JAF

Welcome

I studied Instructional Technology at the College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio, and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in December 2011. This eportfolio is a reflection of the work I completed during the course of my program and during my professional career. After you review my work, I hope you'll e-mail me with questions, comments, or interest in future collaboration.

Reflection

After more than twenty years of professional experience in children's publishing and educational content development, I developed some reliable tactics for communicating with youth audiences. However, I wanted to explore whether my expertise born through experience could be enhanced by understanding how learners absorb, process, and retain information. My hope was that this understanding might help me communicate more effectively with young audiences.

My exploration led me to UTSA, where I enrolled and became a graduate student in January 2008. With each class I've seen direct relation to my professional and personal life, and have endeavored to apply those learnings to improve my interactions with others. My research has focused primarily on integrating educational theory, media, and technology to teach financial literacy to children and young adults. However, I have also explored such topics as the effect of Internet usage on identity construction (2010), the use of peer mediation as an instructional method in inclusive classrooms (2008), and the effectiveness of online learning communities and passionate affinity groups (2011).

For a deeper exploration of my thoughts on education, I hope you'll read:
My Individual Statement of Philosophy (2008)
My Personal Philosophy of Education (2009)

Please use the links in the upper left to navigate to other sections of my eportfolio.