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Dr. Jessica Somers. University System of Georgia Board of Regents Executive Director of Academic Innovation Advanced Learning Technologies Unit. Ph.D. University of Georgia 1995. Work History. Personnel Coordinator, Sun Products Corporation Research Coordinator, Budget and Research Services
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Dr. Jessica Somers University System of Georgia Board of Regents Executive Director of Academic Innovation Advanced Learning Technologies Unit Ph.D. University of Georgia 1995
Work History • Personnel Coordinator, Sun Products Corporation • Research Coordinator, Budget and Research Services • Assistant Director, Placement and Co-op Department • Education Instruction Specialist, IBM Corporation • Graduate Assistant, Developmental Studies Div, UGA • Temp Instructor, Intro to CPU-Based Ed, IT Dept, UGA • Technology Environment Coordinator and Assistant Director, Center for Educational Technology, COE, UGA • Associate Dir., Distance Ed and Academic Innovation • Director, Academic Innovation • Executive Director, Academic Innovation
Job Duties • Responsible for System-wide faculty development activities focused on incorporating technology into instruction • Contract with external entities to develop scalable and sustainable training solutions • Serve as liaison for collaboratively developed online degree programs • Represent ALT in Regents’ activities • Conference Program Chair—MERLOT International Conference, 2001
SCOUT • Repository of instructional Resources developed by USG faculty, designers and programmers • Focuses on collaborative development and delivery of online coursework • Preview of other course work • USG Faculty have opportunity to adopt existing course materials • Courses offered for credit through five institutions
MERLOT • Open Collection of Resources created by faculty nationwide • Appropriate resources for education are immediately accessible • Learning modules span the academic spectrum, both in terms of discipline and approach • Searchable by keyword or subject hierarchy
Site Content • Reference Materials • Virtual Tours • Animations • Interactive Instructions • Simulations • Sample Lesson Plans • Links to Other Individuals in Discipline
Peer Evaluations • All material reviewed by subject matter experts and instructional designers • Reviewers evaluate quality of content, effectiveness of material for teaching, and ease of use • Reviews are by peers using composite averages of all reviewers
Partners • 22 higher learning institutes are partners • Lending their talents for the good of the whole • Promotes more serious discussions of materials as well as implementation of technology in classrooms
Somers / MERLOT • Represents USG as Project Director for MERLOT • Provides leadership for MERLOT projects • Supports peer review of Web-based learning materials by USG faculty
About This Presentation SCOUT Website: http://alt.usg.edu/scout MERLOT Website: http://www.merlot.org Other Websites:http://www.codeconnoisseur.org/it/edit6100/task2 Dr. Somers’ Image:http://www.celt.lsu.edu/cfd Background Image:http://www.deviantART.com
Publications MERLOT for web-based learning and teaching. UCNS Computer Review, UGA, 2001 A process for initiating change: Developing technology goals for a college of education. Journal of Teacher Education, 1996 What's in a game? A study of games as an instructional method in an adult education class. Innovative Higher Education, 1993
Education • Ph.D. University of Georgia 1995 • M.B.A. West Georgia College 1981 • B.B.A. West Georgia College 1977