Project Technology

Curriculum Vitae

Yitna Firdyiwek

Ph.D.

Advanced Technology Group

ITS, University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia 22906

Tel.: 434-***-****

Email: *****@********.***

Website: http://faculty.virginia.edu/firdyiwek

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

? Technology in Teacher Performance Support Systems

? Pedagogy and Technology in Course Management System Design

? Pedagogy and Technology in Language Learning and Writing Instruction

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Education, Instructional Technology. University of Virginia, Charlottesville,

Virginia,

August 2000 .

Dissertation title: Electronic Performance Support (EPS) and Portfolios in Writing

Instruction .

Dissertation advisor: John Bunch

M.A., Linguistics (specialty in Writing Instruction). George Mason University, Fairfax,

Virginia,

May, 1986.

Certificate, Teacher of English as a Second Language. George Mason University, Fairfax,

Virginia, May, 1985.

M.A., Creative Writing (Poetry). Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, June, 1979.

Thesis: Resident Alien (poetry, published by Latitude Press, 1988).

Thesis Advisor: Michael Harper.

B.A., English. Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia,

June,

1977.

EMPLOYMENT

August 2008 - present

Faculty Consultant in Instructional Technology

Advanced Technology Group

ITC, University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

My current responsibilities involve participating, as faculty consultant in IT, with the

technology

development group for UVa s Sakai-based Learning Management System (UVaCollab) where

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we identify and solve problems, and pursue new ideas and opportunities for improving the

system. I focus particularly on:

? Integration of external applications to the LMS both to fill in functionality gaps in

the

system as well to address special requests from our users.

? Development of a project we refer to as the interactive syllabus which allows

instructors to present their course information, course resources, and course tools

through

a single interface (the syllabus document).

? Management of UVa s participation in a multi-institutional survey project headed by the

University of Michigan to study the impact of Sakai at various institutions around the

world.

? Working with individual faculty on special technology integration projects.

? Developing and teaching an undergraduate online course in philosophy of technology.

August 2005 August 2008

Instructional Technology Advisor

Instructional Technology Group

ITS, University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

My responsibilities were divided between supporting Faculty Fellows in the Teaching +

Technology Initiative (TTI) program, and working with UVa s Advanced Technology Group on

the University s transition to a new course management system (Sakai ).

o Teaching + Technology Initiative: In the more than ten years that the Teaching +

Technology Initiative (TTI) has been in effect at the University, I have been involved

with over one-third of the seventy-two (72) projects our program has funded. Some of

the project I have been involved in have been:

? delivering French cinema online for French Department courses

? developing a video-based teacher education program for the Spanish Department

? developing a Web-based tool for scanning poetry

? supporting a laptop-based electronic orchestra for the Music Department

o These projects have been challenging in a variety of ways: development of faculty

technology skills, management of student employees, and dissemination of project results

beyond the discipline for which they were intended.

o UVaCollab (Sakai): The new Learning Management System (LMS) adopted by the

University of Virginia is based on an opensource framework that allows institutions to

develop components for their own purposes as well as for sharing within the opensource

community. My participation in the rollout of UVaCollab involves selection of default

configurations, training of staff and faculty, and exploration of areas for further

development. I have been working particularly with Link Tool, a feature of Sakai that

allows the LMS to connect with external applications. I am interested in this area of

educational technology design and think it will be extremely important as we move into

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the area of Web 2.0 technologies. I am also interested in UVaCollab s electronic

portfolio technology which, I believe, will also be an important component of future

educational technology design.

August 2000 - 2005

Faculty Development Coordinator

Instructional Technology Group

ITS, University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

o Oversaw faculty-training programs in the use of instructional technology.

o Employed a variety of methods ranging from one-on-one instruction to peer review,

feedback, and mentoring programs.

o Researched current developments in classroom technology and instructional design

with an emphasis on web technology and multimedia applications.

o Shared knowledge through technical writings and documentation, presentations, and

training sessions.

o Collaborated with faculty and with the two Instructional Technology Advisors to

analyze faculty support needs in instructional technology and, based on input received,

developed a set of comprehensive programs to support teaching technology services

and applications.

o Managed the development and implementation of the Teaching + Technology

Support Partners (TTSP) Program.

o Designed and delivered training to TTSPs as needed.

o Facilitated discussion and effective communication among the TTSPs as they

developed their technical and administrative skills.

