Educational Technology
"Educational Technology" can be best defined with one word: eclectic. Simply put, I believe computers can and should be used in ways that administer strategic methods and experiences that are in accordance with the diverse learning style(s) of the learner. For example, using a computer exclusively as a teaching tool or tutoring device can greatly limit its potential and resourcefulness. Today's educators have at their disposal a wide array of high and low tech instruments which when integrated wisely into the learning environment can attend to a great variety of individual learning styles. Perhaps it would behoove us to think of computers and other forms of technology as chameleon-like in nature. Whereas a chameleon can reflect the color exhibited by its environment, technology can reflect the needed learning technique or learning style most appropriate to 'its' environment.
For the past 5 years, I have been the Science and Educational Technology Specialist for NASA's Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum team. Before coming to NASA, I spent several years as a high school mathematics teacher and Educational Technology Coordinator for an alternative high school in Virginia, working with 'at-risk' students. During that time I completed a Master's degree in Educational Technology and Leadership at The George Washington University in Washington D.C. My undergraduate work was in education with a strong focus on science and mathematics. Prior to those experiences, my teaching career took me to some exceptional places beginning with my first teaching experience on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Kinlichee, AZ. While there I taught in a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school. I later joined the United States Peace Corps and served in Chad, Africa, as an Algebra and Geometry teacher. That experience involved living in a mud hut and teaching over three hundred Chadian students in a classroom made of elephant grass. At that time, the Chadian government was attempting to create a stabilized educational system so that as the country became more developed, an effective structure would already be in place.
I've palced many of the photo's from experiences I have the opportunity to enjoy in the Image Gallery to the right. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or shared experiences!
