My first year in the Learning, Design, and Technology program has been both challenging and rewarding. The faculty I have worked with have all been caring, patient, and encouraging, which helps as I move forward with my research plans.

Coursework

The first year of coursework has helped me build onto my foundation of educational psychology and instructional technology. EDIT9990 Foundations provided a wonderful opportunity to connect or reconnect with the foundation of knowledge in the field of teaching and learning. For me, it was an affirming experience. In EDIT8190 Studio, I have been forced to push myself to learn new skills. My ability to use technology as a tool to design, development, and research has grown further than I could have imagined in the past year. I have taken one course that I plan to use as part of my cognate, LLED7910E New Literacies. Taking a course in the Language and Literacy department has been a positive experience. I’ve been able to think about the research that I am doing on student-to-student interaction through language and literacy lens, which has helped me advance my ideas about how participants interact in asynchronous online discussions.

Program Suggestions

As a TAP student, course registration has been difficult at times. I have been trying for two semesters to get into QUAL8400, which no success. Each time I have tried to secure a spot in that course, the response has been either: “Wait until the beginning of the semester and maybe a spot will open up” or “Thanks for your interest, better luck next semester.” I appreciate the opportunity to pursue this valuable educational opportunity while working for the University of Georgia, and I do not expect any special treatment. The bottom line is that required and prerequisite courses need to have enough sections to facilitate progress through the students’ programs of study.

Specific to the LDT program, I wonder how the studio course could be further refined to support more advanced technical development for students. Perhaps using Studio to focus more exclusively on the design and development of artifacts would help? Perhaps encouraging longer-term small group projects where the mini-projects become checkpoints toward a larger goal would facilitate more advanced technical skill development? I know the Studio course has been around for a long time, and I do not think it should be radically changed. I do think the breadth of skills that are both necessary and possible for individuals in our field is daunting, and I’d love to see the Studio course help push students in this program further toward developing skills that will facilitate using technology for designing, developing, and researching in the areas of teaching and learning.