Mariya Khan

Autobiographical Statement

 

While teaching in Maryland, I faced many challenges in meeting the instructional needs of all students with the curriculum, materials, and technology provided. In collaborating with many teachers and staff throughout the years, the frustration with the lack of materials, facility deficits, and, the shortfalls of the technology were evident. In searching for solutions to aid this technology debacle, I began designing various instructional pieces allowing for successful technology integration. I also began using my knowledge of visual design to create PowerPoint presentations, instructional handouts, graphic organizers, and even utilizing social media websites to sustain an engaged and collaborative learning environment. Both students and teachers instantly became more accountable and invested in their own learning. This was a turning point in my educational career as a teacher.

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Since collaboration is an essential component in the adult learning process, I chose to increase opportunities to constructively interact within a functional, professional community. I enrolled in an online Masters of Education program that specializes in the area of Educational Technology at James Madison University.
My interests include:

• online learning environments (e-learning),

• user experience (UX) design,

• instructional design,

• visual design,

• educational games,

• and increasing the use of technology to educationally benefit learners of all ages.

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While instructing students in Maryland, I continue to expand my knowledge of the technology world by increasing my experiences related to e-learning strategies, educational games, visual design, and effectively utilizing multi-media devices in education. This has allowed me to recognize the importance of User Experience Design or how the user and technology communicate with one another. Utilizing incredible e-learning tools and models, I teach myself how to create code in various languages (HTML, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) to enhance the user experience.

 

In the future, I would like to work with adult learners and concentrating on designing learning environments that allow the individual learner to select technology tools that will best accommodate for their learning style. With this monumental goal, it is necessary to continue to increase and refine my technical skills and travel to other parts of the world, in order to gain insight and exposure to diverse educational systems.

 

Although an arduous task, I am ready to take on that challenge!

 

 

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

-Steve Jobs