Current Student in the News: Sharon Jun

Sharon Jun, a current student in the instructional systems PhD program, was recently the focus of an article in the William and Mary School of Business alumni newsletter.

See http://mason.wm.edu/alumni/spotlights/jun_2011.php for more information.

Last Seminar Speaker: Dr. Gabrielle Gabrielli

Our last seminar of the semester is this Friday (December 2nd), 12:00-1:00pm, in STB 3303 (webex info to be sent later in the week).

Come hear Dr. Gabrielle Gabrielli, FSU IS alum, talk about working as a consultant.

See you there! Let's have a great turnout for this last seminar!

Call for Virtual Presentations: Global TIME

Global Conference on Technology, Innovation, Media & Education (Global TIME) is an online conference organized by AACE.

Proposal Deadline: November 4, 2011

Conference Dates: March 28-April 1, 2012

For more information: http://aace.org/conf/gtime/call.htm

IS Seminar Speaker: Stephan Hrastinkski 11/2 (Wednesday)

Who: Stefan Hrastinski Associate Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology 

What:  Student-Student Online Coaching: The Case of Math Coaching 
When: Wednesday 11/2 12:00-1:00pm*
Where: STB 3rd Floor Morgan Studio

Dr. Hrastinski is visiting for two weeks. If you would like to meet with him individually, please contact Dr. Dennen. For more information on his work, click here.  

*please note the change in the day and time for this seminar speaker

Seminar Speaker: Jack Dempsey (Friday)

Who: Jack Dempsey, Professor and Director Innovation in Learning Center,  University of South Alabama, 1988 IS alum and recent winner of a Distinguished Alumni award

What:  How the Inmates Run the Asylum: A Training Model  
When: Friday (10/28) 12:00-:1:00pm
Where: STB 3303 

Save the Date: Developing a Curriculum Vitae workshop

On November 4th 12:00PM-1:00PM there will be a workshop for students on Developing a Curriculum Vitae.  Christen Perry from the career center will presenting the workshop. It will be in the Stone building, room 3303.

When you are looking for a job, often the first impression you are going to give is the one that the employer will remember. Think of your vita as an extension of that first impression. In order to get your foot in the door and be considered for an interview, you need to have a stellar curriculum vita. Your curriculum vita needs to be effective in showing off your skills, attributes, experiences, and well YOU! Join us for this workshop so you can learn how to develop your vita. Another perk is getting to spend time with other students in our program. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

A big thank you goes out to the Instructional Systems Alumni Association Jobs and Internships Committee and the ISSA for organizing this workshop for our students. Thank you!

Morgan Studio Updates!

The Morgan Studio is complete! Here are a few pictures. This is a space designed for meetings*, research (including gaming research!), class, presentations, hanging out with fellow IS folks, and so much more!

How are you using the space? Make sure you take pictures and send them my way :)

*There are large tables for group work that are not captured in the photos.

Congratulations Chris Iansiti and Jack Dempsey!

This week is COE week @ FSU, and there will be many celebrations and events throughout the week, culminating in the celebration of COE alumni receiving Distinguished Alumni awards.

It should come as no surprise -- but certainly as a great delight -- that not one, but TWO of our alumni have won this year! 

Let's all congratulate Chris Iansiti and Jack Dempsey on being recognized as Distinguished Alumni!

Details of the award and information on their bios:

The Florida State University College of Education recently named six recipients for the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Awards. Each year, the College recognizes deserving alumni who have distinguished themselves through scholarly, creative and humanitarian achievement and service to their profession. Peers nominate the candidates and an esteemed committee of College of Education Emeritus Faculty selects the winners.

Business and Industry

Christopher Iansiti, M.S., Instructional Systems, 1994

Christopher Iansiti's concepts on learning, education and leadership began to form at FSU and grew at Accenture and Delphi Performance Consulting. The concepts crystallized at IANSITI Performance Group, his national training and leadership firm that focused on large-scale strategic learning to effect meaningful and lasting change. A hands-on director of the firm, Iansiti guides corporate leaders to make strategic learning decisions using the "Think > Learn > Apply > Achieve" approach, a learning model he credits FSU's Instructional Systems Department for introducing to him.  Iansiti has been supportive of the College of Education since graduation by coaching students, providing internships and hiring FSU graduates. Since 2005, he has served on the Instructional Systems Alumni Council and has chaired the Alumni Relations Committee.


Postsecondary Systems

John V. Dempsey, Ph.D., Instructional Systems, 1988

Dr. John "Jack" Dempsey is Director of the Innovation in Learning Center at the University of South Alabama. Where he also holds an academic appointment as Professor of Instructional Design and Development. He received his Master's and doctoral degrees in Instructional Systems from Florida State University. A former Fulbright scholar, Dempsey has been a Department Chair and directed the former USA Online Learning Lab more than ten years. He has authored numerous publications and is co-editor, with FSU's Robert Reiser, of the award-winning Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, now in its third edition.

