My
interest in education originates simply in the family tradition.
All of my family members are teachers in different areas. I remember
always being fascinated by all those challenging and successful
stories my relatives used to share. I do not see myself doing anything
else but teaching. I am originally from Russia. I came to East
Carolina University in 2001 right after graduating from Saratov
State University with the Master Degree in English and German Languages
as Second Languages. Last year, I graduated from East Carolina University
with a Master Degree in Learning Disabilities and an Assistive Technology
Certificate.
After
arriving in America the field of special education became very interesting
to me but my attitude toward teaching students with disabilities
was more cynical than passionate. I came from a country where special
education has the name “defectology” and teaching students
with disabilities appears to be unreasonable and useless. I was
able to maintain my cynical attitude for about two months after
which I completely fell in love with this profession and the impact
it can have on the lives of children with disabilities. I find special
education to be the most challenging and rewarding part of education.
Within
the field of special education I have found that I am most
interested in assistive technology for students with mild disabilities
and have chosen this as my area of focus. For me, the interest in
assistive technology started with one quote I read in an article
for one of my papers: “I know what to say but I cannot
get the words out. I start to write but then it gets all mixed up
and I just cannot get it down,” said a fifth-grade girl
with learning disabilities. Reading these words I could not
stop thinking about how many more children were having the same
problem with writing, reading, and speaking in school and in everyday
life. Coming from a country that does not have the resources
to research and implement technology for students with disabilities,
it seems to be a shame not to use technologies that are so available.
Technologies can and do help and enhance the learning of students
with disabilities.
Being
so passionate about assistive technology I could not wait to
learn more and do something useful in this area. That was why I
decided to design the CD-Rom “Assistive Technology for Students
with Learning Disabilities” and make two versions of it: in
English and in Russian. When I first started working on it I thought
that the main goal was to make it in Russian, for Russian teachers.
But as my work progressed I found out that the area of assistive
technology in special education for students with mild and/or learning
disabilities is not well known to American teachers. Historically,
assistive technology devices and services have been associated with
individuals who have physical and moderate or severe needs. The
area of assistive technology for students with learning disabilities
has not received a lot of attention. My CD-Rom happened to be a
big success among many teachers on the university and regular-school
level. Teachers are using it in their schools to educate their colleagues
about possibilities in the field of assistive technology.
During
my last year at East Carolina University, I worked in the Assistive
Technology lab. This job was extremely stimulating and proved to
me that this is the area that will fit with my interests the best.
I enjoyed the balance between educating students, teachers, and
parents about available assistive technology devices and learning
something new every day about emerging technologies.
Since
graduating from ECU I have been teaching as an Inclusion Teacher
and have seen the opportunities and challenges in providing AT resources
to students and building an AT system in a school. This has reinforced
my desire to pursue additional studies in this area. My goal is
to explore technologies available, to research the best of them,
and to bring that knowledge to many teachers who can improve lives
of the students with disabilities forever with that knowledge.
One
of the very intriguing qualities about assistive technology is the
speed with which it is changing. There are new technologies on the
market every day now. One day you may know everything but the next
day your knowledge is not worth a penny because it is too
old. You have to be in a constant learning and researching process.
For
me it is very refreshing and exciting. I believe any job in any
area of education, but for me especially in the area of assistive
technology for students with disabilities, requires a lot of passion
and commitment and I cannot wait to engage in coursework and
research that could be used for designing more effective instruction
for students with learning disabilities at different ages with the
help of technologies.
My
goal in pursuing this study program is to enter into a career in
higher education where I will have duties as a teacher of prospective
and current teachers, a researcher (both independent and collaborative),
and an assistive technology consultant for students, teachers, and
parents of students with disabilities. I have encountered many excellent
role models within my university who fulfill these roles and know
that I would enjoy the type of balanced and varied career this type
of position would offer. I decided to apply to George Mason University
for several reasons. First of all it is one of the few universities
that focuses on assistive technology from the point of view of education
for students with disabilities rather than rehabilitation. Such
emphasis on education is what I am looking for in a program.
In researching George Mason University, the work of Dr. Behrmann
particularly satisfied my interest. I was exposed to much of Dr.
