My conceptual framework is all about technology of any kind, assistive, instructional, etc. The framework is very much influenced by my background. I often find myself torn between my background as a person from another country and as a teacher of students with learning disabilities in US (something I really enjoy doing). My pictorial presentation demonstrates the process of growing over time and going through all the stages from an innovation to the universally designed and integrated technology. In schools, especially with students with mild disabilities, it is the process of turning assistive technology pieces utilized with specific students into instructional technology elements that all students can benefit from, not only those with disabilities. It is important to notice that for me personally this is not only travel in time *. It is also a trip across countries and cultures in terms of technology development and integration (that is the foundation for the map).
Depending on where you begin your trip (in terms of time and/or geographical location), either new technology is developed or something existing is brought from the outside. Regardless of where you begin, there are several stages that you go through. They are not fixed. The order very much depends on every single situation but there are some stages that are of the special interest to me. They shine and enlighten my way!
First of all, I am amazed with the notion of innovation. Thinking of new/updated ideas has always entertained me. During my master's program I designed and created several multimedia products that were quite innovative at a time. While presently it is hard to impress somebody with electronic portfolio, now I am curious about all new assistive and instructional technology devices and tricks that come into picture every day just like countless stars on the night sky. I can’t stop but wonder how people come up with them. I would love to make such a contribution at least once in my life. My hopes are that I will be able to develop a universally designed video toolkit program for teachers of students with disabilities, which will be my innovation. For my dissertation I will attemp to investigate the efficacy of adapted video clips on comprehension of students with intellectual disabilities. I hope this research will guide me through the future development of the toolkit program.
I am also fascinated with the process of designing and/or creating a new piece of technology. I used to be so excited about every single program/device so that I would not notice any flaws with it. As I gain more experience, I notice quite a few malfunctions in programs/devices that I used to accept as perfect. That is why I now look at each piece of technology from the instructional design point of view. I am actually interested in both developing technology as well as developing effective teacher training programs/materials following the rules of the instructional design, which will lead to successful technology implementation. I learned about the main elements of the instructional design through my coursework. Now I look forward to applying that knowledge to designing my innovative program. That is my instructional design destination.
Research is a very exciting area of professional career I am looking forward to pursue. As I entered this PhD program I was a proponent of action research that resulted in obvious, sometimes even immediate results in the classroom. However, through my research courses I have grown tremendously (I am very grateful for the enthusiasm and excitement of my research instructors), so now I want to make sure I stop at the research destination as often as possible. The best quality, I believe, I have is that now I am open to all kinds of research. Research activities constitute a big part of my life as a PhD student and a research assistant and I grow with each one of them. However, I look forward to nourishing my knowledge and experience with quantitative, qualitative, and single-subject research designs even more. I am planning to empoy single-subject research methods for my dissertation. My journey gets more and more remarkable.
I truly believe that sharing information is a very important component of any research. I already had some opportunities to present at different national and international conferences as well as prepare couple publications. The journey to this place is quite tedious and time-consuming but, on the other hand, very rewarding. I also believe that it is important to develop collaborative relationships and networks with collegues in the field as well as schools and other universities in order to communicate. I look forward to continuing active role in communicating the results of my research studies through various means including presentations and publications. If I eliminate this stop, there is no purpose in all my journey.
Teaching is my passion and it will always be one of the destinations in my journey. I have had some teaching experiences working with small children as well as with adults. Teaching at the university level is my opportunity to touch the lives of students with disabilities through educating as many teachers as I can about instructional/assistive technology. I am fortunate to be an adjunct instructor and teach couple graduate courses in technology. Teaching at the university level is very different from teaching grade school. However, I believe teaching prospective teachers can be a very powerful tool when used appropriately. I see a long journey ahead of me trying to find the best way to train teachers in technology integration.
Leadership is inevitable and multi-facet stop in my journey. I hope it will take me to a real trip back to Russia, where I would bring some changes to the area of special education. On the other hand, I look forward to practicing leadership in the US futher developing the field of instructional/assistive technology. With the limited leadership experience I have had, I believe my biggest challenge is my openness and lack of sensitivity to various politics. I have yet to learn balancing the "segway" that will take me to a leadership position. It is good that I still have time to practice before landing in the real world.
I believe that technology implementation is impossible without its integration into curriculum and across all daily activities. If the idea for a child just to learn how to use a device, it is not a true implementation. My goal in life is to find the way to make “integration” a synonym of “implementation” in terms of both assistive and instructional technologies in school systems.
The last destination in my current journey is Universal Design. For me, as soon as a piece of technology is accepted and seamlessly integrated into everyday life (TV captioning, etc.), that is the highest rung of the implementation/integration ladder. Universal Design for Learning is important because unfortunately it seems like especially general education teachers prefer not to use technology if only one student can benefit from it. In addition, often students do not want to use any equipment because it makes them different. That is why if technology is universally designed, everybody can benefit from it in a natural way.
* I was also trying to portray a travel in time through my portfolio appearance. My idea was a connection of a papyrus, the oldest paper in the world, and color pictures that represent new world with its new possibilities.
Analytical
and Integrative Thinking