o Attended and actively participated in state and national conferences on instructional

technology.

o Developed and taught a graduate level course in philosophy of technology in UVa s

Curry School of Education

January 1997 - August 2000

Instructional Technologist

Instructional Technology Group

ITS, University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

o Collaborated with faculty Fellows on Teaching + Technology Initiative (TTI) projects

focused on incorporating technology into their curriculum with an emphasis on the

use of innovative technologies such as multimedia.

o Used instructional design methodology to clarify project goals and requirements and

to design systems which realize project goals.

o Provided primary technical support to faculty Fellows as needed during the period of

the Fellowship, including development of software, configuration of hardware,

research and selection of appropriate hardware and software, hardware/software

installations, and liaison with other individuals or organizations to provide additional

support.

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o Participated in defining a plan to enhance technical skills of Fellows.

o Provided individual and group training as required.

o Attended and actively participated in state and national conferences national

conferences on instructional technology.

o Teach one course per year in an academic department.

August 1990 - May 1997Assistant Professor of English

Northern Virginia Community College

Sterling, Virginia.

o Teaching (15 credit hrs. per semester):

? English as a Second Language II (5 credits)

? English as a Second Language III (5 credits)

? College Composition I (3 credits)

? College Composition II (3 credits)

? Honors Composition I (3 credits)

? Honors Composition II (3 credits)

o Research on Portfolios in Writing Instruction:

? Conducted a survey of the College's Developmental Writing faculty on the

use of portfolios in the evaluation of student work.

? Co-chaired the Portfolio Subcommittee of the Developmental Writing

Assessment Working Group which initiated a portfolio pilot project on

each of the five NVCC campuses.

? Developed a manual to standardize implementation of the portfolio project.

? Collected data.

o Explorations in the use of Computers in Teaching:

? Set up the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, a computer based

networked classroom used mostly by English faculty, but available to

instructors in other disciplines as well.

? Conducted workshops and training sessions to prepare faculty to use the

computer lab.

August 1988May 1990

Writing Instructor in Residence

The American University

Washington, DC

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o Liaison between the University's Department of Literature and the Academic

Computing Services' Writing Lab: Provided training and assistance in computer-

based writing instruction to approximately 50 College Writing faculty members;

organized seminars at the beginning of each semester; ran workshops and

individual tutorials to professors throughout academic year; worked with the

manager of the Writing Lab planning and developing the lab's hardware, software,

and environment; reviewed programs and textbooks for computer-based writing

instruction; designed and set up experimental writing projects; surveyed the

attitudes of faculty and students towards the use of computers in writing

instruction.

o Teaching (9 credit hrs. per semester):

? First Year College Composition

PUBLICATIONS

?

1999 A Customizable Solution for a

General Problem

Old Dominion University

Norfolk, Virginia

Oct. 23 1997

SERVICE

Institutional (UVa)

o Dissertation Committees

? Susan Midland Barriers and facilitators for integrating digital narratives in

secondary school science instruction: A media specialist's action research study

(2008); Glen Bull, Chair.

? Patrick Guilbaud Andragogy & online learning : towards a systematic instruction

framework (2007); John Bunch, Chair.

? Sam Holtzmann Pedagogy and Technology Inclusion: The Impact of Integrating

E-folio into an Existing Curriculum (2006); Robert Covert, Chair.

o Member on various technology committees

o Member on various hiring committees

o Amharic Proficiency tester for students seeking language requirement exemption

Institutional (NVCC)

o Co-Chaired the Developmental Writing Assessment Working Group

o Produced the "Developmental Assessment" chapter of the College's report on Assessment

to the State Council for Higher Education (SCHEV).

o Co-wrote the course descriptions of ESL and Developmental English courses for the

1992-93 SCHEV report

o Developed guidelines, through faculty survey, for setting minimum computer

competency requirements for students graduating with NVCC degrees. (Fall 1991).

o Participated on Loudoun Campus Committee for Computers in the Classroom charged

with:

Professional

o Development of an experimental course management system called E-folio

o Consultation and recommendations to Unicode Consortium on Ethiopian script

(implemented in Unicode 3.0)

o Developed and placed in public domain a computer keyboard layout system for Ethiopic

script.

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Community

o Fundraising for People to People, a non-governmental organization helping AIDS

orphans in Ethiopia.

REFERENCES

References are available upon request.

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