A member of Carolina TESOL, Cambodia TESOL, South Carolina Association of School Administrators, President of  South Carolina Association of Adult Education,  TESOL Director and officer for AEIS, TEFL International.

Creator and President of Russia and West Virginia: A Partnership for Exchange Foundation organization since 1993. Sponsored over 400 exchanges in education, culture, community, business (www.rwvf.net)

Virginia teaches teachers to accept iPhones or iPads in their classrooms and use them with programs like Kahoot. In all her classes in Russia, Cambodia, and Moldova she uses technology every day. Her lessons include TED Talks, YouTube resources so that students can hear many accents with the English language and hear valuable lessons. Virginia’s experience in this area is very strong. She led a large adult education program from an attitude of ignoring computers to becoming the first in the state to have the computerized GED and to becoming a paperless adult education program. As the leader, she also organized a national conference on integrating technology into the classroom. Virginia has trained on this subject at the local, state, national and international levels. Most recently, Virginia organized special workshops in Moldova that focused on the use of technology for students with special needs – specifically the blind and visually impaired.

An assistant professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics in the University of Texas in San Antonio College of Education and Human Development's Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies is arriving for a two-week English Language Specialist project focusing on writing centers and academic writing for publishing in Russia.   

In her research and pedagogical practice, Sidury has explored the intersections between literacy and language ideologies, identities, and culture online. In the area of digital literacy, her current work focuses on the use of digital technologies for second language writing development (e.g., digital storytelling, use of apps and video making to advance academic essay writing). In this project, Christiansen wants help Russian academics on two fronts: first, she will help Russian universities develop writing centers to aid English for Academic Purposes (EAP) development in undergraduate and graduate students. Second, she will help the academic community learn the rules of academic writing and research for international journals beginning with teaching notions on the foundation of solid research.