EDET780

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=Introduction=

I am Melika T. Anderson and I’m pursing my M. Ed. in Educational Technology, at the University of South Carolina. I’m currently employed full time at a credit union in Columbia, SC as a Records\Database Manager. My position is a hybrid position because I serve in both roles. As records manager I manage four employees who work with the day operations in records management. My database role consists of managing and supporting the SQL server database servers and applications. I have over eleven years’ experience in the IT Industry in various positions such as help desk, hardware and software support, technical training etc. Throughout all of my experiences, I have enjoyed teaching and training the most. I really enjoy working with others and teaching technology. I relocated back to South Carolina from Illinois in 2006, and an interesting discovery for me was the disparity in technical knowledge in the workplace. The workplace provides many applications to be used by the employees however the employees do not know how to properly use them, or don’t take the initiative to explore the available resources. I believe the underlying issue is that people are resistant to change and many of them use technology through performing rote tasks rather than exploration. Based on what I have learned about education there is also a gap in the educational system and bridging educational design and learning from the 20th to the 21st century. My goal is to help bridge that gap through promoting learning through development of ideas and strategies to help the workplace and educational system transition to 21st century pedagogical approaches. The net generation is a different class of young people; when dealing with the younger generation, I sometimes feel that things are moving a warp speed. Therefore, I believe that my role is to be the mediator and provide an inclusive balance for the learning community with the corporate and education enviornments.

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 * Melika T. Anderson **