CIT's 2013 Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Conference at JMU, the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) established the CIT Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award. In this inaugural year, CIT will recognize three faculty who were nominated by their peers as leaders in the adoption of teaching with technologies at JMU. These faculty will receive a glass plaque and a $300 seed grant towards the purchase of software or hardware.

Those who nominated a peer faculty member were asked to provide at least one specific example which the nominee has developed, adapted, adopted, or incorporated technology for effective teaching and learning. In addition, they were asked to provide the following information:

• How the nominee's work increased students' creativity and/or motivation to learn through the use of technology.
• How the effect's of the nominee's work resulted in positive improvements in learning/motivation/creativity beyond those of students in her/his own classes. 
• And, if available, how the instructor's use of technology impacted the students' overall.

This year's winners include:

Dr. Corey Hickerson, Associate Professor in the School of Communication Studies

Corey's nominator stated, "Corey's influence on student learning is not bounded by a classroom. His mentoring to other faculty members has created impact on the JMU campus in many classes. His passion to coach students not in knowledge acquisition but also in practical integration prepares students well for the 21st century career" 

Cynthia S. Martin, Instructor in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication Department

Cynthia's nominator stated, "In her various roles on campus, Cynthia Martin inspires people in the campus community and beyond to embrace the many ways technology can help us discover, express, advance new ideas, and help us grow as individuals, scholars, and citizens. Her knowledge, generosity, and enthusiasm for technology and learning are just a few of the qualities that make her deserving of this award. I am deeply grateful for her many contributions. 

Dr. Donielle C. Janow, Adjunt Instructor in Psychology 

Donielle's nominator stated, "Donielle pays a great deal of attention to building a learning community when selecting technology to teach. She uses both asynchronous and synchronous technologies when setting up a learning atmosphere, delivering content, and nurturing student-student and student-content interaction. Based on responses to an open-ended question for class evaluation, students overall seemed to feel that the use of technology to learn in Donielle's class fit the class well and they felt like they were functioning like professionals.