The 2011 College of Education Distinguished Alumni will be recognized at a dinner banquet held in their honor on October 29^th at 7:00 p.m. at the FSU Alumni Center. The event takes place as one of many celebrations during the first-ever COE Week. For a full list of events throughout COE Week, please visit: coe.fsu.edu/COEWEEK.

Seminar Speaker: Lisa Yamagata-Lynch

This Friday's seminar speaker is Dr. Lisa Yamagata-Lynch from University of Tennessee. She will be discussing activity systems in design research.


Who: Dr. Lisa Yamagata-Lynch from University of Tennessee, Activity Systems AnalysisWhat:   Activity Systems in Design ResearchWhen: Friday (10/21) 12:00-:1:00pm
Where: STB 3303 

Seminar Speaker: Cindy Grabe

Don't miss out on hearing about iPads in education! Last week Dr. Reiser discussed how one of the trends in our field is mobile learning...tomorrow Cindy Grabe hones in on the subject talking specifically about iPads in education.

Who: Cindy Grabe, Technology Education Specialist at University of North Dakota, Apple Distinguished Educator, and Google Certified Teacher
What:  iPads in Education
When: Tomorrow, Friday (9/30) 12:00-:1:00pm
Where: STB 3303

See you all tomorrow afternoon!

Seminar Speaker: Bob Reiser

Dr. Bob Reiser will present on Ten Trends Affecting the Field of Instructional Design and Technology this Friday (9/23). 

The presentation will be from 12:00-1:30pm (Please note that this seminar will last 1.5 hours).

Not only is Dr. Reiser a faculty member in our department, he is now the Associate Dean of Research for the College of Education. If you didn't have the pleasure of having Dr. Reiser teach one of your courses, take this time to meet Dr. Reiser and learn about top trends in IDT. If you know Dr. Reiser and have taken one of his classes, then you know what a great seminar this will be! 


See you all on Friday. 

Call for Articles: Games and simulations in social sciences education

Academic Exchange Quarterly <http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/index.htm>


Summer 2012, Volume 16, Issue 2


Expanded issue up to 400+ pages.

Articles on various topics plus the following special section: Games and simulations in social sciences education

Feature Editor:

Maria Mavrommati

PhD Program Leader, Lecturer
AKMI Metropolitan College

Thessaloniki, Greece <http://www.amc.edu.gr/>


mariamavrommath@gmail.com

Focus:

The proposed issue will focus on electronic games and simulations applications in the social sciences classroom. Strategies and methods of teaching history, sociology, cultural studies, economics, philosophy, political science etc. in primary, secondary or tertiary education settings with the use of computer games is of primary interest to this special issue. We welcome papers on theoretical as well as practical research on the field.

Who May Submit: 

Submissions by academic and independent researchers, graduate students,<http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/rufengs.htm> teachers, games and simulations industry etc. Please identify your submission with keyword: GAMES



Article submission deadline: End of February 2012

See details for other deadline options like early, regular, and short. <http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/rufen1.htm#date> 

Early submission offers an opportunity to be considered for Editors' Choice<http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/edchoice.htm>



Submission Procedure:


http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/rufen1.htm

First Fall IS Seminar Speaker: Doretta Gordon, PhD 9/9/2011

Please join us for the first IS seminar of the 2011-2012 school year. It will be Friday, September 9th.

Seminar is an event for the whole IS community. Seminar speakers share their experiences in the field as both practitioners and researchers. The faculty encourage students to attend seminar  not only to learn more about the happenings in the field but to take time to get know others in the program. Seminar is streamed online for our online students. Look for a message next week with the information to join us online.

Seminar Date: Friday 9/9
Time: 12:00 noon-1:00pm
Location: STB 3303
Speaker: Doretta Gordon, PhD
Doretta is an IS @ FSU alum, and she works for Southwest Research Institute where she is the Director of the Emerging Training and Performance Technologies Department. The seminar topic will be Expert Knowledge Transformation. "We depend on the experts in our organizations.  But what happens when they walk out the door, taking all that valuable wisdom with them?  Loss of expert knowledge has crippled organizations, causing them to have to recreate or rebuild their corporate advantage. Expert Knowledge Transformation is a 5-step process to proactively capture the tacit wisdom and turn it into valuable learning content to build up the workforce and extend the corporate ROI."

An evening with Professor Sir Harold Kroto, Nobel Laureate

Students and faculty are invited to attend an evening with Professor Sir Harold Kroto. Dr. Sir Harry, a professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at FSU, will discuss his own interdisciplinary interests and how these interests have impacted his own research including the research that helped him to win the Nobel Prize.

