Original Statement of Interests

(I wrote this in February 2003, based on my doctoral program application essay. It helped earn my doctoral fellowship.)

Education is about changing the world one student at a time. I am seeking a PhD to continue growing as a teacher and leader, combining my fierce enthusiasm for improving education with my playful cleverness. I have always wanted to teach, to build a place where others can find inspiration and insight.

As an undergraduate, Reed College gave me a liberal arts foundation in critical thinking and laboratory research. I majored in chemistry yet excelled in theater. I revel in showmanship and illusion: actors and teachers must be compelling and expressive. In theater and elsewhere I have been guided by wise, beguiling mentors. With imagination and the right tools, a lesson can be an adventure, and perhaps vice versa.

As a creative artist and passionate teacher my tools have always included technology. Other teachers are more hesitant or confused. I do not malign them; many master teachers use little or no technology. Yet passionate teachers always strive to improve. One of my mentors tried using new technology even in her twenty-third year of teaching. Through helping her and dozens of other teachers, I discovered my minority status: I am fearless and innovative with technology.

I can't accept that a majority of teachers (and their students) reject more engaging, more didactic instruction. We must identify the barriers to integrating technology, then challenge them with better tools, training, support, and evangelism. We need not reinvent education but we should reject anachronism. Just as a word processor changes how we write (thus, how we think), other technology has the power to change how we teach.

When I was learning to design and install theater lights, my mentor taught me three simple rules. (1) Light what you want to see. (2) Don't light what you don't want to see. (3) Don't burn down the theater. Taken metaphorically, these rules apply to education technology. It has a limited but undeniable place in the classroom. It must solve more problems than it creates. And it must be more than "cool" or "appropriate."

The field of education technology is largely misunderstood as the study of gears and chrome. Rather, it's closer to psychology than engineering. Decisionmaking in ed tech is a crucible for values, communication, planning, and other organization dynamics. It is a people science because the shiniest tech is just novelty until a teacher or a student uses it.

I pursued my Masters in Teaching at Concordia University, specializing in social studies and language arts. I requested specific teachers for my field experience, including my old high school English teacher. This illustrates one my principles: great teaching happens every day in thousands of classrooms. We can best help teachers by visiting classrooms, then celebrating and sharing what works. Good teachers collaborate; great teachers steal.

I chose to teach high school because I'm fascinated by the emerging self awareness and social consciousness of teenagers. I worked as a daily substitute, then as a long-term sub, and finally as a classroom teacher. I taught algebra, English, speech, and technology. I helped coach the speech team and served as a union representative. But a teacher's life is hemmed in by planning and grading, and I wanted to be more involved in reform and policy.

Education is the foundation of our democracy and culture, and technology can play a critical role in improving schools. Effective implementation spans infrastructure, staffing, curriculum, and professional development. These are systemic issues, and I am a systems thinker.

I left the classroom to join the Technology Center at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. As a researcher I enjoy fieldwork, publishing, and technical assistance. But I crave more learning. I'm not looking in nearly enough classrooms and I'm not doing all I can to help teachers.

I like the principle of "reach for the low-hanging fruit." I want to co-opt the technology students already play with to help empower teachers as fearless technology users. In my classroom I co-opted music, movies, and television to increase engagement and learning. I also co-opted the leading entertainment industry: computer and video games. Many of students are avid game consumers. They know or recognize Mario, Pikachu, and the Sims. They eagerly learn imaginary histories and sciences (e.g. magic systems). I want to use games to teach more meaningful curricula. Players can learn real facts and concepts, as well as skills like etiquette, empathy, collaboration, problem solving, and intrapersonal intelligence.

I'm especially intrigued by multiplayer role-playing games. I am concerned with how adolescents struggle to develop their identities and self worth. Many teenagers turn to role playing to explore and experiment. Role playing in persistent online worlds is like being immersed in endless participatory theater, with no permanent winners or losers. Some players even seek to "lose" for the experience and self discovery. Thus, role playing can support teaching emotional intelligence and other student-empowering curricula.

It probably won't surprise you that I am personally fascinated with games, especially multiplayer role-playing games. I am an avid player and designer, combining my creativity, intelligence, interdisciplinary background, and technology mastery. I want to create computer games for schools, to research what works and to prove that games can be more than recreation or distraction. Eventually I want to teach in a college of education, while researching and advocating for meaningful reform. I want to use grants to create ready-to-use resources for teachers. I want to study cyberlife and online teaching. I want to run for a school board.

The field of computer games for teaching is growing. I believe your program will best prepare and support me to research and publish in this field. I want to understand the past and present of teaching using technology, and study effective policy change. I want to be more active in education reform, because education is the best solution to most problems. And because, most of all, I love teaching.