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Dad Brings Home a Computer
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. -
Education from Video Games?
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. -
Edutainment Continues to be a Part of My Life
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 -
Typing Lessons With Ms. Beacon
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. -
HTML and the Internet
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. -
Required Computer Competency
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. -
Smokey Rob's Internet Cafe
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. -
Work from Home is the best Office
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. -
Online Learning for the First Time
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. -
My Teaching Career Begins
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. -
Graduate a Knight to Work with Reading Rainbow
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. -
Pack Your Bags We're going to the Internet
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. -
Back to School
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.