This lecture event is being held by the Advisory Committee for EPLS (ACE) on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 6:00 pm at the FSU Alumni Center. A reception (cash bar) will follow. This event is the first lecture in the interdisciplinary series, Educational Enlightenment.

Back-to-school Picnic!

(reposting from listserv message sent by ISSA)

What: ISSA Fall Picnic – Opening Social Potluck

Where: Lafayette Park, 501 Ingleside Ave, Tallahassee (see directions at the end of this email)

When: Saturday, September 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Who: You + family or guests. Local online students and alumni welcome.

Why: Come meet your fellow students, faculty, and alumni in an informal setting and get to know them better while they play!

Bring: This is a potluck, so please bring some food to share. This can be representative of your culture, your tastes, or your favorite aisle in the grocery store. If you're looking for suggestions about what to bring, we suggest avoiding chips and dessert since ISSA will be providing those. However, we won't turn away more sweet goodies! Also, you can bring along a football, Frisbee, or the like. We usually try to have a kickball game during these picnics. ISSA will provide chips, drinks, dessert, and paper goods.

Directions: From campus, head southeast on W Tennessee Street. Turn left onto Monroe Street. Turn right onto E Brevard Street. Turn left at the 2^ndcross street onto Gadsden Street. Turn right onto Ingleside Avenue.

Parking: You can park by the Lafayette Park Arts & Crafts Center (501 Ingleside Avenue), then walk down the hill to the pavilion. Look for the tennis courts, softball diamond, and crazy IS people.

Call for Participation: Foundations of Digital Games 2012

Foundations of Digital Games 2012

When: May 29 - June 1, 2012

Where: Raleigh, North Carolina

http://www.fdg2012.org

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

"FDG 2012, the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games,
is a focal point for academic efforts in all areas of research and education
involving games, game technologies, gameplay, and game design. The goal of
the conference is the advancement of the study of digital games, including
new game technologies, capabilities, designs, applications, educational
uses, and modes of play.

We invite researchers and educators to submit to FDG 2012 and share insights
and cutting-edge research related to game technologies and their use. FDG
2012 will include presentations of peer-reviewed papers, invited talks by
high-profile industry and academic leaders, panels, and posters. The
conference will also host an interactive game demo session as well as
Doctoral Consortium sessions. The Doctoral Consortium serves as a forum for
young researchers and graduate students to present their work, exchange
experiences with peers, discuss ideas for future research and receive
feedback from established games researchers and the wider FDG community. The game festival event will showcase the latest experimental and research games and game technology created by university students and academic or industrial research groups. In addition, the conference organizers invite workshop proposals. Workshops are full-day and half-day sessions focused on emerging game topics, particularly those that bridge different communities. "

Important Dates
Workshop Proposal Submission: 17 October 2011
Full Paper & Panel Submission: 19 December 2011
Doctoral Consortium Submission: 09 January 2012
Research & Experimental Games Festival Submission: 19 January 2012
Paper, Panel & Doctoral Consortium Author Notification: 01 March 2012
Research & Experimental Games Festival Notification: 01 March 2012
Poster and Demo Submission: 12 March 2012
Poster and Demo Notification: 25 March 2012
Camera Ready Full Papers & Research Games: 27 March 2012
Camera Ready Posters and Demos: 29 March 2012

SITE 2012 Call for Proposals

The SITE (Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education) 2012 conference will be held in Austin, TX on March 5-9, 2012.

The deadline for proposals is October 21st, 2011.

For more information, visit their website.

ISSA Picnic at the Rez!

Who: IS program students, faculty, and families. Alumni are welcome, too.
What: A potluck picnic
When: Saturday, July 23, 2011
Where: The FSU Reservation
Time: From 12–3 p.m.
Why: We need to stop and smell the roses . . . and visit with each other while cooling down from this Florida summer!

This picnic is a potluck, so please bring your favorite summer treat to share! ISSA will provide paper goods.

Possible activities include swimming, kayaking, wall climbing, and volleyball. Feel free to bring frisbees, footballs, or any other outdoor game type things we can all enjoy. Just not water balloons—they’re not allowed.

We’ll be congregating at the Gold Shelter in the Reservation. Entry to the Rez is free for students with a valid FSU id and $2 for non-students. For children ages 7–15, entry fee is $1 and children 6 and younger get in for free.

Online students, both local and elsewhere, are encouraged to join us. This is a Saturday event and a good opportunity for you to put a face, voice, and a personality to some of the names you may run across in your online classes. So come join us!

We hope to see y’all there!
–ISSA

Reminder: IS Spring Reception and Awards Presentations April 25th

IS Students, Faculty, and Staff:

This is an invitation to attend the annual Instructional Systems Spring Reception, which will be held on Monday evening, April 25th, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM on the fifth floor of University Club, located on the south side of  the University Center.   During the reception free hot and cold hors d'oeuvres will be served, and there will be a no-host cash bar.  This event serves as an excellent opportunity to celebrate the end of the spring semester and to socialize with faculty, students and staff.

