ETC 10-2014

Connection EdTech October 2014

TIME

Field experience for online teachers is now available to out-of-state students and, starting next fall, will yield three credits instead of two.

Field experience coordinator Dr. Kerry Rice now has agreements with two virtual schools, so she can take eight teachers each semes-ter. Five positions are still open for spring.

Field experience requires a 90-hour commit-ment, part of it in an orientation in which Ed-Tech students are matched with a subject-area teacher in the host school.

Grad students in field experience may be asked to do a variety of tasks including review-ing the host-school’s curriculum to make con-structive feedback on new or additional re-sources, methods, or other updates.

Students in field experience then teach an online class in their own subject area for eight weeks, under the supervision of the host

EdTech Connection

Published three times a year by the Department of Educational Technology

at Boise State University

Jerry Foster Editor and academic adviser

208-426-4008 [email protected]

LETTERS WELCOME

EdTech professor Barbara Schroeder has

been appointed as the interim e-portfolio man-

ager for Boise State University.

The EdTech program has successfully used

e-portfolios for years, but it is a new concept for

the university’s undergrad students and faculty.

Using digital technology, Boise State is sup-

porting students’ need to practice and demon-

strate soft skills and deep content knowledge

across disciplines. Students now have a plat-

form to “show what they know” to employers,

graduate schools, and on grant applications.

Schroeder has taught for EdTech for 12

years.

teacher. Teaching includes course facilitation, participation in discussions, and evaluating stu-dent work. Teaching also includes a brief facili-tation of a synchronous class or tutoring a stu-dent in a live, one-on-one experience.

To participate, EdTech students must dem-onstrate significant progress in M.E.T. or cer-tificate course work, and must undergo a back-ground and fingerprinting investigation by Idaho authorities, which can take 6-8 weeks.

Idaho teachers in the state’s K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement program get first prior-ity for field experience. All students in field ex-perience, including residents of other states, must be certified teachers.

Rice says training and experience in online teaching can be the deciding factor in the hiring process, as many traditional districts are creat-ing online or blended courses.

2 Boise State EdTech Connection

Boise State EdTech

graduates will be awarded a

department-specific medal-

lion beginning with the De-

cember 2014 class.

The Department of Edu-

cational Technology encour-

ages graduates to wear their

medallions when they walk

in graduation because the

medallions provide special

recognition of their achieve-

ment. Students unable to at-

tend graduation will receive

their medallions in the mail.

Formally called The Caro-

lyn Thorsen Award, the me-

dallions recognize the pio-

neering vision and innova-

tive practice of the depart-

ment’s founding chair.

“I’m floored. Just floored,” she said when see-

ing the medallion for the first time. “No matter

how tough it was—and it was—it’s how it turns

out in the end that matters,” she said of the de-

partment’s early years and, indeed, of every

graduate student’s experience.

Thorsen, who retired in 2005 after nine

years as chair, said the department—now ac-

knowledged as one of the most innovative Ed-

Tech programs in the country—is “exactly as I

dreamed” it would become. “If I could have

left a to-do list, everything would have been

achieved. I’m really proud of the department.”

Boise State EdTech Connection 3

Technology integration began in the

College of Education with a federal

grant in the 1980s but split after a few

years when certain faculty members

decided the program should focus on

corporate training. They

found a place in another

college and formed what is

now called Occupational

Performance and Work-

place Learning. Thorsen,

who had been teaching pre

-service teachers with only

a master’s degree, was

earning a doctorate at Utah

State University when the

schism occurred.

Dean Bob Barr had an

assignment for her when

she returned—take over

the stalled educational

technology program. It was not a plum

appointment. At the time, there were

no full-time faculty members and very

few resources. She didn’t even have a

curriculum.

Her close friend and colleague, the

late Dr. Connie Wyzard, agreed to teach

some educational technology classes

and Barr allowed Thorsen to charge a

$10-per credit fee to hire an adjunct

instructor. Today, that fee is only a dis-

tant memory and EdTech now has 14

Carolyn Thorsen has always been a nurturer.

Three faculty members—Drs. Rice, Schroeder, and

Snelson—were EdTech graduates who were encouraged

to stay and teach. She also

hired advisers Jerry Foster

and Paul Castelin.

Retirement has been good

for Carolyn Thorsen. The Ed-

Tech Department’s founding

chair plays stand-up acoustic

base in two bands and farms

in her suburban back yard.

