Q310: Introduction to Web Development
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This course provided a general overview of how to design web pages using standard HTML. The course emphasized the importance of organization and themes in design. As a result of this course, I began work on a biology resource web site. I have since added to this site and created other sites related to school and biology. While I do no always code the HTML by hand, and prefer WYSIWYG editors, knowing the basics of html code allows me to trouble shoot and add functionality that the editors do not support, such as javascript and php. Certainly my coursework has given me insight into the organization and design of web sites, insight which I still use, two years later to create new pages, layouts and themes.

Artifacts: Biology Website | High School Web Site

Q366: Technology Leadership in Schools
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This course established the importance of leadership within the educational system. Types of leaders were defined, and discussed the importance of teamwork and motivation within the educational system. I found this course to be particularly useful, as my school district was developing a technology plan and coordinating the use of technology across the district. I certainly developed an appreciation for the leadership abilities of those in my own district, and could differentiate the administrators who were not successful and those who were. Identifying the aspects of successful leadership would later help me as a member of the Technology Committee whose job was to act as a liaison between the Technology director and the individual departments within the district.

Artifacts: Technology Plan

Q377: Foundations of Educational Technology
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: Foundations provided an overview of educational technology, the philosophy of technology and the importance of integrating technology into curriculum. Skills relating to various hardware, softward, and web tools were developed in this class as well as various learning theories and how they relate to technology. This course forced me to learn some of the programs that have been sitting on my desktop for years that I had never actually looked at, such as Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint. Now that I've learned them, I use both applications frequently in my biology curriculum and for high school staff presentations.

Artifacts: Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt format, click to advance frame) | Desktop Publishing Document (.doc format)

Q410: Using Technology to Enhance Learning
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This course provided an in depth study of how technology can be used to enhance curriculum. The course not only focused on the use of the world wide web aid instruction, but also on standard uses of technology within the classroom and how to develop lesson plans that integrate technology in a meaningful way. One of the most important things I did in this class was to develop a lesson plan that incorporated technology. This lesson plan was different than webquests or other internet based lessons in that the lesson included all the components of the topic and integrated technology within a plan that already existed. In this instance, the study of bioethics was augmented by the use of the internet. I found this class to be particularly useful because we weren't asked to recreate entire units of teaching with technology, instead we had to take a unit that existed already and incorporate technology to improve student learning and acheivement.

Artifacts: Bioethics Lesson

Q367: Technology Coordination
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: Technology Coordination focused on staff development and training for the use of technology. It emphasized the importance of leadership skills and motivation to enable professionals to successfully integrate technology. The course also provided a foundation for the creation of protocols regarding technology (acceptable use policies) and managing resources within a large school district.

Artifacts: Technology Staffing Plan | Technology Plan Review

Q410: Learning with the Internet
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This course focused mainly on the use of the internet in designing and implementing curriculum. Various aspects of the internet were discussed, including "web scavenger hunts" and "web quests". This remains my favorite class that I've taken in the Educational Technology Program. I really enjoyed creating web quests and analyzing the different methods of using world wide web to supplement instruction. While only one webquest was required for the course, I have since made several that are used in my own classroom.

Artifacts: Evolution Webquest | Donate Blood Webquest | Insect Webquest | Epidemics Webquest | Australia's Animals Webquest

Q471 Instructional Systems Design
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This class detailed the steps involved in designing instruction, from analysis to assessment. Here, the emphasis was on the the learners and gearing instruction to meet learner needs. This class was extremely involved and difficult. I had never actually considered breaking the entire proces of instruction down into all its components. Though now I do understand that instruction is not a matter of lecturing students about topics or information, many other steps are involved in the process, including assessing the learner's needs and analyzing the steps necessary for the learners to achieve desired goals.

Artifacts: | Initial Concept | Impementation |

Q410: Educational Technology Portfolio Development
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 2

Reflection: Portfolio development outlined the steps for creating a web-based portfolio to showcase the classes I've taken at MU Direct and to compile artifacts from those classes. In addition, each standard from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) was addressed so that I could determine how my education and work experience facilitated the meeting of ISTE standards. One of the benefits of this class was going through each of these standards to determine how I have achieved competency in each area.