The spring reception also is an opportunity for the IS faculty to recognize the achievements of many of the outstanding students in the program. During the latter portion of the event, there will be an awards reception and prior to the actual awards presentations, which will begin at about 7:00 PM, free hors d'oeuvres will be served, and there will be a no-host cash bar.  After the awards presentations, the event will close with free desserts. Attire for the event is snappy casual (Google the term, if necessary). During the awards reception, the IS faculty will present awards to recognize the achievements of many of the outstanding students in the program.

As you might imagine, this is a very enjoyable end-of-year event. It is not only intended to award outstanding students, but is also intended to bring together all of the Instructional Systems community who live in the Tallahassee and surrounding areas. Please plan on attending, and feel free to bring a guest. We hope to see you there!

Annual Careers in Instructional Design Mini-Conference and Job Fair

All students are invited to the Annual Careers in Instructional Design Mini-Conference and Job Fair.
This is an excellent event even for students how have a job in pocket. Come and learn more about the field and your soon to be Alumni friends. The Alumni have done an outstanding job each year supporting this event. Come and see some of the best and brightest talent in our field.

Date: April 15, 2011
Location: Stone Ground Floor & online (link to be finalized and sent out next week)
Time: 8 to noon

Student Events
Breakfast 8-9

Session 1: 9-10
Conducting a Job Search and Interviewing for a Job: Part 1Panel Discussion
Trends in ID and Performance Improvement: Panel Discussion
Working as a Project Manager: Panel Discussion

Session 2: 10-11
Conducting a Job Search and Interviewing for a Job: Part 1Panel Discussion
Working as an Independent Consultant: Panel Discussion
PhD Careers Outside of the College Classroom:Panel Discussion

Session 3: 11-12
Job Fair/Networking

Lunch 12-1

Reception: University Center B, 6th Floor roof top 6-7

Dinner (NO HOST) Chez Piere on Thomasville Road 7-9? Please RSVP to Boon if you are planning on joining the faculty and alumni for dinner.

IS Spring Reception

IS Students, Faculty, and Staff:

This is an invitation to attend the annual Instructional Systems Spring Reception, which will be held on Monday evening, April 25th, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM on the fifth floor of University Club, located on the south side of  the University Center.   During the reception free hot and cold hors d'oeuvres will be served, and there will be a no-host cash bar.  This event serves as an excellent opportunity to celebrate the end of the spring semester and to socialize with faculty, students and staff.
The spring reception also is an opportunity for the IS faculty to recognize the achievements of many of the outstanding students in the program. During the latter portion of the event, there will be an awards reception and prior to the actual awards presentations, which will begin at about 7:00 PM, free hors d'oeuvres will be served, and there will be a no-host cash bar.  After the awards presentations, the event will close with free desserts. Attire for the event is snappy casual (Google the term, if necessary). During the awards reception, the IS faculty will present awards to recognize the achievements of many of the outstanding students in the program.

As you might imagine, this is a very enjoyable end-of-year event. It is not only intended to award outstanding students, but is also intended to bring together all of the Instructional Systems community who live in the Tallahassee and surrounding areas. Please plan on attending, and feel free to bring a guest. We hope to see you there!

Call for Chapter Proposals

Proposal Submission Deadline: May 30, 2011

Educational Communities of Inquiry: Theoretical Framework, Research and Practice

A book edited by Dr. Zehra Akyol and Dr. D. Randy Garrison

University of Calgary, AB, Canada

To be published by IGI Global: http://www.igi-global.com/authorseditors/authoreditorresources/callforbookchapters/callforchapterdetails.aspx?callforcontentid=126c1a01-a2ad-46ed-bedc-a86e6d04ae1f

Introduction

 

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) Theoretical Framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements – social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence. Addressing the need for a comprehensive theory to provide a clear understanding of the process of teaching and learning in technology enhanced learning environments, the CoI theoretical framework has been widely recognized and the principles and strategies have been applied to various learning contexts from K-12 to higher education, online to blended learning environments as well as from workplace settings . There have been many publications in prestigious journals, presentations at worldwide conferences, and a special issue of the Internet and Higher Education journal. However, there is a need for a book that has collected recent research and theoretical interpretations and provide developments from a range of different contexts.

 

Objective of the Book

This main objective of this book is to provide theoretical foundations and developments associated with the CoI theoretical framework and disseminate new research findings, trends and issues. It will be the first extensive reference book of recent research and practice associated with the CoI theoretical framework. It will offer scholars and practitioners a valuable source of ideas, research opportunities and challenges, practical implications, and issues regarding the CoI theoretical framework. As an extensive reference, it will prevent researchers spending time and effort to investigate what is already known and lead them to explore new areas of research. It will also provide practitioners direction in terms of designing and delivering online and blended learning experiences.

