Assignment 1: Introduction

Introduction

I’m Dr. Mary F. Bratton-Jeffery.  But that’s such a mouthful; everyone just calls me Frankie.  For years I was a secondary English teacher.  I moved from state to state and started over each time as a “first year” teacher.  Eventually, I met my husband who at that time was an Army officer headed for Germany.  We married at Fort Monroe, VA, on New Year’s Eve and eight days later I was teaching basic skills to soldiers on a nuclear missile site high in the Alps.  I fell in love, not only with Arthur and the country, but adult learning as well. 

After a three year tour overseas and a year in Virginia, our final duty station was Fort Leavenworth, KS.  When we left VA all I knew was to drive west.  I had never been across the Mississippi.  Leavenworth was interesting.  If you’ve not been there, just imagine Dorothy and Toto in the 50s.  I returned to high school teaching.  The kids were great, the days were long, and I knew there was more to the art of teaching than filling out lesson plans, doing bulletin boards and being a hall monitor.  But what was it? 

Fortunately for us, we retired to sunny Mobile, AL.  The University ofSouth Alabama was beginning its first PhD class in Instructional Design and I was one of the happy initiates.  I loved everything about the program.  It gave me the information I was looking for about learning and as Richard mentioned in his blog, it was the way to transition one career into another. I had to do a one semester internship as part of the program.  I managed to land a position with the US Navy.  My one semester turned into 15 years and I’m still loving every assignment.  I get to work with such a broad range of professionals and my students, when I teach, challenge me in a way I never thought possible. 

Like many of the other students in this class who are with DoD, I work primarily with interactive courseware in any one of the roles of the ADDIE model.  Games and simulations came on my radar screen a few years ago.  I’m concerned about how do I know meaningful learning is taking place.  The UCF Certificate program is my first opportunity to explore the message behind the media.

Narratives – Written and Film

I am a lifelong reader and as I read I marvel at the authors’ abilities to tell good stories.  I become so wrapped in the plots that I’m completely worthless until the books are finished.  My husband has become accustomed to my weekend selections.  Michener is my absolute favorite, but his works take too much time.  Clancy, Patterson, Flynn, and others in that genre hold my attention on an airplane and poolside.Movies are what I watch in order to relax before bed.  My husband loves “old movies” and John Wayne.  I do as well.  For me, many of the recent movies have allowed technology to override theme – at least that’s my impression from the advertisements.  I rarely see a clip which causes me to go to a movie; although, the new Spiderman may take me there.

Media Interests

Do I play video games?  No.  We did not allow a Game Boy in our house.  Our daughter grew up with a computer, but the techno-toys were not part of our family culture.  We are readers.  As I mentioned earlier, games and simulations are quite prevalent in the military environment.  We’re seeing more uses for them.  I just want to ensure that when a game or a simulation is placed in front of a group of sailors or soldiers, the training dollars spent and the time devoted to the instructional method will help those kids survive in the field.  Time-to-train is an issue for the military; but how we train should take precedence based on the outcomes.   

Computers

Computers are tools.  I’m not enamored with them any more than I am with my car or my microwave.  I like the convenience of the internet, but I’m very concerned about privacy, the misuse and abuse by users, and network-centric warfare.  I’ve spent this week exploring the links in our course, reading the blogs (my first experience with those), and last night I tubed.  It’s a little overwhelming.  But this experience is really helpful for me.  Now I know what some of our students feel like with the courses I’ve been helping to design. 

I am really excited about the material in the course and I look forward to learning from my colleagues.