Technology Statement

When I first started teaching, technology in the classroom scared me. Though my fear partly stemmed from my education in fairly traditional schools, it mostly derived from the fact that I did not know how to properly use technology in the classroom. Now, however, my views on pedagogical technologies have completely changed and I try and make my courses as multimodal as possible. I believe that as society becomes increasingly interconnected and mediated through technology, it is necessary that our classrooms embrace new and effective technologies, to use these technologies to augment traditional pedagogical techniques. During the course of the semester, it is my goal that my students be exposed to various technologies and platforms such as blogs, video editing software, podcast software, social media tools, music recording software, etc. By employing technology in the teaching of composition, I want my students to understand that composition should no longer be thought of in terms of traditional “pen-to-paper;” rather, composition, like every other field, must progress with the times. In the past, I have structured courses focused on blog posts and podcasts, movies-making and photography. This is not to say that my students are necessarily graded on how well they use these technologies, for my courses are not courses on technology itself, but how well they understand the importance of technology in the dissemination of information and rhetoric. I believe that the future of English studies depends on how well we as educators embrace new technologies. Please look at my student samples to see examples of a montage video and podcast.