 

Target Audience

Graduate and undergraduate students in the field of educational technology as well as adult and distance educators who are interested in learning and studying the CoI theoretical framework will benefit greatly from this book. Researchers in a variety of fields who wish to further explore and contribute to the CoI theoretical framework will find this book invaluable. Faculty who wish to teach courses using the CoI theoretical framework will welcome this extensive resource of research and practice. Finally, practitioners and policy makers (i.e. instructional designers, teachers, professors from K-12 to higher education to corporate institutions) who are interested in applying the principles of the CoI theoretical framework to plan, design, deliver and evaluate courses or training programs in online or blended learning environments will be attracted to this unique resource.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Theoretical Foundations and Epistemological Insights

• Learning and the Role of Learners
• Teaching and the Role of Teachers
• Critical Thinking in a community of inquiry
• Problem Solving in a community of inquiry
• Metacognition in a community of inquiry

Design Issues

• Strategies & principles to develop Cognitive Presence
• Strategies & principles to develop Social Presence
• Strategies & principles to develop Teaching Presence
• Assessment
• Instructional technologies to develop a community of inquiry

Policies and Administrative Issues

• Assessment in a CoI
• Strategic Planning
• Global Perspectives, Culture, Gender
• Institutional Case Studies

 

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before May 31, 2011, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Chapter proposals should be unique and not be published previously. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by June 30, 2011 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by September 30, 2011. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project. Please visit www.communityofinquiry.com for updates about the process.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2012.

Important Dates

May 30, 2011 : Proposal Submission Deadline
June 30, 2011 : Notification of Acceptance
September 30, 2011 : Full Chapter Submission
November 15, 2011 : Review Results Returned & Final Acceptance
January 15, 2012 : Submission of Final Chapters

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to:

Dr. Zehra Akyol

E-mail: coi.submission@gmail.com

Final Spring Seminar Speaker: Chuck Lombardo

Our last presentation of the Spring Seminar series will be this Friday, April 1st (12:00-1:00; STB 3303). Chuck Lombardo from Kaplan University will speak on: Data driven curricular development. 

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/insys-seminar

Seminar Speaker: This Friday March 18th Vic Sampson

This Friday, on March 18 (12:00-1:00), Vic Sampson will be talking about Argument-driven inquiry. 

 

Gina Rosenthal Named in Top 20 Most Influential eLearn/HR Tweeters

Gina Rosenthal graduated from the online master's program last year and has been recently named one of the top 20 most influential eLearn, training, and HR tweeters of the year. For more information on the voting process and Gina's Twitter information and to see the complete list, click here.

IS Master's Student "Bernie" Clarfield: Inspiring Others to Learn

This article, Palm City Senior Pursuing His Master's Degree to Helping Others Learn to Use E-readers
is about one of our Master's students, Bernard Clarfield. Bernie is currently working on his internship at a library teaching people how to use the library's e-reader system. As a life-time learner, Bernie is an inspiration to us all! Thanks Bernie!

Link to Dr. Gordon Erlebacher's Presentation

Here is the link to Gordan's presentation, First Experiences in Game Design, from last week.

Have a wonderful Spring Break everyone!

Call for PapersL Journal of Education, Technology, and Society

A variety of topics is included within this call for the special issue on "Learning and Knowledge Analytics"

Seminar Speaker: this Friday March 4th - Dr. Gordon Erlebacher

Who: Dr. Gordon Erlebacher, Professor, Department of Scientific Computing
When: March 4th, Friday, 12:00-1:00pm
Where: Stone Building 3303
Title:  "First Experiences in Game Design"
Abstract: Two years ago, Dr. Erlebacher created a new course titled "Introduction to Game Design". In this talk, He will present some of the rationale, approach to creating the game-design class, and experiences. He will also discuss some of their work in the visualization lab meant to enhance the game-design software (Blender) adopted in the class.


Link for distance students: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/insys-seminar

Anne Mendenhall: Helping to provide "education for all"

Anne Mendenhall is a doctoral candidate in our program. Currently, she is in the process of writing her prospectus and is always involved with various service tasks in the IS program here at FSU.  

Recently, Anne spent several months living in Indonesia working as an Instructional Design/Distance Learning consultant with the Universitas Terbuka (UT) the Open University of Indonesia. This university is considered a mega-university with over 600,000 students. This experience helped her to learn more about the field in addition to helping her mold her career interests, which include: international educational topics; traditional instructional design theories, models, and practices, team-based and collaborative learning, task-centered and problem-based instruction, mental models, and distance education.

“Working with developing countries to establish ‘education for all’ continues to be a strong interest of mine. This may be accomplished through grants at a research 1 university…Ultimately, I would like to work at a university as a professor where all of these interests can be explored and developed.”

