I Told You So...

On yesterday, I gave my 4th presentation this year at the Association for Educational Communication & Technology (AECT) 2017 Annual Meeting in Jacksonville, Fl during the Culture, Learning and Technology poster session. The title of my presentation was "I Told You So: Student Agency During the Pilot Test of a Middle School ICT Enrichment Program. ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology. This year was my first time attending the conference, and I certainly got my steps in as a Technology Center volunteer.
 
Out of the three people who stopped by my table, one stayed and talked to me about my project for an hour. This study examined how students exercised agency (acted on their decisions) during an after-school technology program. I am one of the Graduate Research Assistants for this program, and my advisor, Dr. Brendan Calandra, is the Principal investigator. During the program, students use our Content Management System (CMS) side by side with MIT App Inventor to build mobile applications.
 
Towards the end of our one-on-one session, she said that her son needed something to work on during his weekends and wanted her son to participate in the program. I told her it was not available to the general public as of yet, but he could use App Inventor. So I walked her through how to access MIT App Inventor and gave her a quick tour.
 
During the conference, I was able to meet with one of my advisors, Dr. Tutaleni I. Asino, Oklahoma State University, and get my latest homework assignment from him, a chapter proposal for a book he's writing. He also gave me feedback on my poster (it will be larger next time, Dr. Asino-lol).
 
I also had the distinct privilege of speaking with Dr. Patricia A. Young, University of Maryland Baltimore County. I learned more about her journey and what she is working on now (top secret : ). While speaking with her, I shared my research interests and how I ended up where I am in my Ph.D. program. She also left me with a homework assignment. I have to work on my problem statement for my dissertation.
 
Another connection I made was with Dr. Nicola Willis-Espinosa, Universidad Casa Grande. She is the Decana de la Facultad Ecología Humana, Educación y Desarrollo (aka the "Dean"). She shared that she is one of the two people in Ecuador, who have a degree in our field. The other person has a Masters degree. I look forward to speaking to her about the possibilities of training educators on how to use and integrate technology.
 
People in education love to assign homework. If you ever need to work on something, ask an educator. They will tell you what you need to do. Tony Carr, e/merge Africa, also gave me homework to read, read, and read more about Ubuntu, the African philosophy that situates my research. He not only told me to read but also gave me the names of some experts to look up. Thanks, Tony.
 
I was glad that I could support my big-little sister classmate, Dr. Erica Bass-Flimmons, as she presented during a Presidential Session entitled "Leading Learning for Change: A Precious Partnership Across Cultures." During the panel discussion, which included both Dr. Asino and Dr. Young, she shared her cultural experience of her international work and how she used her power as a researcher to gain access to a community in Ghana in a way that would not have been possible otherwise.
 
While volunteering, I came to the rescue several times for those who were having technical difficulties. One of my last acts of heroism was for my sister-colleague, Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck, Penn State University. I was glad to help get the computer and projector connection right for her presentation on "Video Gameplay and Literacy Practices of African Immigrant Students at a U.S. Institution of Higher Education." In an exploration of why these students were playing video games, she learned that they were not only playing FIFA 17 but also supporting each other academically and engaging in critical dialogues on the political dynamics of their home countries.
 
I enjoyed the conference, met a lot of people, and made some excellent connections.  I look forward to getting more involved and preparing for next year.