Behrmann’s work on assistive technology for students with
mild disabilities while doing a lot of research for my Master Degree
and AT Certificate. It is my dream to conduct research with internationally
known faculty of the School of Education at George Mason University.
I
would be very excited to join the PhD in Education program at George
Mason University. I feel I am well prepared to enter this program,
and my strong motivation and career goals are a good match for what
George Mason has to offer.
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Academic goals:
Reading back my first goal statement, I find it touching and quite naive. However, I must say not much has changed. I just refined a few things. I remember feeling fairly knowledgeable about assistive technology (AT) prior to entering GMU. Well, that has most definitely changed. First of all, the AT field has grown tremendously over the last couple years. Enormous amounts of new options flood the market every day. Second of all, the greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds. There is no stopping point for learning. That is true in any area but especially in the area of technology. One day you know everything, and the next day you are lost in the ocean of new products. I have had some amazing learning opportunities in my courses and various projects but I am truly looking forward to even more. I really enjoy the thrill of learning something new and delving into every possibility. For me, there are no challenges, just opportunities. My specialization and my passion is still assistive technology. Nonetheless, it has slightly evolved to incorporate instructional technology. Students with learning disabilities still have a special place in my heart and there is such a fine line between the instructional and assistive technology options for this population. That is why I am now more open and do not limit my interests to only special education technology. Moreover, my priorities shifted from accepting anything that is out there to carefully evaluating each product and learning about the design process.
Research
There are no words to describe my growth in the area of research through my courses, work, and collaborations with my colleagues. My research assistantship position with Dr. Behrmann has been a blessing. It provides me an opportunity to learn theoretical basics of research as well as its practical applications. There is no better way to learn than to actually do it. I am fortunate to be a part of the National Assistive Technology Research Institute (NATRI) that has been a great school of research. Through this project I have learned and practiced to conduct literature reviews, data analysis, and reports for publications.
I loved every single research class I took so far. I feel very passionate about the mixed method designs. For that reason I am really falling in love with a single-subject design, which is located somewhere between the qualitative and empirical research incorporating, from my point of view, the best qualities of each. Most definitely I am just at the beginning of the research road and there are many more paths that I have to take to feel comfortable with it but I am really excited about this journey. At least it is not terrifying any more.
My research interests are still scattered between investigating the effects of technology integration into curriculum for students with learning disabilities, determining the reasons teachers do not use technology even when it is available and ways to change that situation as well as creating new pieces of technology that will be universally designed and seamlessly incorporated into all classroom activities. Being a part of multiple wonderful projects was very beneficial for me but I feel like it also prevented me from narrowing down my areas of interests. I am still trying to find that one niche that would provide a shelter for my dissertation.
Professional Goals
I love teaching and miss being in the classroom very much. However, I have no doubt that my calling is teaching at the higher education level. Last semester I had an opportunity to teach graduate students for the first time in my life. I was very nervous before every class but as soon as it started I would get this burst of adrenalin and energy, the feeling that I now cannot live without. On the other hand, it was also quite challenging, and I know I have a lot of room for improvement. Through my own classes I have witnessed outstanding models of teaching, instructors who are able to make their students excited about even the most difficult and/or boring subject. I also love doing research and engaging into collaborative projects with my colleagues. I am still interested in anything I can to do change the situation with special education in Russia. However, now more than ever before, I can see how much work has to been done here to ensure successful technology implementation. Coming from North Carolina I thought the answer was establishing technology training programs. Except that being in Fairfax County, the school system with one of the best technology training and support services provided to teachers, I now realize that something else has to be done. It would be an honor for me to work on finding that “something”!
Last year I managed to submit two articles for publications and two book chapters that I wrote with my professors and peers. Regardless of whether they are ever published or not, it was an amazing learning experience. I had an opportunity to present at numerous national conferences and am very proud of that. I compare this experience with ballroom dancing. You can practice your whole life but the time when you actually grow is on the dancing floor during a real competition. That is how I feel about all these opportunities. I know that each time I participate in a real project, I grow tremendously. Moreover, if you are successful at least once, you cannot stop!
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Goal
Statement