Anne’s experience in Indonesia was rewarding and life changing.

“The Indonesian people are very kind, generous, and loving.”

When asked about her experience in Indonesia, she mentioned that the university has many, “unique challenges that other universities may not have to face. High enrollment is one [challenge] but also UT’s students are geographically spread over many islands, across oceans, and in remote villages throughout the country. Creating and delivering effective and engaging instruction is a major priority for UT.”

Anne was able to work with faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds and great experiences. Much of her work included professional development and training faculty and staff at UT. She was able to train and consult with faculty on principles of online teaching and learning as well as various other emergent technologies that could enhance communication between students, tutors, and faculty.

Teacher in-service training in Sumatra (organizing committee)

“My work at UT provided me with invaluable experiences that helped me grow as an instructor, instructional designer, and a global citizen. I learned a great deal about the Open University system, the students, and educational practices and challenges in a developing country.”

When asked about the changes she experienced while on her voyage, Anne said that the biggest changes were personal.

“While living in Indonesia I developed a great love and admiration for the people. I was humbled by their desire to learn and by their generosity and kindness.”

While research was not the primary purpose for living and working in Indonesia, Anne was able to conduct some research at the Open University.

“Several years ago the Rector (president of the university) at the time, Professor Dr. Atwi Suparman, decided to restructure the organization. He created a team-based work environment where teams of faculty, staff, and tutors would work together to create curriculum, organize seminars, edit journals, conduct research, etc. Most faculty and staff are on multiple teams. I felt this was a good opportunity, because of the unique work environment, to qualitatively and quantitatively study the teams… I also wanted to know how the culture of this work environment affected team cohesion and mental models. I had the instruments [instruments designed by Dr. Tristan Johnson that measure shared mental models among team members] translated into Bahasa Indonesia because not all of the participants were fluent in English. The data is still being collected and the qualitative data will need to be translated into English for analysis.” 

Teacher in-service training leaders and speakers

Workshop with Dr. Mike Spector and Dr. Thomas Luschei

In addition to her consulting and training work, Anne was an invited keynote speaker for the International Seminar on Instructional Strategies in Higher Education. This was the first time she had spoken in front of such a large crowd (400 people) at a professional conference and although she was nervous it was a wonderful experience. Speaking at this conference helped her to network and put her in contact with educators in remote areas, which gave her the opportunity to visit the schools in these areas.

 “Visiting the remote schools was a very rewarding experience. At one primary school the children had been practicing for an assembly where I was to give them encouragement on speaking English and doing well in school. I was asked to speak at this assembly about 15 minutes before the event. This is one example of learning to take things in stride and just “go with the flow.” It really helped to have a sense of humor and an ability to enjoy the surprises.

The childrens’ sweet spirits and loving personalities touched my tender heart. As I spoke to them I could only think of my nieces and nephew, whom I missed very much. I spoke about things that I would say to my own family. I told them that they are loved and people they don’t even know care about them and hope for their well-being and happiness. I told them there would be many challenges and obstacles that would come their way, but they can overcome those obstacles and challenges. Other things were said but I don’t remember what they were. I only remember hoping that something that I said would inspire and motivate a child to persist and endure through those challenges, that most of us in the U.S. could never imagine.”

It seems that our Anne Mendenhall is already having a great impact on the world. Keep up the good work Anne and thank you for sharing your experiences with all of us!

Brent Hewlett: Presentation Link

If you were not able to sit in on Brent's presentation this past Friday, please visit the Ustream recording to view his presentation, Instructional Design in Large Corporations and Independent consulting as a career path. Brent discusses his own career path including working as an independent consultant and working as a corporate designer.

The Big Event: Revealed!

Smells of lasagna filled the room…there was talk of Disney princesses…J Crew…chocolates, and Justin Bieber. We learned that one of our faculty ballroom dances…another was a model…another loves chocolates and trains…and another has mad sewing skills especially when it comes to groovy digs from the 70s…laughter could be heard from miles away. Over 75 students, faculty, and staff filled the room. There were exclamations that this event was the greatest student organized event in program history…It was a research study of sorts…

What was this occasion I speak of? Ah yes…it was the Big Event! An event unlike any other. An event where we listened to distinguished speakers (Dean Marcy Driscoll, Dept Chair Betsy Becker, and Associate Dean of Research Bob Reiser) discuss Fostering Community in an Academic Program. An event where students presented on the great appreciation they have for our IS faculty – the presentations were the hit of the night – pictures from the past and kind words from our students and alum.

Photos and stories were shared. Cake was eaten. Mary Kate was crowned…I must say it was a good event.

Here is the video of Justin singing to MK. Just a handful of the pictures can be seen below (thanks Ken and Kayla!). Visit the ISSA Facebook page for more pictures. 

