Department of Leadership and Educational Studies

In 2020 Dr. Amy Washburn was named the director of digital teaching and learning. She joined the RCOE faculty as an assistant professor in 2006. She was promoted to professor in 2017.

Her area of specialty is instructional technology, but she has also taught courses in school leadership, library science, higher education, curriculum and instruction, and communications.

She earned an Ed.D. in educational leadership from Appalachian State University in 2005, and an M.A.Ed. in secondary education and B.A. in English from Wake Forest University.

Prior to coming to Appalachian, Dr. Washburn worked in K-12 education for thirteen years. She served as a high school English teacher at McDowell High School, the first Technology Director for McDowell County Schools, and the Director of Media & Technology for Union County Public Schools. She serves on the Board of the North Carolina Technology in Education Society (NCTIES) as a past-president and the higher education liaison.

Her scholarship has included two edited books, along with numerous book chapters and refereed journal publications. She presents regularly at national and international conferences. Her research interests are online learning environments, technology, and virtual communities. With other LES faculty, she has received the North Carolina Distance Learning Association Award, and a SIG Best Paper Award at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference.