Digital Media as Art
As an educator, I am passionate about sharing my knowledge of the field of digital media and I hope to help students enhance their own individual gifts. I truly believe that participation in the arts augments the learning process, no matter what field of study a person chooses. I also believe that successful teaching others is a craft and an art form itself. In this regard, my teaching practice is also focused on creating multi-platform educational experiences – showing students how to use digital media to share their own stories with a wider audience.
Embracing Technology
I believe that technology has markedly changed the way that students of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds can learn. As an educator, I have a responsibility to stay informed of the latest trends in educational technology in order to effectively assist students in learning, retaining, and applying knowledge. I enjoy teaching online and I look forward to finding and participating in new ways of using the internet to give more students access to education because I believe that anyone who wants to learn and is willing to put in the time and effort should be able to do so.
Project-Based Learning
I believe in engaging my students in active, hands-on learning for any lesson that I develop. I believe that project-based learning is a highly effective model as it helps students to develop real-life skills needed for actual projects and challenges in the 21st century, increasing student motivation and engagement. Although I may use quizzes to check student comprehension of a subject periodically as we move through lessons, I believe that the projects that students create display the mastery of subject better than exams.
Active Learners
I believe that I do not need to be the only teacher in the classroom. My purpose is to create a collaborative learning environment, where students can learn from one another, and I can learn from students, fulfilling my own commitment to lifelong learning. This can be done through a combination of team projects, classroom discussions, peer review, and flipped classroom models.
Experts in the Field
I want my students to have the technical skills needed to be proficient in the field and feel pride in their craft as well as their abilities to perform any task necessary for future projects. I also want my students to be able to critically analyze digital media in an articulate way, that will give feedback that helps the creator of the work improve in a meaningful way.