Our distinguished speakers

The newest Disney Princess - with the Charms of Princess Jasmine, the Passion of Princess Ariel, the Grace of Sleeping Beauty, the Intelligence of Belle, the Diligence of Cinderella, the Ambition of Tiana, the Bravery of Mulan, the Courage of Pocahontas, and the Heart of Snow White

Justin promised a date night to our very own Mary Kate!

Reminder: This Friday - Seminar Speaker Brent Hewlett

Just a reminder  - Brent Hewlett will be speaking this Friday at our Spring Seminar series (STB 3303, 12-1:00). His talk is entitled: Instructional Design in Large Corporations and Independent consulting as a career path

 

IS Alumni Advisory Council & Conference (April 15th)

Instructional Systems Alumni Advisory Council (IS-AAC)

& Careers in IS Mini-Conference

History and Mission:

Bob Reiser established the IS-AAC in Fall 2003. Their first on campus meeting was in the Spring of 2004. The IS-AAC is comprised of four committees: Alumni Relations, Fund Raising, Job Placement, and Student Recruitment. Each committee has an alumni chair, several alumni members, a faculty representative, and an ISSA student representative. For the 2010-2011, the committee has 38 council members.

The primary purpose of the AAC is to support and enhance the IS program.

Some of the current initiatives that the AAC is involved with include:

·       Establishment of the Morgan Studio—funded primarily from AAC efforts.

·       Reach out to prospective students

·       Mentoring current students

·       Developing recruiting materials

·       Facilitating Job Placement

The date for the upcoming AAC meetings with Careers in IS Mini-Conference will be April 15th here in Tallahassee. We are excited to see as many of you possible. We will begin at 8am for breakfast in the Morgan Studio to kick off the Annual Careers in IS Mini-Conference. The Mini-Conference is for all students (online and f2f). 

The topics for the panels include:

•         Job searching and interviewing

•         Working as a project manager

•         Working as an independent consultant

•         Working as a performance improvement specialist

•         Trends in instructional design and performance improvement

• ·       PhD careers outside of the college classroom

At noon the ACC (only open to ACC members) meet for lunch and begin our Annual AAC Meeting until 5:30pm. We will then reconvene with the students for an evening reception at 6pm

For more information, please contact: Tristan Johnson at tejohnson@fsu.edu

Updated Spring Seminar List

We've had some great seminar speakers thus far! Please join us for more spectacular seminar speakers.

February 25th (12:00-1:00) Brent Hewlett: Instructional Design in the Large Corporations and Independent consulting as a career path

March 4th (12:00-1:00) Dr. Gordon Erlebacher (Computer Engineering): Game design research

March 18 (12:00-1:00) Vic Sampson: Argument-driven inquiry

April 1 (12:00-1:00) Chuck Lombardo (Kaplan University): Data driven curricular development

More details to come...

TEDxFSU

From the website...

The Center for Leadership & Civic Education and SGA's Office of Servant Leadership are pleased to announce a unique opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and community members to take part in an engaging speakers series called TEDxFSU. Please pass this opportunity along to any students or colleagues as you see fit. To learn more or to apply to attend visit the TEDxFSU site. The application should not take more than a few minutes to complete.

About TEDxFSU:
In its first year, students, faculty, staff, and community members who are dedicated to inspiring the actions of individuals to make a rippling change throughout their community jointly produce TEDxFSU. Evolving from the centralized theme, The Ripple Effect, TEDxFSU cultivates an atmosphere for sharing ideas, learning from diverse perspectives, and engaging in meaningful dialogue.  The 100 TEDxFSU attendees must apply and be selected in order to participate in the conference from 4pm-7pm on Friday, March 25th at the FSU Turnbull Center. Applications are now being accepted until Wednesday, March 2nd at  www.TEDxFSU.com. Please email tedxfsu@gmail.comif you have any questions.

LSI expert (Tristan Johnson) to help U.S. Navy assess what makes a team a dream

Faculty member Tristan Johnson was recently spotlighted (way to go Dr. Johnson!) for a grant he received from the Office of Naval Research regarding the development of "a conceptual prototype for assessing the cognitive readiness of teams trained to tackle specific missions."
 For more information on this grant read about Dr Johnson's grant and research.

Congratulations Woon Jee!

Our very own Woon Jee Lee been nominated for the 2010-11 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award by faculty, students, and staff.

Congratulations on this nomination Woon Jee! We are very proud of you!

For more information on this award

Game On: Instructional design researcher works to make learning fun!

Check out this featured article on FSU.com about our very own Dr. Val Shute and her research on stealth assessment (hidden assessment and educational content) within video games.

Reminder: The Big Event this Thursday

Just a reminder that this Thursday, February 17th, the Big Event will take place. This is a one-of-a-kind event in which you will be able to bond with your classmates and professors. Dean Marcy Driscoll, Associate Dean Bob Reiser, and Department Chair Betsy Becker will be having a panel discussion on fostering community in an academic program. Following our formal speakers, we will have an additional student lead program. This event should be fun for all with friends and of course food!

