Michele Meinke Kroll
Learning Technologies & Design Ph.D. Portfolio
UNH Extension -Behavioral Health and Well-Being Field Specialist
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Teaching Philosophy
Lifelong learning is an important personal value and something that I have taken seriously throughout my life. Whether it be a formal or non-formal learning space I have pursued knowledge of historical contexts and cultures throughout my coursework and travels. A career educator, I am pursuing a terminal PhD in Learning Technologies and Design at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in order to continue to grow,,, an follow my dream of contributing to new knowledge in my discipline.
People in my age group often get pigeonholed as those who don't like to use digital technology or are "late adopters of technology" while nothing could be further from the truth. While I love technology, I also love the idea of integrating technology within the physical or online classroom when appropriate to design an optimal student-centered learning experience. Learning technologies is the perfect blend of technology and education, which reflects who I am as an educator. I am a non-traditional student and mom, with a son starting college in one year. I feel that I can relate to the educational needs of those professional adults seeking certification and advanced degrees as well as students just starting out with their academic career.
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I enjoy learning about educational pedagogy to increase meaningful learning and personal instructional needs of 21st century students. My research interests in using visualization technologies and embodied experiences help me find new ways to introduce an interactive robust college learning experience. I am a social constructivist and believe in providing opportunities for students to build collaborative knowledge in problem based and situated learning environments.
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Michele Meinke Kroll, A true lifelong learner
Teaching Internship: SISLT 9471
Instructional Systems Design
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Teaching Internship Goals:
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Practice formal online teaching techniques in a higher education setting
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Using rubrics effectively to provide consistency for evaluating students work
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Responding to discussion boards constructively
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Use the meaningful learning model in designing course artifacts
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Produce interactive course artifacts using Articulate Storyline 2 for Instructional Systems Design and Technology Assessments
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" This internship allowed me to use my creative side which is something I value and consider a personal and professional strength. "
SISLT Course Designer: SISLT 7310
Agile Project Management
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Devon Whetstone and I are currently designing an 8 week, online 2 hour credit course for the Gamification Certificate in SISLT. The course will be offered in Summer 2019. The course design centers around an immersive role-playing simulation. The game will serve as a sandbox environment for students to gain real world experience with APM methods. The learners will work collaboratively in teams on complex tasks, and the instructors will lead and guide the tasks by taking on the character role of Leonardo da Vinci’s apprentices. The purpose of the game environment is to provide learners a chance to practice the concepts and skills they learn in the first part of the class (i.e. weeks 1-3) and apply them in a scenario with authentic stakes (i.e., being a team player and obtaining a grade for the course). However, the consequences of mistakes are not as severe as in the real-world (e.g., getting fired or losing a client), so another primary goal is for students to gain confidence in their own APM abilities. When students are ready to practice APM for the actual project, the course site becomes the game environment. (Mona Lisa Cafe- Discussion Board, Guilds- groups, Master da Vinci's Studio- course questions, Leonardo's Library- Resources). In short, there are no other instructional activities external to the game, all of the foundational units are completed by this time. This allows the learners to fully immerse themselves in the experience in a way that supplemental instructional methods (e.g., a lecture) would serve as a distractor rather than a scaffold. If we get our wish, Dr. Strobel will agree to become our "da Vinci" for an introduction video to start the sim learning experience.
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Capstone Course: Online Educator
Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education
I designed an 8 week course using Blackboard Collaborate to finish the EdSp degree requirement. This course demonstrates my philosophies in instructional systems design using a constructivist approach to learning. It also demonstrates my understanding of the Quality Matters matrix for online course design in higher education. The course is designed with a gamification environment built in to the LMS such as "leveling up" and leader boards.
