Introduction - About This Portfolio

This digital portfolio is submitted in partial fulfillment for my Master of Education in Learning Design & Technology from North Carolina State University. The focus strand of my program is Digital Design.

The M.Ed program in Learning Design and Technology has contributed to my increased empathy for the user experience in regards to both students and their teachers, in addition to the way digital learning is designed to maximize cognition.

The elements below were written for submission in 2017.

Although my long-range plans may include further learning design in the area of English as a Second Language, my approach to infusing technology with student learning continues to evolve. My passions for literacy (my first M.Ed) and technology will continue to intersect in techliteracies, which include design thinking, new literacies, and computational thinking.

While many of the courses are listed under particular strands, I discovered the learning produced in each course was applicable to multiple aspects of digital leadership, design and inquiry.

Digital Leadership

Students will develop and implement a shared vision (strategic plans, policies, procedures, and programs) for the comprehensive integration of technology to support transformational change in their preferred educational setting (NETS-A.1, NETS-C.1)

The courses in the Digital Leadership strand afforded me confidence in decision-making for the good of my school and larger Professional Learning Community of digital specialists in my school district. Several projects required asynchronous collaboration with colleagues from a variety of educational technology settings.

Digital Design

Students will create and support educators in using effective digital-age learning environments and experiences, and model appropriate digital citizenship (NETS-A2/5, NETS-C 2/3/5).

Students will exhibit technological, pedagogical, content knowledge and use technology networks and resources to enhance their own and others' professional practice and productivity (NETS-A 3, NETS-C 6).

Digital Design courses gave me experiences that enrich my own instruction with students and teachers. By working with others to design prototypes of educational software, I am able to appreciate the constraints and considerations that must be made by edtech developers. Experimenting with existing products and producing my own projects gave me an appreciation for the designer who must put evidence-based pedagogy first.

Digital Inquiry

Students should be able to collect and analyze data to assess digital learning needs and/or evaluate the impact of digital learning in authentic settings (NETS-A.4, NETS-C.4).

Although I value and enjoy research when incorporating programs and practices in the classroom, the courses in digital inquiry were the most challenging for me. They were also the most pertinent for solid decision-making grounded in data, which often seems to be secondary when systemic changes are implemented.

This visual resume was created as a result of learning multimedia principles of design in Dr. Evans' course. Key texts continue to influence my instructional design practice.

Header image created in Canva.com

Graphics for Standards created in Google Drawings with icons licensed with Creative Commons attribution from Noun Project

Navigation note:

The "new" Google Sites provides a responsive design to better suit users on multiple types of devices. If you'd like to visit an embedded link for more detail, simply click on the image or element and select the icon with the arrow in a box to pop-out into a new window. Each section of this digital portfolio addresses Digital Learning competencies in leadership, design, and inquiry.