Hi everyone! My Chinese name and characters are 贺丹, and I go by Dan. I’m a third-year doctoral student of Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies. I’m from Chengdu, which is located in southwestern China. My hometown is famous for historical attractions, spicy food (Szechwan cuisine), tea culture, and giant panda. I came to study here in the U.S. in 2016, so I lived here for five years. Time flies, doesn’t it?
"Chengdu" by Gongashan is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Being an ISLT major, I have had a lot of hands-on experience creating online courses, lesson modules, and course activities using a variety of different online tools. These include Padlet, Miro, FlipGrid, VoiceThread, Kahoot, and Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). I also used many collaboration tools to work with online classmates, such as Slack, Zoom, and Google products, when I took online courses. I also use various mobile applications to take notes, read books, and listen to podcasts.
To support my learning, I would like to attend social events and professional development workshops hosted by my department and FSU. I visit the writing center to revise and refine my research papers. However, due to the pandemic, many offline resources have been moved online, such as the program for instructional excellence (PIE) and CGE’s coffee hour. Surprisingly, the online modality encourages me to attend these events even more because it is very convenient and efficient. On top of that, I’m constantly engaging in self-directed learning on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. These online and offline tools significantly impact my research, teaching, and writing skills.
There are so many possibilities available to us because of the rapid growth of technology. When selecting a specific platform for social or learning purposes, what are your considerations?
I'm looking forward to a fantastic semester with you all! :)
