Rebecca directs the online M.A.T. program initiatives for the Department of Education. She began her career as a middle school social studies and English teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska. Rebecca first began working in online learning at Lesley University over 15 years ago. As the director of eLearning resources and instructional support, she and her team supported course development for the online teacher education programs. While at Lesley she also served on the faculty of education, teaching face-to-face and online courses in digital learning and media.

After Lesley, Rebecca was invited to join the original team at edX, the massive open online course (MOOC) provider founded by Harvard and MIT. As the director of research and strategic initiatives, Rebecca lead various research initiatives and special projects, including Gates and Hewlett Foundation funded initiatives to bring MOOC content to on-campus classrooms.

Rebecca has a B.A. in history and B.S. in comprehensive social studies/secondary education from Nebraska Wesleyan University. An Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is ABD in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University.