Ralph founded the CoLab in 2004. He publishes and gives talks on how creativity and innovation strengthen communities. He holds a B.A. in German Literature & Language from UC Riverside, a teaching credential, a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara with 14 years as a bilingual Spanish/English teacher. He has lived in Saint Louis since 2006, and currently teaches at University of Missouri Saint Louis.

Ann has been a teacher educator at SIUE for over 10 years, after a decade as a middle and high school teacher in the UK. She has loved working with pre-service teachers as thedirector of the elementary education program, and is fortunate to work with experienced teachers to follow two other commitments of hers, mathematics education and action research. She fosters creativity and collaboration with a strong dose of innovation!

Jason believes earning isn’t a solitary act; it happens within the space of a community. He believes for new ideas to blossom, we must help students create a learning space where risk-taking and reaching is valued. A CoLab member since 2009, Jason studies trends in connected learning technologies and filters them to CoLab members for their use. He teaches at a French Immersion High School in San Francisco.

Jeff is the founder and owner of Verb-Editorial. He's passionate about capturing creative people at work through photography, video storytelling and his keen attention to aesthetic infographics.

Jeff has been teaching English at Alton High School in Alton, IL for eighteen years. He first became involved with the CoLab in 2007, when he and Ralph Córdova successfully founded a National Writing Project site at SIUE. During the past 2 years, he has founded and directs the Innovation & Literacy Lab at Alton High School.

Dawn's teacher career spanning 38 years has blessed her with many opportunities. While beginning as a classroom and instrumental music teacher, a series of transfers and new opportunities led her to experience classroom teaching at the primary and intermediate levels, and instructing kindergarten through fourth grade students as part of a Reading Improvement Grant. She documents and archives all of CoLab's technological developments.

Patti is completing her 28th year teaching English at Highland High School. Her learning passions revolve around communication – be it in writing, speaking, drawing, painting or other genres. She learns from her students and strives to engage them in noticing their own and others' communication as a way of making meaning of various texts. Creating a space for others to discover their voice – be it words, art, music – that is her passion.

Jessica is the Technology Liaison for the CoLab since 2010. The CoLab provides her with continued opportunities to network with other passionate teachers, and to reflect on her own approaches to writing instruction in a digital environment in particular and learning in general. She actively brings into her classroom digital composing, and, assists CoLab members and teacher-leaders how to creatively and confidently harness Web 2.0 technologies.