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When I was around 5 years old, my dad brought home a PC computer that he got from work to share with our family. The only real use I got from it was playing computer games like Alley Cat and Lemmings. -
Throughout elementary school we would have pretty regular time in a computer lab stocked with Macintosh computers. We surely worked on things like typing skills and basics of word processing but the time I remember the best is the time spent learning some basics of American history through Oregon Trail. This was, I think, my first real experience with edutainment, which is field I would like to focus on after I have completed my master's degree. -
Continuing my connection to edutainment, as our computers got upgraded over my childhood, so did our educational games. One game that I recall playing the most that included educational elements was Freddi Fish. It was little more entertainment than it was educational but there are things I still recall from the game.
Check out Freddi here -
Mavis Beacon, among a few other software like it, are largely responsible for my relatively fast typing speed. I would use Mavis Beacon in school and we also had a copy at home so I could (and did) play typing games very often. -
As I moved into middle school and preparing to start high school, my father, who is a computer programmer by trade, handed me a book one day on learning the basics of HTML. I was not personally interested in the coding path as sports and theater were more exciting, but I did learn enough HTML to make my MySpace page pretty awesome. -
In high school we had required classes on general computer use. We learned things that most of my friends were already familiar with like the Microsoft Office Suite, basics of e-mail, and more typing training. These courses were required to be able to graduate from my high school. -
As soon as I graduated high school my dad put me to work in his small internet cafe where I would monitor people using our computers for leisure or study. I also put together basic computer towers to sell. I wasn't especially good at computer building but it did help me understand more about how the technology works. -
I had a myriad of jobs after high school but the internet is what allowed for the most freeing jobs I had which were all work from home sales and customer service jobs. I was trained over the web and phone and then worked entirely online from a home office. It opened my eyes to the world of virtual work and study. -
After some starting and stopping from 2003-2005 I finally returned to college full time in the fall of 2008. I had a split set of classes with 1-2 being online and 1-2 being on campus. The online classes were my first time dedicating myself to learning online. I think I did my best work in the freedom of online courses. -
In 2008 I was hired on to an after school program in Orlando that focused on teaching fine arts to youth in economically challenged neighborhoods. I was able to teach acting, film making, and photography to kids aged 7-17. It was this experience that made me realize that I am an educator and arts and tech are what I have to share with the world. -
At the end of 2014 I proudly walked across the stage to accept my BA in Film from UCF. Almost immediately after graduation I got to work with Reading Rainbow shooting here in Orlando. I then got hired to teach film, photography, game design, and story telling at a brand new youth program at Full Sail University. My real experience with tech as a tool for teaching started here. -
Just like almost every other educator, in March of 2020 I was sent home to wait out the pandemic. When things only got worse my colleagues and I had to re-design all of our content to be taught online. Teaching film and photography was a challenge but we made it through. Now online teaching is second nature and I feel very prepared to pivot when needed. -
In 2021 I finally committed to earning my master's degree and Educational Technology made the most sense for what I was already teaching. I have found immense value from every single class I have taken. I am ready to get even better at my degree program winds to an end.