus) to focusing exclusively on the iSchool’s strategic online initiatives beginning in 2021. Regardless of the administrative reporting line, her mission has remained consistent: ensuring pedagogical excellence for world-class online programs. Her core areas of impact include:

• Large-Scale Student Success: Managing the onboarding ecosystem for ~700+ new graduate students each semester, including the coordination of INFO 203 and the peer mentor project.
• Faculty Development: Facilitating the “Teaching Online” professional development series and providing quality assurance for online graduate curriculum.
• Emerging Technology Leadership: Spearheading the iSchool’s virtual reality (VR) initiatives and integrating Generative AI as both a pedagogical tool and a faculty-support resource.

Bethany is a recognized early adopter of technology, regularly presenting at national conferences on immersive learning and virtual communities. She holds an M.S. in Education (Online Teaching and Learning) from CSU East Bay and a B.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Professional Interests

• Virtual Worlds, VR and Online Communities
• Digital Literacy, Citizenship and Culture 
• OER, Creative Commons and Open Design Movement

Education 

• Master of Science, Education, Option in Online Teaching and Learning. California State University, East Bay (2016)
• Bachelor of Arts, Sociology. University of California at Santa Cruz (1996) 

Professional Experience

• eLearning Specialist, Director of Online learning (iSchool), Instructional Designer, Center for Faculty Excellence & Teaching Innovation (CFETI), San José State University, 2016 – Present
• Senior Instructional Designer, Instructional Designer, Online Course Developer, Comcourse Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA) August 2013 – 2016

Selected Presentations

• Winslow, B., & Vans, M. (2025). The metaverse muddles. In P. C. Franks, Records and information management (3rd ed., pp. 247–250). ALA Neal-Schuman.  
• Banned Books in the Metaverse: Today’s MLIS Students Preparing for the Libraries of Tomorrow,  Internet Librarian Connect Conference (October, 2023). Co-presented with two MLIS students. Also co-presented on VR Exploder demo outings to several different browser-based virtual environments. 
• Augmented Reality: Immersive Learning & Virtual Community Building (2022). Co-presented a virtual interactive immersive opportunity session with Anthony Chow and iSchool student and alumna, about our browser-based VR rooms. LibLearnX Conference, American Library Association
• SJSU iSchool Virtual Explorations: Educator-Driven Exploration, Development, and Evaluation of Multiple Virtual Environments. (2021). Interactive Immersive learning project showcase. Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) conference. Co-presented with Dr. Marie Vans in the virtual environment of FramesVR about the 3D exhibits we’ve built in Mozilla Hubs and other virtual environments.
• VR Headset and VR Desktop: Make Room for Both. (2021). Immersive panel presentation. Educators in VR: UniVirtual Experience conference. Co-presented in AltspaceVR with Dr. Pat Franks, Dr. Marie Vans, and other colleagues about the affordances and limitations of desktop and headset versions of virtual reality.