About Jonathan Finkelstein

Jonathan Finkelstein is a passionate educator, a creative technologist and an accomplished producer. He is focused on creating and deploying engaging, web-based and web-enhanced human environments, programs and curricula that foster learning, collaboration and community. Jonathan Finkelstein is a passionate educator, a creative technologist and an accomplished producer. He is focused on creating and deploying engaging, web-based and web-enhanced human environments, programs and curricula that foster learning, collaboration and community.

Over the last several years, he has worked with numerous leading educational, corporate, and publishing organizations to build learning programs and communities online, including: Columbia University, the New York City Board of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, Harvard, Princeton, CalState University, Lehigh, Houghton Mifflin, NASA, MetLife, and The Princeton Review.

Most recently, Jonathan has acted as the Executive Producer and Director for two unique, interactive and standards-based K-12 humanities curricula. Working closely with Columbia Teacher's College and the Academy of American Poets, he helped create Poetry Live. Jonathan also built a coalition of renowned museums to design and deliver HistoryQuest.US, a program in which students become experts on local historical objects, and then teach remote peers in online virtual classrooms.

Jonathan is a co-founder of a software company that provides a leading platform for live teaching, learning, interaction, collaboration, and community-building over the Internet. In his role as Senior Vice President of Product Strategy, Jonathan developed innovative ways to teach and learn online, while maintaining a deep understanding of the needs of educators and learners. Several of the products Jonathan designed were recognized for industry awards, including recognition by Online Learning Magazine, US News & World Report, Streaming magazine, Brandon-Hall, and the SIIA Codie Awards.

Jonathan is the creator, Executive Producer and Co-Host of LearningWeek Live, the only live, interactive, weekly webcast about the people and technology of learning. He is regarded as an industry expert and is a frequent speaker and panelist on the topic of effective, interactive, web-enhanced learning at industry conferences.

Jonathan also regularly conducts online seminars and courses on topics such as blending face-to-face with web-based instruction, designing effective virtual learning spaces, scaling human interaction in online learning environments, and fostering professional development communities online. Valuing the power of real-time interaction and community-building, Jonathan has delivered nearly 2000 hours of live online instruction and has coached hundreds of individuals on re-discovering their own teaching styles when bringing their instruction online.

Jonathan is an Editorial Board member of The Technology Source, and a member of several grant review and industry award programs. He is often sought for guidance and quoted in publications on learning online.

Earlier in his career, Jonathan worked as a strategic, public relations and multimedia consultant in the Boston and Washington, D.C., offices of ML Strategies, Inc. In addition, he has conducted formal work in a wide range of fields, including: surgery (Harvard Medical School), psychology (MIT), and entertainment (a magician since the age of nine).

Jonathan received his AB degree cum laude in Visual and Environmental Studies from Havard University, where he led the world's most comprehensive civic education program for secondary school students, attracting over two thousand students in the United States and Europe annually. He is the proud son of two New York City public school teachers with over 60 years of teaching experience between them.