My name is Anna and I am enrolled in the Instructional Technology and Design (ITD) PhD program at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). This is only my second semester in the program. I took IT 636, Instructional System Design, the spring 2016 semester. This was my first online class to ever take. I have already learned a lot from just that one course and am looking forward to future classes. I have been teaching at USM for almost 9 years; however, I did not start out in education or with thoughts of ever teaching. I obtained my B.S. in biology from USM in 2002, still unsure what I wanted to do. The fall of 2003 I began work on my M.S. in medical laboratory science at, and completed the program in June of 2006. I worked at Marion General Hospital in the lab for maybe 6 months. I did not like the night shift so I took a job at Hattiesburg Clinic’s main lab. After almost a year of working for Hattiesburg Clinic I received a call from my former instructor. They needed an Instructor. I had never thought about teaching, but was ready for a change and decided I would give it a try. I fell in love with teaching! I have had bad semesters and good semesters, but the good outweigh the bad. Since I have no background in education I wanted to pursue my PhD in an area that would provide me with information that would help me become a better teacher. My department just started a fully online program so ITD was a perfect fit. I do not have a lot of experience with technology software. Do not ask me about HTML or use tech terminology, I will not know what you are talking about! I began using PowerPoint in high school and use it in my lectures and labs, so I am very familiar with it. I am also familiar with Word, PDF, Publisher, and Excel. I have written many a paper with Word, converted files to PDF, made flyers with Publisher, and grade spreadsheets with Excel. Everything I know about those programs I learned through trial and error. I know enough about them to get by and would love to know more about short cuts, etc. I have never used Access or Concept Mapping. I created my first website for IT 636 using WIX. I found I can spend hours just deciding on a theme! I have always been a little scared of technology but willing to try new things; however, I have found the more I use it the smaller that fear becomes. When it comes to electronic communications I am a pro with email. I have been using email since AOL was first invented. I also love to embed You-tube video clips into my lecture and lab PowerPoints. I have heard of podcasts, blogs, and Wikis but have never used them. My teaching philosophy has changed many times since my first semester teaching. I began as an old school teacher. I lectured and expected the students to write down everything I said. That’s how I learned so I expected everyone else to learn that way. Over the past eight years I have learned that not everyone processes new information the same way. Some students like to just listen and take notes while others need to be actively involved in the learning process. I have used PowerPoints since my first semester in order to present my lecture information. I teach hematology, which requires the use of images, and PowerPoint is a great format for presenting pictures. I have used You-tube for many years now as well. I also use Blackboard to post all assignments, syllabi, PowerPoints, etc. The past few years I have begun using active learning in my classes, and have had both positive and negative responses. The first semester I relied on in class activities without lecturing much and the students loved it. The second semester I did the same thing and that class hated it. I finally found a happy medium. I lecture, review case studies, and ask the class questions the majority of the time. The class period before the exam I use activities to review the material. Last fall, 2015, my classes responded really well. I plan on applying what I learn in the ITD program at USM to enhance my face-to-face classes as well as add a variety of learning activities to my online classes.
2 Comments
Demetric Williams
6/10/2016 03:30:15 pm
Hi Anna
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Alex
6/22/2016 05:16:34 pm
Hi Anna. I think we have had classes together before. So, it's good to "see" you again. I hope that you have a great semester!
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AuthorAnna K. Swann, M.S., MLS (ASCP)CM Blog Roll
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