David Stoloff - Professor, Education

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Of Note

Dr. Stoloff received a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education from UCLA, a M.S. in Educational Technology from Concordia University in Montreal, and a B.S. in Biology from SUNY, Brockport. In his 39th year as a full-time professor, David has also taught at SUNY-Plattsburgh, Cal. State-Los Angeles, and Sonoma State University. He coordinates Eastern’s online M.S. in Educational Technology program and serves as president of the Connecticut State Conference-American Association of University Professors.

Dr. Stoloff was a high school teacher in the Peace Corps in Zaire and taught at schools in Israel and California, was an educational researcher and curriculum developer in Montreal, Dallas, and Los Angeles, and was a Fulbright scholar in Thailand.

How did you get to Eastern?

“In 1995, we moved from Sonoma State University, which became California’s Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges member, just like Eastern is CT's COPLAC member.  I found the campuses, the people and the college towns to be very similar. Our families were back east and my wife’s immigrant grandparents and family had moved to a chicken farm in Columbia, CT, in the 1930s.   For our family, Willimantic was a very comfortable community.  We all walked to the schools in the neighborhood.  We also enjoyed the cultural life on the campus and being active in the Willimantic community, We appreciated being between big cities, living in a forest and the climate.”

What class do you most enjoy teaching?

“I enjoy the range of my courses — but most importantly, I enjoy interacting with the learners and watching them learn from each other and the curriculum. I am teaching a liberal arts seminar on how the social sciences study education, attached to a first-year course titled “Is Teaching Right for You?” I am also teaching a course in Educational Technology Theory and Practice in our online graduate program in Educational Technology and an online liberal arts course in international and cross-cultural education.”

What are your research interests?

“I have been exploring alternative ways of assessing learning, the development of personal archives for learning, and online intercultural connections among universities.   Since 2020, I have been a weekly contributor to a community radio writing project that broadcasts my reflections on KGUA, a radio station on the northern California coast.”

What do you enjoy most about teaching at Eastern?

“The opportunity to learn and plan with my students and colleagues in reaction to the changing nature of education and society.”

What is your teaching philosophy?

“I believe that learners should manage and own their own learning and should find meaning in what they study.”