Between the two groups,

And Friends and The Single

Car Garage Band, she plays

60s-era country and folk eight

or nine times each week at

cafes, special events, and as-

sisted living facilities. Previ-

ous to retirement, Thorsen had no time for music.

Ditto for the stamp-sized farm in the backyard,

where she continues to nurture.

Her back lot is filled with vegetable plants, separate

pens for ducks and chickens, and a self-sustaining

greenhouse.

Home-made hydroponic herb and vegetable beds sit

atop large tanks of water populated by tilapia. Water

and fish-waste feed the plants on top and the gravel-

filtered water drips back into the tanks. In one corner,

baby tilapia scurry around an aquarium until they’re

large enough to swim with the big guys.

Thorsen may be retired, but she’s still nurturing.

4 Boise State EdTech Connection

full-time faculty members and close to 20 ad-

junct instructors. With 726 enrollments, it is

the largest graduate program at Boise State.

The program grew into a full department

about 1996 and a year later Dean Wenden

Waite supported Thorsen’s proposal to put

courses online. The department could then

offer graduate instruction to teachers in iso-

lated Idaho communities located well beyond

commuting distance to the state’s universities.

All courses were online by 1999 and the first

distance graduate was a community college

instructor in upstate New York.

“I wanted to contribute something to make

education better,” said Thorsen. “It

(educational technology) wasn’t about me. It

was the right thing to do” for teachers and stu-

dents everywhere.

distinguished teaching and professional contribu-

tions in world languages and cultures. She re-

ceived the award October 17 at the PSMLA fall

conference.

Orsatti is a doctoral candidate with a concen-

tration in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the

University of Pittsburgh. Previous to studying

educational technology at Boise State, Orsatti

earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Lan-

guage and Literature from Indiana University of

Pennsylvania. She also holds a degree in Engi-

neering (electronics with an emphasis in control

systems) from the Universidad Nacional de San

Juan).

She combines her interest in technology and

education as an independent technology integra-

tion consultant and develops presentations that

assist fellow educators in incorporating technol-

ogy into their world language classrooms. Most

recently, she has focused on digital storytelling,

presenting at the Northeast Conference on the

Teaching of Foreign Languages, the PSMLA, and

the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign

Languages conferences.

She also presented sessions on the use of the

iPad and mobile apps for interactive activities

and digital storytelling for Pitt-Greensburg’s

Community for the Advancement of Teaching.

Orsatti’s past experience includes teaching

various levels of Spanish classes at The Kiski

School and English as a Foreign Language at

public and private schools in Argentina. In the

corporate world, she worked for Middlebury In-

teractive Languages and Pearson School as a

world languages curriculum specialist.

‘

GREENSBURG, PA — EdTech grad Sylvia

Orsatti has been named teacher of the year by

the Pennsylvania State Modern Languages As-

sociation (PSMLA).

Orsatti taught high school Spanish when

she earned her master’s degree and is now

teaching Spanish at the University of Pitts-

burg’s Greensburg campus.

The award recognizes individuals for their

Boise State EdTech Connection 5

can then be shown in class. History lessons are

enlivened by brief videos that run on individual

tablets. And spelling, grammar and vocabulary

exercises have the feel of a game, with each stu-

dent working at his own speed.”

Though Gudenius and his engaged students

are able spokesmen for Constructivism’s new

paradigm in teaching and learning, the focus of

the article was on paperless classrooms.

“Indeed, emerging research suggests that

they may be reason for concern.”

For example, he notes concerns about blue

light emitted from monitors. But other environ-

mental sources, such as cool white fluorescent

lights, also flood us with invisible blue-

spectrum light, which can lead to eye strain.

Scherer notes that pediatricians have been

“warning parents for years to limit screen time

for their children, but now the screens are fill-

ing up the school day.”

Actually, the American Academy of Pediat-

rics website raises concerns about indolent,

sedentary entertainment at home, not com-

puter use in schools.

To balance the article, Scherer quotes a Uni-

versity of Arizona professor who says word

processing improves writing skills by 20 per-

cent.

In an after-publication discussion, Gudenius

says he plans to write a response to critics of

paperless classrooms.

The sixth-grade classroom of EdTech grad

Matthew Gudenius (’12) was the focal point of

an article on paperless classrooms in the Oct. 20

edition of Time Magazine.

Michael Sherer, Time’s Washington, D.C., bu-

reau chief, discovered Gudenius’ blog, and de-

cided to spend a couple of days in his Calistoga,

California, middle school to learn more about

paperless classrooms.