Date: Thursday 17, February 2011
Time: 6 - 8 p.m.
Where: Don Veller Seminole Golf Course Room #203B (Right next to Alumni Village & the Engineering Building)

We want you all to be there at this very special and fun event.

Today's Seminar Topic: icpalms

For more information from today's seminar topic, you can visit www.cpalms.org or www.icpalms.org.

Reminder: Seminar Speaker this Friday

Feb. 11 (12:00-1:00) Rabieh Razzouk & Danielle Sherdan: "iCPALMS: Creating a web-based performance support system for K-12 educators”. The seminar presentation will be held in STB 3303.

Seminar Speakers: Feb 11 and Feb 25

February 11th (12:00pm-1:00pm) Rabieh Razzouk & Danielle Sherdan: iCPALMS: creating a web-based performance support system for K-12 educators

February 25th (12:00pm-1:00pm) Brent Hewlett: Instructional Design in the Large Corporations and Independent consulting as a career path

Link to Matthew Ventura's Presentation "Games Are Good for You!"

Here is the video link for Matthew Ventura's seminar presentation, Games are Good for You!.
 
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/12152905

Enjoy!

Big Event Date: February 17th

"The Big Event" date will be February 17th at 6pm. Please join ISSA, the faculty, and students for this event on fostering a sense of community in an academic program. Drs. Driscoll, Reiser, and Becker will be speaking at the event. This event is not one to miss!


Everyone will get more details of the event at a later time.

Save the date: Seminar Speaker: Brent Hewlett (February 25th)

Please save the date for seminar speaker Brent Hewlett on Friday, February 25th. Brent will be discussing independent consulting as a career path and working in larger organizations such as IBM and UPS. More details to come...

Meet our new ISSA President!

Although it is the middle of the school year, 2011 brings a new face of leadership to the Instructional Systems Student Association at FSU. Lingyao Wang (Ling) is a first year Masters student from a coastal city China. Ling told me that Qingdao is similar to Tallahassee but not as hot in the summer.

Qingdao is famous for it’s seafood. Although Ling enjoys Tallahassee, she misses the food from her hometown as much as she misses her mom! In fact food seemed to come up no matter what we discussed!

 “Because of the difference of culture and habits among different provinces, there are many different kinds of food especially local flavors in China. Being a masterchef was one of my those fantastic dreams in my childhood.”

When I asked Ling her favorite thing about Florida she mentioned Disney World and of course the food (especially lobster)!  

“I love Disney world. I heard about it when I was just a little girl. I was amazed by the imagination of the artists and felt respectful to Walt Disney who created this magical world. It makes me believe that there is a kid living in everyone's deep heart.”

At home, Ling enjoys gathering with her friends, playing cards and Chinese chess. Elsewhere she enjoys traveling with her friends and family and finding all of the hotspots for the best food. So far here in Florida, her favorite thing to do is enjoy the sunshine on the beach. Since starting school, she finds a relaxing weekend on the beach as a wonderful way to unwind from the busy week. 

Ling chose to study abroad and attend FSU for a number of reasons and of course our world-renowned reputation and amazing Mary Kate were two of those reasons!

           

“There is no doubt that our department has the strongest faculty background and best support for students. And of course there is a story. It was almost the deadline when I was applying for FSU in 2009 and at that time I got a lot of help from Mary Kate. She always answered my questions timely and with patience. I believe that an individual is affected by the culture she is involved in. And at that moment I thought that FSU was definitely a right place for me.”

I asked Ling why she chose to study Instructional Design for her masters and like so many of us that choose this field, she wanted to help learners and improve training.

“I first noticed this field when I was volunteering on a website to help the English learners several years ago. As time passed I was thinking that a better and effective way to help learners would be to improve the trainers' abilities. Then I found this field. I see myself as a happy little bee. I could take a rest but I could not stop working without a potential date with a new challenge…I am not a ‘sitting’ person. I am a ‘walking’ person. I found that my personality fit into this field since I could always be inspired by different problems in a learning or instructional system. I could always try to find a new way to solve the problem and help others. I would like to live a life filled with learning.

To conclude our post, Ling had a welcome message to all of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Hi everyone,

This is Lingyao Wang but you can call me Ling.:D I am so happy to be elected as the President of ISSA!  I come from China, and this is my second semester in IS master program. I love what I have experienced in our program so far since everyday I find myself learning something new! There is nothing better in the world than growing up everyday!:)

I appreciate everyone's efforts for our program. I would be excited to receive any feedback and suggestions as to how we can improve our program so please contact ISSA with feedback and suggestions.

Hope everyone's enthusiasm in our program could make this cold winter a warmer one!:)

Best wishes to all,
Ling