Overview
Technology has been a key professional focus. I have had many wonderful opportunities to participate in technology development, use, research, and policy. Highlights are:
- being involved with the development of the U.S. Education Technology Plan
- serving as the Deputy Director for the U.S. Department of Education (USED) Office of Special Education Programming's (OSEP) National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI)
- conducting research on how teens use technology at school and for writing with the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the College Board, and the National Writing Project
- using and supporting the primary video coding and analysis technology employed in the TIMSS Video Studies comparing mathematics and science instruction in countries worldwide, including managing the Restricted-Use TIMMS Video Database at the National Center for Education Statistics
- developing a parent's and caregiver's guide for Navigating the Children's Media Landscape with Cable in the Classroom and the National Parents and Teachers Association (PTA)
Technology for Teaching and Research
My teaching and research practices are deeply influenced by, and infused with, technology. I am proud to report that I received my university's prestigious Technology Teacher of the Year Award in 2012 and have been further nominated for it in 2013 and 2014 (but chose not to compete for the award).
Below, I have provided some examples of my tech use. For each entry here, I have recorded and used many many others. Overall, these examples provide a sense of the many ways that I try to reach my students and other audiences using technological tools that clarify and amplify our communication and the interaction.
My teaching and research practices are deeply influenced by, and infused with, technology. I am proud to report that I received my university's prestigious Technology Teacher of the Year Award in 2012 and have been further nominated for it in 2013 and 2014 (but chose not to compete for the award).
Below, I have provided some examples of my tech use. For each entry here, I have recorded and used many many others. Overall, these examples provide a sense of the many ways that I try to reach my students and other audiences using technological tools that clarify and amplify our communication and the interaction.
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My Courses on Blackboard 9
I have been using BB9 for some time now and have found it to be a very useful tool. It allows me to communicate back and forth with my students deeply because its organizational structure takes care of a lot of low level communication, leaving more room for higher level comments and interactions. The video to the left is a short tour through the BB9 course space I created for Internships. |
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Research/Library Orientation
One of the first things I do with students in my research-oriented classes is ensure that they are well-oriented to the physical and virtual library. Many come in to our programs knowing how to Google for information, but not how to critically and exhaustively search for peer-reviewed articles, government and organizational reports, and other types of scholarship, data, and research-oriented information. As my students were engaged in a library "field trip" to work with June Cheung, the education librarian, to further learn how to use research databases and effectively search for policy-focused research, I took this short video clip. They were VERY engaged. Sorry about the lighting...were were in the computer lab. |
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Video Introduction to Blackboard9 for EDL 711
In 2012 I worked with SCSU's Teaching and Learning Technologies Group to pilot the new course management system that the entire ConnSCU system adopted in 2013 and has been using since. Here is a video tutorial that I created to orient my students to the web environment and help them understand both Blackboard9 and basic conventions that will be used for resources and homework uploading and grading for the EDL 711 course. I now do this for every course I teach. Students report that this is very helpful. |
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Video Introduction to Blackboard9 for EDL 687
I created a similar tutorial to orient my Student Interns to the web environment and help them understand both Blackboard9 and basic conventions that will be used for resources and homework uploading and grading for the EDL 687 course. As with the other course video tutorial, students reported that this was very helpful. |
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Guidance: Creating Reflections for the 092 Administrative Certification Internship (EDL687/688)
I often create video-based guidance about readings, activities, or assignments for my students. I feel that creating this guidance and making it available to students so they can access it whenever they like is a great support and encourages excellence. |
Audio Feedback on a Group Policy Brief
In some instances, I provide audio feedback to my students on their work. In this case, my class did a policy brief and, although I typically write some comments on the paper or rubric, scan them, and post them to BB9 for student review, my scanner was not working and I needed to get them the rich feedback that I typically try to provide. I turned to audio. For some reason, this recording started to echo in the middle, but it was only for a short time and the students were able to comprehend and utilize my comments. Click on the Play button below to hear...
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Sousan Arafeh, Ph.D. on The Range of Careers In Educational Leadership
I created this video to orient EDL students to research and education leadership careers in the government, non-profit, and for-profit materials development sectors. |
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Peter Madonia, Ed.D., On Leadership Vision
I initiated and produced this video featuring Dr. Peter Madonia on Leadership Vision and the role of EDL faculty in supporting students in their growth and development along these lines. It was intended as a Message from the EDL Chair for the EDL Department website upgrade in 2012. Because we have new department leadership the video is not longer posted. |
Websites I Developed
While at SCSU, I have developed and maintained websites for my EDL Department, for students in my policy classes, and for an Achievement Gap Series of events that I collaborated on with a number of other SCSU and New Haven School District colleagues.
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Education Policy Research Resources Website
This website was developed through a collaboration with Buley Library's Education Librarian June Cheng. Both June and I identified useful research resources students could use generally, but also specifically for education policy focused research. The students love this page as a portal to a comprehensive array of research tools: links to search databases, key organizations, government resources, etc. Click here to see the site.
Education Leadership and Policy Studies (EDL) Website
As part of the EDL Department's ad hoc Website Revision Committee, I worked closely with two colleagues to fully revise and update the EDL Department Website. I did all of the technical website development. I also did a substantial amount of content editing and copy editing. Click here to see the site.
The Achievement Gap Series Website (No longer available)
I created and maintained a webpage for the 2011 3-event Achievement Gap Series of screenings/panels of Waiting for Superman and 2 other SCSU/Community Forums. Note: There is a new Achievement Gap event this 2012 semester, so the site I developed has been taken off line. The site was comprehensive and had CSU and event registration components.
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