I'm Cait Ryan and I'm excited to learn with and from each of you over the next several months. I'm enrolled in this course as a lifelong education student with plans to apply to the DRPW graduate program this fall.My Background
I completed my undergraduate work in Spring 2010 with a double major in English: Practical Writing and Musical Theatre Performance. My initial belief entering undergrad was that my passion was in performing and I could potentially use the English degree to find side-work other than waiting tables.
I have to admit, I was surprised to find throughout my studies that the exact opposite was true. While I still enjoyed theatre and performing as a hobby, my work in the practical writing program enabled me to acknowledge a developing passion for writing and teaching in digital environments. I was fortunate enough to work with two teachers in the practical writing program whose use of multiple technologies throughout their courses completely revolutionized how I viewed what it means to be a "writer." Through their example, I slowly developed the goal of becoming a teacher of writing, with a focus on using various technologies to enhance students' abilities as writers in a digital age.
Current Technologies
I currently work for a Thomson Reuters company in Allegan, MI, primarily developing and maintaining courses in our online training program, bcpLearning. My favorite part of the job is taking a rough draft from one of our authors and editing, revising, and reworking it into a course that will effectively train students in our digital learning environment. Though my work does not include teaching directly, it allows me to employ the various technologies involved in bcpLearning to create effective learning environments for our students.
Taking This Course
I chose this course because its core focus reflects the goal that drew me to the program at MSU: to follow in my teachers' footsteps by utilizing new technologies to become an effective and influential teacher of writing.
My current plan is to research the development and implementation of technologies that will enable non-English Majors to view themselves as writers and equate developing effective writing skills with success in their chosen field of study. I hope that by contributing to and learning from this course, I can build on my understanding of digital pedagogy and develop a specific focus for the research I plan on conducting at MSU.
Glad to meet you, Cait. Sounds like you and I have taken a similar route to R&W @ MSU. I took classes last semester as a Lifelong Education student. I hope your experience is as fruitful as mine. Being able to get a taste of the program's ethos and people is pretty helpful in finding your way - or that's what I've found to be true.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to look at your work Thomas Reuters in conjunction with what we're reading and discussing in class.
Glad to meet you as well, Mike. It's encouraging to know that you found your studies as a Lifelong Education student to be so valuable. I'd certainly appreciate any advice or insights you might have regarding your experiences with the program thus far.
ReplyDeleteIt's my hope that I'll be able to reference aspects of my work to add to our class discussions on various teaching technologies.
Hi Cait,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike that your work with Thomson will be an interesting angle on the course. Thanks for joining!
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ReplyDeleteHello Cait,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear more about your work at Thomas Reuters (very interesting)!
I certainly believe your current plan will be beneficial. There seems to be a slight separation between non-English majors and writing. If there was an effective electronic component to help these students view writing as essential, we could possibly begin to see a decrease in the separation gap.