Meet ACU Online’s new assistant dean of K-12 leadership and educator development, Dr. Alline Sada. Alline joins ACU’s faculty with extensive multidisciplinary experience in educational technology and is passionate about helping students and teachers take a proactive approach to their professional endeavors. Learn how her background in the educational space and expertise in technology is helping our ACU community develop and innovate with new exciting opportunities.
Providing a Pathway
While growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, Alline enjoyed learning about various cultures while traveling with her family and was heavily inspired by art, thanks to her mother who was a painter. As Alline began to pursue higher education, she sought her bachelor’s degree in art history to build on the influences of her childhood. “I love how art connects to culture and history,” Alline explained. “It allows us to tell stories and communicate ideas.”
Soon after Alline graduated from college, she got a call from a local Pre-K-9 private school asking if she could quickly fill the open teaching position. At first, Alline didn’t envision how her background in art would translate to the classroom, but she pushed through her initial discomfort and uncertainty to see where teaching could take her. For many years, Alline continued to teach students aged 3 to 15 years old who were trilingual in English, Spanish, and German. Alline remains thankful to this day for the administrators who believed she was equipped to be an educator.
She later became an administrator in education technology and, through her perseverance, Alline obtained master’s degrees from Southern New Hampshire University (Master of Education), Instituto Juan Pablo II (Master of Family Sciences), and Framingham State University (Master of Education) to further her expertise. Never one to quit, Dr. Sada went on to earn her Doctor of Education with a concentration in Global Educational Leadership from Lamar University in 2018 and hasn’t stopped improving and enhancing school systems ever since. After spending most of her life in Monterrey, Mexico Alline moved to Austin, Texas, seven years ago, where she currently resides with her husband and three children.
Throughout her career, Alline has combined her early interest in art with her experience in design with technology. In doing this, she has pathed a pathway for schools in Mexico and the US by challenging educators to think strategically about their curriculum and offerings. As she began to branch out of the four walls of the classroom, Dr. Sada realized there was more she could be doing to progress education. Through the years she served as an instructional technology coordinator, director of education, and was a pivotal part of launching online educational applications to assist the learning process. She has partnered with companies such as Google, and the Association of Supervision and Career Development where she has consulted and help develop online platforms for kids and teachers to learn beyond typical classroom curriculum. Through her work, Alline encourages educators to remain mindful in their use of technology design and view it as a resource to enrich the learning process through trainings, courses and content that focus on strategic planning while exploring the ever-growing world of tech.
Encouraging Engagement Through Education
Alline was first introduced to ACU during her work in the Apple Distinguished Educator Program where she assisted in the launch of ACU’s tablet program in 2011. Years later, ACU reached out to Alline to create a teacher program to ensure faculty and staff were prepared for current and future challenges in education technology. In 2021, she accepted the position as assistant dean of K-12 leadership and educator development at ACU Online. Her goal for this position is to reinvent what engaging and meaningful teacher preparation looks like in our modern world.
Going into 2023, Alline is very excited about developing opportunities for ACU’s future in the education industry. ACU has partnered with Region 13, the education service center in the Austin area, and created various pathways for educators to come in and out of their career development on their own timeline. “I’m looking forward to blessing a lot of different communities and maintaining retention and engagement through our offerings,” Alline said. “I want to make sure we’re having frequent check-ins with students and continue to understand what our community’s needs are so they have a successful experience and contribute to helping the next generation of professionals.”
Looking Toward the Future
Alline believes that ACU’s approach allows students to receive truly accessible education on their own time. “Being virtual allows our community to connect with others they normally wouldn’t get to connect with,” she reflected. Alline described how exciting it is to be able to work for a university with the ability to reach so many different parts of the world. She’s excited to expand ACU’s offerings to accredited and accessibility-minded schools. “I would like to have an ACU graduate in every school district in Texas,” she said. “I want ACU to be instrumental in creating this new generation that has a huge say in what education looks like in Texas and that begins with our superintendents, principals, teachers, and counselors. I want everyone to be trained by ACU to push education forward to where it should be.”
Alline looks forward to how her new position with ACU will continue to evolve and develop alongside the university’s academic offerings and feels so thankful to give back to students and teachers by encouraging them to continually learn and try new things. “We’re preparing students for roles that haven’t even been created yet,” Alline commented. “I could not ask for a more rewarding and challenging opportunity.”
Interested in learning more about how ACU continues to improve its students and education offerings? Visit acu.edu/online or contact us at 855-219-7300 today.