PROGRAM OF STUDY

Details:
This needs assessment course, taught by Dr. John Wedman, looked at needs assessment through the lens of his Performance Pyramid. Rather than solely looking at what needed to be trained or taught, which many times often fails, it looked at six major areas:

• Tools, Environments, and Processes
• Expectation and Feedback
• Rewards, Recognition, and Incentives
• Performance Capacity
• Motivation and Self-Concept
• Competence: Knowledge and Skills

We were asked to implement a needs assessment in our workplace. With the permission of my administration (and with shaky knees), it was implemented and was a great experience for me as well as provided valuable information for my administration.

Details:
This class, taught by Dr. Julie Caplow, instructed on formative and summative evaluation of interactive learning systems. The entire class was done via a group project, working and learning together as a team.

We are currently going over the steps of a full evaluation. I am currently in the process of taking this class. More to come soon!

Details:
Designing CSCL, taught by Dr. Laffey, focused on the aspect of collaboration, learning and working to create something together as a team, in the context of an online learning environment. Through teaching each other lessons and focusing on the aspects of collaboration in an online environment, we learned the benefits of this strategy to online learning.

In addition, we also took a look at how the design aspects of online learning can affect (good and bad) effective collaboration.

Details:
CSCW, taught by Dr. Laffey, was another design course which focused on cooperation, working together for a common goal, within the context of an online work environment. From looking at various implementations of social computing in the work environment, we also looked at the design aspects of interface development and how that can have a good or bad effect on computer supported cooperative work.

Details:
Designing Performance Support Systems, taught by Dr. Laffey, looked at what performance support systems are, and how they help people do the tasks they are wanting to accomplish. By assisting people in needing to learn or perform "now", performance support systems do just that: support performance.

Part of the assignment was to design a performance support system for the Learning Systems Design and Development track in small groups.

Details:
Designing Direct Instruction, taught by Dr. David Crismond, looked at how to design direct instruction in a way that supports deeper understanding as well as higher-order thinking in learners. By starting with main questions and then supporting questions, designing the direct instruction around those questions leads to more appropriate instruction which also helps students to question rather than just absorb material.

During this class we created a unit and iterated it throughout the course.

Details:
Introduction to Web Development, taught by Christiana Kumalasari and Tawnya Means, went over the basics of XHTML development and CSS. The product of this class served as a site for early intervention teachers across the state of Alaska, and has been iterated upon since then.

Details:
Introduction to Digital Media, taught by Paul Turner, went over the basics of photo manipulation, sound production and editing, and video production and editing. We made samples of each and displayed them in a final portfolio.

Details:
Intermediate Web Development, taught by Pei-Ju Lu, introduced us to more advanced XHTML coding, including use of dreamweaver and dreamweaver behaviors. I had integrated this with a wordpress blog, and at the end had a working site for Alaska Disabled Veterans Sports Association.

Details:
Digital video production, taught by Paul Turner, was a more in-depth project-oriented class on digital video production. We were able to choose our video editing program, and since my husband already had it, I chose Final Cut Pro as my editing choice, in order to learn more about using the program.

Because of his willingness to let us explore, I was able to explore a new program while testing out the video techniques we were to use. I also learned the use of a homemade green screen, and one of my videos became a distributed (via CD) infomercial for a statewide assistive technology program in Alaska.

Details:
Digital Media: Computer Graphics, taught by Pei-Ju Lu, was an in-depth class focused just on the use of digital images and Photoshop. We created various Posters, flyers, and other images. One of the images became a flyer for a local podcast.

Details:
Web Application Development I, taught by Tawnya Means and Dr. Chris Amelung, was by far the best programming experience I've had. We learned PHP via direct instruction as well as cooperating and sharing with other students online.

The final product was a learning site called "Smart Signer", which is still in the iterating process.

Details:
Web Application Development II, taught by Dr. Kwangsu Cho, focused on the use of ASP.net in creating web applications.

Details:
Macromedia Flash Authoring, taught by Dr. Joi Moore, looked at how to create flash-based interactive systems. The end product was to create some sort of interactive learning application. My product was a game which helped users practice their current vocabulary, as chosen in the Smart Signer application. It utilized server-side Flash, PHP, and MySQL technologies.