Dr. Nicole  Shammas has an Ed.D from the University of Southern Queensland in Intercultural Studies and an MA  from the School for International Training in Vermont in  language teaching. She has taught in the UAE since 1999 in the  GARD (General Academic Requirements) Department, at Higher Colleges of Technology,  Dubai Campuses.  Nicole has taught in the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and South Korea and has varied research interests from motivation to teaching pedagogy to the use of technology in the classroom.