Beach resident picked top online educator
Beach resident Georgia Shakti-Hill has been a television talk show host, lecturer, book writer, coffee shop owner and public speaker.
She has studied the major religions of the world and many alternative-healing methods while being interested in the study of nutrition, astrology, gardening and aerobic beach walking. She is a charter member of the local International Pilot Club (now known as the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation) and a member of the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club. She has served on the executive boards of both the Chamber of Commerce and Keep Lee County Beautiful as well as having been a CERT team member.
Now Shakti-Hill can add “Educator of the Month” to her expansive resume. She was selected as the inaugural recipient from roughly 200 online faculty instructors in the Florida region at Rasmussen College in August. Rasmussen College is a 110-year old private college offering both on-campus and online classes for a variety of degrees in Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Florida. There are more than 800 online educators in those five states.
She found out about her distinction through an announcement when she opened her college communiqu -online, of course.
“I was so appreciative. It was really a surprise,” she said. “What’s important is that I wanted to work for a college that was very reputable.”
Though she has taught at the pre-school, elementary and middle school levels, Shakti-Hill says she chose to be just online because she “liked the approach.” She has been with Rasmussen College for three years running.
“I started on the ground with them teaching Sociology, then was trained online. It was quite an extensive training, and it was challenging,” she said.
Georgia credits her husband, Eddie, for helping her find the job and the online transition. He is her self-titled “technical administrator” with a solid background in computer knowledge.
“It sounded like something that would be fun. I didn’t want to do a full-time Monday through Friday thing,” she said.
Shakti-Hill began teaching at the Fort Myers campus two days a week before switching to one class per quarter online. She has taught Career Development, Sociology and her favorite class called Success Strategies, which she is currently engaged in.
“I usually have a group of about 24 students from different parts of the United States. I also have a live office hour one hour a week on Wednesday,” said Georgia. “All the material is done online. They do postings and a discussion forum like a live chat room, only it is subject oriented.
“I like Success Strategies because it’s all positive and motivational. It gives them test-taking and goal-setting skills and helps with time management and stress management that they can use in all aspects of their life. The students form relationships even online.”
Online students need to maintain professional discretion and are not allowed to use “texting language.” The English language is strictly enforced with grammar and literacy.
“You need to really personalize your responses to them. It also means they have to be independent. They do have time-set limitations,” Shakti-Hill said.
Online colleges have become a great alternative for some students who find it convenient and fulfilling, says Georgia. She even introduced her niece to the computer trade, and that family member is an online instructor for Phoenix University.
As Beach residents for nearly 30 years, Georgia and Eddie have been involved in different enterprises including Caf Du Monde, the then-named coffee shop across the street from Jay’s General Store. That is where she was noticed and eventually got her start in television as an interview talk show host on “Living in Balance,” which was on Wisdom Television daily and broadcast in millions of homes locally, nationally and internationally from 1991 to 2003.
“The whole TV thing evolved from the caf. That’s where we started with the seminars and lecture series,” said Shakti-Hill.
The honored educator received her Master’s degree from California Lutheran University after her Bachelor of Science degree from Akron (Ohio) University. She completed graduate work in Sociology at the University of California at Irvine.
While she has a background in education and business with an emphasis in psychology and sociology, Georgia states public speaking is her forte. She and her husband are world travelers to the sacred sites from Greece to the Yucatan to Scotland.
Her travels and television interviews prompted her to write a book about her personal path toward enlightenment and the journey others have taken. She is currently writing another book.
“I am excited about our second book that I am in the process of writing. There is so much to share,” she said.