04/10/07  <<HOME>>

COATT is a partnership between Michigan universities, colleges, schools, and educational professional organizations aimed at making our state first in the nation when it comes to training pre-service and practicing teachers to use technology as an effective teaching tool. Through award programs for outstanding teachers, professional development opportunities, and innovative and collaborative projects, COATT is a state leader in promoting the integration of technology into teaching and learning in Michigan.

I intend on pursuing this award and being the first student from University of Michigan-Flint to do so.  I am utilizing research, communication, experiences from the Meeting of Minds XII and Meeting of Minds XIII, and mentors to create a teaching website for my classroom, students, teachers, administrators, and parents. www.coatt.org

POOT is an online simulation of a diplomatic trial at the ancient Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.  Students play roles as guests from a range of historic places and times, including a core group from medieval Muslim Spain.  They interact with Student-Mentors (university students from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Flint, Michigan, USA) who assist the students in researching specific aspects of their character’s life and times, and adopting the role of their character at the banquet, which culminates the eight-week unit.  Each semester, a significant world conflict (sometimes contemporary, sometimes historical) is chosen to be the center of the trial.

I gained valuable mentoring experience in an on-line setting through active engagement in POOT.  The class was a Masters level course that I took for undergraduate credit.  The class taught me a lot about educational psychology and philosophy. We addressed real world issues with real people crossing many subjects. I hope to use the experiences players from POOT taught me in developing my own educational software. http://poot.soe.umich.edu/

CS Games is an inter-university competition involving Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Software Engineering students from across North America. For an entire weekend, competitors will be challenged both individually and cooperatively in a medley of interdisciplinary competitions targeted at students of any undergraduate year!

I went with the Association for Computing Machinery and Student Union of Mathematic, two clubs I am in from the University of Michigan-Flint to Montreal, Quebec.  I won the most points for my team event, enjoyed the competition, and served as a translator around the city. I met a lot of fellow technology students and learned valuable programming and software techniques that will aid in developing my own educational software. csgames.org

Since its inception in 1993, the annual Meeting of Minds Undergraduate Conference has provided a forum for the publication and dissemination of undergraduate student research. A shared responsibility between the University of Michigan - Flint, Oakland University, and the University of Michigan - Dearborn, it represents the strong personal commitment of many individual faculty members across the three campuses to undergraduate research and the dedication of these individuals to education through a research mentor relationship with each student.

I used this gathering of student researchers to communicate results from my two Interdisciplinary Studies Theses. I gained research experience and had the opportunity to present my works on “Integrating Technology in Education” and “Analyzing the Gap: Technology goals, the transition from high school to college”. I used visual aids, audio, video, and other instructional technology in my presentation. The next year, I returned with another presentation "We are at War". This presentation looked at how educational technology can learn from the video game industry to make better products and increase learning.

     Meeting of Minds XII @ University of Michigan Flint

     Meeting of Minds XIII @ Oakland University

Exposure to computers does not equal understanding. IC³ Certification offers you the opportunity to learn and demonstrate computer and Internet literacy that accurately validates skills and productivity in the workplace.  It provides core skills and knowledge necessary to use some computer applications and the Internet. It effectively tests computing knowledge and skills to ensure mastery is achieved to give a resume-building standard certification as proof of successful completion of the program.  IC³ certification provides the foundation necessary to further enhance productivity and marketability with other desktop application-specific certifications.

I completed this training as a supplement and confirmation of previous training received from working for Information and Technology Services, University Outreach, and Center for Service Learning and School Partnerships at University of Michigan-Flint.  I am very interested in receiving more certifications for my computer experiences.

Service learning allows students to:

·         Learn through practical application of concepts, content and skills from the academic disciplines

·         Share talents and resources with the community

·         Develop an awareness and understanding of diversity

·         Interact with community members and organizations

·         Develop a sense of social responsibility

·         Enhance their critical thinking skills

·         Meet community needs

·         Learn skills and values for civic engagement

Through my experiences at Sobey Elementary, I gained classroom experience in using technology at an elementary level, which inspired me to pursue a technology focused degree in elementary education. This also helped prepare me for instructing younger students that had no computer at home and had never used one before. It was here that I realized how much education was really needed for the students, teachers, and administrators.  This work-study employment prepared me for the challenges to come, and I learned just as much from them as they did from me.

Students Promoting Literacy (SPL) was founded in the fall of 2003 to raise awareness and continue efforts emphasizing literacy among American youth. I helped start this club and served as vice president. We read to elementary school children and offer one-on-one help with reading.

                               
National Institute for Literacy                       Alpha Upsilon Alpha (National Reading Honor Society)
 

This website is a result of my next experience with University Outreach and the Center for Service Learning and School Partnerships.  Camp Imagination allowed me to design my own curriculum that corresponded with themed weeks.  I taught and presented a weekly product to parents of my students.