Q450: Research
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: In this class, I analyzed the methodology of research in technology in education, first by reading research articles and analyzing what methods were used and evaluating the effectiveness of these methods. The final project for this class consisted of writing a research proposal to suggest a method for researching a topic related to educational technology. For my proposal, I chose a topic that was related to both technology and my teaching field of biology. The proposal addresses the question of whether dissection simulations are comparable to real dissections in the classroom. The intent of the research ultimately would be to make informed decisions about replacing traditional labs with computer-based labs.

Artifacts: | Article Critique | Research Proposal |

Q462: Information Networks and Telecommunications
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflection: This class discussed and analyzed the historical and modern applications of telecommunications. The class focused on the terminology of telemcommunications as well as the social implications of information sharing and global communication. The class included an in depth analysis of how networks are configured as well as discussions about how information sharing affects the global community. I was very interested in this topic and now feel I have a better understanding of how networks are configured which assists me in troubleshooting the network at the school where I work. The knowledge of hubs and routers has been useful in determining where problems can occur within the school system.

Arttifacts: Network Configuration Project

Q475: Diffusion of Educational Innovations
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflections: This was my last class in the program, and likely one of the most interesting. The readings of Sun Tzu and "Princessa" gave me insights into how change can be accomplished, and the role of a change agent in that process. The course requirements and reflections allowed me to explore the many facets of innovations and how they are diffused through a population. With regard to my own career, these insights will be valuable in implementing change and promoting meaningful technology applications in the classroom and in the district where I work.

 

ISLT 9410: Teaching Online Courses, Instructor: Jane Howland
Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 3

Reflections: This class was taken for enrichment purposes. Here I learned some basic ideas on how to construct and manage courses that are taught online. I gained experience with synchronous learning sessions (wimba), online collaboration (wiggio) and developed strategies for developing a class that was engaging, authentic and aligned with the iNACOL standards for online education.

Artifact: Final Reflection Paper

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Biology 590: Topics in Biology, Instructors: Dr. Vance McCracken and Dr. Dennis Kitz

Course Description: The objective of this program is to provide hands-on professional development for high school biology teachers with an emphasis on science subject matter realted to the ISBE learning standards, Common Core Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards. The summer session focused on water conservation, waste water treatment, water pollution, and invasive species.
Grade Received: ?
Credit Hours: 3

Total Graduate Credits: 38

2016-2018 Enrolled in OMST

University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign

IB 534 - Evolution and Medicine - This course explores how human health is inseparably tied to our evolutionary history. Principles that apply to human health include evolutionary processes, e.g. natural selection, as well as molecular evolution, human evolution, and evolutionary-developmental biology. 

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 4

CI 548 - Capstone Project I - Part I of the course focuses on the design of an action research project (capstone project), which integrates pedagogical and science content ideas addressed in the program courses.

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 2

IB 536 - Evolutionary Biology - . This course emphasizes the creative ways that scientists are gaining insights into how and why life evolved as it is.  It also provides avenues to use in the classroom to provide scholarly evidence for the basis of evolution to refute non-academic arguments

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 4

IB 533 - Human Genome and Bioinformatics - This course will highlight the advances in understanding the human genome, utilizing the latest techniques in bioinformatics, i.e. acquiring, analyzing, storing, and displaying the information form the entire genome and protein sequences.

Grade Received:
Credit Hours: 4

CI 548 - Capstone Project II (2 Hours) - Part II focuses the analysis, interpretation, and discussion of the data collected, and the implications of the findings for classroom practice. The course may be repeated in separate terms to a maximum of 4 hours.

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 2

CI 541 - Learning in Science - This course focuses on influential theories of student learning, such as behaviorism, the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, and constructivism, and their implications for science education. The course examines the theoretical underpinnings of these learning theories as well as their implications for instruction, assessment, and teacher education.

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 4

IB 531 - Emerging Infectious Diseases - Historic links between human health, disease pathogens and ecology will be explored, as well as the origin of each disease and how it is regulated by specific environmental conditions.

Grade Received: A
Credit Hours: 4