Gudenius says paperless classroom are not

100% digital, just like traditional classrooms are

not 100% paper. Effective classrooms include

discussion, group work, skits, science labs,

model building, and more. “The only component

I am replacing is the paper,” which he says

represents a significant savings.

Technology integration for improving stu-

dent engagement and learning is a central mis-

sion of Boise State’s EdTech Department, and its

effectiveness is apparent in Gudenius’ classroom.

Scherer sat in the back of the classroom and

took notes. Here’s what he wrote in the article:

“Ask his students if they prefer the digital to

the tree-based technology and every one will say

yes. It is not unusual for kids to groan when the

bell rings because they don’t want to leave their

work, which is often done in ways that were im-

possible just a few years ago. Instead of telling

his students to show their work when they do an

algebra equation, Gudenius asks them to create

and narrate a video about the process, which

6 Boise State EdTech Connection

building an informational app, including maps

to benefit hikers on the state’s trails.

When finished, the mobile app called Hike-

About will be a guide to trails, highlighting

popular routes, hazards, vistas, flora and fauna,

including warnings in areas inhabited by moun-

tain lions, ticks, or poison oak.

“The Innovative App Challenge provided an

amazing opportunity for our middle school stu-

dents to go beyond the Technology Lab on cam-

pus and into the real world, imagining solutions

to real problems in our community and then

partnering with Verizon to bring the innovative

idea to fruition,” said Open Window Head of

School Jeff Stroebel.

For the 2014-2015 Innovative App Chal-

lenge, teams of five-to-seven students and a fac-

ulty advisor from any public, private or paro-

chial middle school can enter until November

14.

EdTech mobile apps professor Yu-Chang

Hsu (Shoe) mentored a group of Bellevue,

Washington, middle school students earlier this

year whose proposal to build a mobile app for

hikers on Washington state’s mountain trails

was chosen as one of the eight best concepts in

a national competition sponsored by Verizon

Wireless.

Boise State’s Hsu was asked by colleagues at

M.I.T. to assist the western Washington stu-

dents with coding the project chosen from

nearly 1300 entries.

The Verizon Innovative App Challenge asks

middle and high school students to apply sci-

ence, technology, engineering and math

(STEM) knowledge to develop mobile apps that

address needs in their local schools or commu-

nities.

Seventh graders at Bellevue’s Open Window

School proposed tackling a statewide need by

Boise State EdTech Connection 7

Educational technology assistant professor

Yu-Hui Ching’s study on how to help students

use role-play to improve peer feedback in

online learning environments is

now featured on VoiceThread’s official blog.

VoiceThread is a cloud-based application

that allows creating, commenting on, and shar-

ing multimedia artifacts for learning and work.

Ching’s study also was recently published

in the International Review of Research on

Open and Distance Learning.

EdTech assistant professors Yu-Hui Ching

and Yu-Chang Hsu (Shoe) will travel to Jack-

sonville, Florida, in November to accept second-

place national awards at the Association for Edu-

cational Communications and Technology

(AECT) conference.

The award is for “an outstanding article pub-

lished in the last three years that describes best

practices in distance education or research on an

important aspect of distance education.”

Ching and Hsu won in the category of quali-

tative-focused articles for their refereed paper,

Peer Feedback to Facilitate Project-Based Learn-

ing in an Online Environment. The article ap-

peared in The International Review of Research

in Open and Distance Learning in 2013.

EdTech assistant professor Patrick Lowenthal gave a webinar earlier this year on “Improving Student Retention in Online Learning.” A re-cording of the webinar can be accessed at www.insidehighered.com/audio/2014/05/15/improving-student-retention-online-learning .

EdTech professor Young Baek (Beck) vis-

ited Hunan, China, last month to deliver a se-

ries of lectures at Hunan Normal University.

Baek advised educational technology faculty

and doctoral students on researching and get-

ting it published.

HNU faculty members have been working

hard, teaching and researching with more than

60 graduate students and 160 undergraduate

students,” Baek said. “But recently graduates

from the college have been struggling to find

jobs.”

Also, faculty members are expanding their

efforts to publish their research in the United

States.

Baek is exploring the possibility of educa-

tional technology faculties at both institutions

collaborating on research.

In a workshop with students, Baek dis-cussed the potential for creating and using in-structional games in K-12 classrooms.

8 Boise State EdTech Connection