Track+Presenters

**March 19, 2013: Track I**
[|Track I: Information Technologies] - Choose to focus on technology integration or coordination in educational or business environments.. Speaker: Michelle Kustermann Classroom teacher at St. Michael-Albertville, MN Questions: How has your training enhanced your classroom instruction? What type of technology-based work do you assign to students? What was the biggest tech flop of your career? What are your favorite go-to tools? What is your policy on student devices and how are you dealing with security issues? What is the one piece of technology you just "can't live without?" What is your experience with flipped classrooms? How often, if ever, are you asked to assist with or spearhead technology initiatives at your school? (ie selecting a new tool and creating trainings for that tool.) What is the most limiting factor in your experience in getting new technology into schools and classrooms? What type of training (if any) do you provide for the staff? Why did you choose technology integration as your job? What was the motivation behind it?

**March 26, 2013: Track II**
[|Track II: Educational Media] - Meet the state competencies for K-12 Library Media Specialist (LMS) Licensure with in a Master’s degree program. Speaker: Maria Burnham Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids - Rice High School in Sauk Rapids, MN Questions: What do you think are the most positive changes you've implemented in your job? What are the greatest challenges you face in working with instructors/staff with varying technical competencies? Do any systemic barriers exist that keep you from achieving some of the goals you have for your school? What role do you have in long-term/short term technology plans and purchases? What advice to you have for someone applying for Library Media jobs? How do you feel about the implementation of eBooks and the possibility of phasing out paper books? How do you think the role of a school's library has changed and/or evolved in the last 10-15years? How can 21st Century skills be taught to students if there is only one computer lab available? How do you communicate with your teachers about the lessons that you are teaching your students? When I started the program, I was surprised at how much it dealt with computers and Web 2.0 tools, I guess I didn't realize that the Media Center handled all of that technology too. Were you prepared for all of the technology parts of the job, or was it something you had to grow to love?

**April 2, 2013: Track III**
[|Track III: Instructional Design & Training] – Focuses on careers in human performance and technology and training management in business, industrial, governmental and health fields. Speaker: Susan Ardoff I am an information developer for IBM. I write online help documents and create tutorials for product users, and also work to apply progressive disclosere and embedded assistance in the user-interface. It is not a traditional training or instructional design position, although those skills are important to my position. San Jose, CA Questions: Are there any essential skills you wish you would have taken away from the Track III program? What advice would you give to a new graduate in Track III in regards to finding employment? In what ways is the field "different" than what you expected or were trained for? If you could go back and do any part of your program over, what would that be? What advice would you give to an educator/curriculum specialist interested in making the transition to instructional design and training in a business setting? Does a Track III student need additional experience (internship, job) besides the one acquired in school in order to get a job in the field? How has your position changed since taking on your current position? What are the biggest challenges you encounter when working on user-interface issues? What type of training, if any, do you provide for IBM (and what does it look like)? I would say that I am not the best/brightest at technology, it takes me a few (a lot) of times to get/understand something. Do you ever need to "dumb" down your tutorials for people like me, or how do you help them to learn if they just are not understanding the tutorials you have made for them?