MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, ANYONE INQUIRING ABOUT the whereabouts of Donna Ewing can usually find her in one place – behind a computer.

On any given day for almost two decades, the veteran educator could be found working with students creating projects with HyperStudio, searching the Internet for educational resources, leading a staff development workshop on technology, attending a Computer Using Educators Conference or guiding OCLCNet users through configuring their email accounts.

"Ever since I discovered the PC my life has definitely been more exciting," said Ewing, who recently retired from Orange County’s Newport-Mesa School District after 29 years. Ewing began her career teaching elementary school and special education and has held several roles for the Orange County Office of Education including the position of district liaison for educational technology and technology resource teacher.

"I first discovered computers in 1982 and I was just fascinated by what they could do," she said. "I also liked the excitement of learners at what the computer could do for them."

During the early 1980s, Ewing was an elementary school teacher who was instructing hearing and visually impaired students. She immediately discovered that computers could help her greatly in the classroom and quickly started to integrate their use to help teach her learning impaired students.

"[Computers] really made [the students] feel successful at what they were doing," she said. "All of a sudden, they had a way to communicate. It’s really a marvelous way for all kids to learn."

With her new-found knowledge and teaching tool, Ewing decided to push forward full-steam ahead and in 1984 she received her Master’s Degree in education technology from Pepperdine University. During the past 16 years, Ewing has been a member of Computer Using Educators, during which time she has never missed a spring CUE Conference. She is also co-founder of the Project COACH staff development project and the CHIPS user group, a member of the Orange County CTAP Steering Committee, serves on the board of directors of the Global School Net and was a FrEdMail (educ. telecommunications network) system operator for 12 years. She has also written numerous successful grants and site and district-level technology plans.

CUE recently honored Ewing for her distinguished career by awarding her the organization’s Gold Disk Award for excellence in education technology. "That was definetly the highlight of my tech career," she said.

Although now retired, Ewing plans to keep in touch with the school district through consultancy work and as a technical support person for the Los Angeles Educational Partnership’s OCLCNet Internet service provider. "I love working with teachers," Ewing said. "I like to see the gratification on their faces when they start learning more about computers. I definitely plan on keeping my fingers in technology."