Meet AIU Faculty/Staff
Dr. Barry Meinster has been teaching for over 37 years and his students benefit enormously from the insights he's gained during his distinguished career. His educational credentials include a B.S. in Secondary Education, an M.Ed and an Ed.D. from Temple University. After retiring from the Philadelphia Public School System in 2003, he joined AIU Online. Since then he has been designing and teaching courses in the Master's degree program, clearly enjoying what he does.
"The courses at AIU Online are based on the most advanced theories of education and deal with the world as it exists today," declares Meinster. "The texts we use are the latest in the field and the technology is cutting edge. But I think what makes AIU Online particularly unique is that people are as accessible as information. If you need to talk to someone - an instructor or a dean - you can usually get hold of them within 24 hours. Because at AIU Online we recognize that our most important job is to help our students succeed in every way we can."
Meinster began his career as a public school teacher in Philadelphia. His first 16 years were spent working with special education students. Fascinated by computers, Meinster decided to switch to computer science and earned his PA Computer Science Certification in 1985. He taught computer science for another 16 years. The success of his transition was demonstrated when he was honored as Teacher of the Year by the Philadelphia Public School System in 1989.
Today, in addition to his work for AIU Online, Dr. Meinster teaches education and computer science courses at traditional colleges. His students include undergraduates and graduates on the campuses of Drexel University, West Chester University, and Delaware Valley College as well as those in doctorate programs at Walden University Online.
Through the years Meinster has watched two developments in education emerge that are particularly relevant to his own teaching experience. First is the "mainstreaming" of special education techniques into regular class rooms. Inspired by the need to accommodate the growing number of special needs students who were being included in "normal" classrooms, this change has also enabled many students without any obvious handicaps to learn more effectively. The other change that Meinster has witnessed and, indeed, participated in, is the growth of online learning.
"The wonder of long distance learning is that it puts higher education within the reach of more people than ever before," he explains. "This is, in fact, the primary objective of AIU Online. Now a housewife with young children at home can complete her college degree, a student in a rural community can go to class with peers from around the globe and professionals in every industry can keep up with the latest research in their fields while still working full-time."
"What I find particularly satisfying is that when I teach online I can interact with my students far more than I do on campus. I learn all about them, their goals, the cultures they come from, and even the job markets they face in various parts of the world. This inclusiveness allows everyone in class including me, to expanding our horizons. Teachers really do learn from their students. That's one of the reasons that teaching is still such a joy for me and why I recommend it so highly as a profession."
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