About Me.
This portfolio, showcasing my work in the Learning Design and Technologies master's program at the University of South Carolina, represents my desire to create intentional, effective, and engaging digital learning experiences that are deeply rooted in research and pedagogy.
My professional goal as I complete my master's degree is to continue to work within the intersection of education and technology, supporting students and educators as they navigate an increasingly tech-rich educational landscape. This work can take place in my current position as a classroom computer science teacher, where I also support the technological growth of the educators around me, or in a future role as a technology integration specialist in a K-12 instructional setting.
To support my mission and goals, I have spent the past several years in both my academic and my career path, focusing on the skills and competencies necessary for these roles, including instructional design based on learning theory, effective technology integration, collaborative leadership, and digital literacy instruction.
My professional journey began with an intention to become a software engineer and, studying computer science at the College of Charleston, I developed skills in computational thinking, iterative problem-solving, and systems design. Over time, I became drawn to the human-side of technology: how people, particularly adolescents, approach and interact with the digital world. This interest led me to the field of education, where I found that the learning design process was quite similar to the software engineering process, as both involve the identification of needs, intentional and user-centric design choices, unit testing, analysis, and iteration.
I am currently finishing my fourth year teaching middle school computer science at Porter-Gaud School, my sixth year as a classroom teacher, and my tenth year in the field of education. The blend of my technical training and my classroom experience shapes how I approach learning design and technologies, and this matters because it demonstrates my ability to design digital educational tools that are based in my knowledge of how systems work and how students learn.