EXPERT EDUCATOR INTERVIEW 1

Expert Educator Interview

Dona Thanushi Hettipathirana

EDUC 696 – Current Issues in Education Capstone

Liberty University

Dr. Clifford Churchill

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Expert Educator Interview

Interviewing a subject matter expert (SME) for educational design and development provides a

wealth of knowledge on the learning environment and the learners. This paper includes an

interview with an expert educator in special education on educational design and technology.

The paper consists of three sections:

1. The Profile of Interviewee

2. The transcript of interview with questions and answers and

3. A personal analysis

The Profile of Interviewee

Tracy Yearwood is a case manager and subject matter expert (SME) in special education

at a Middle School in the Loudoun County Public School System (LCPS) in northern VA. Ms.

Yearwood has a Master’s in child development and a Bachelor’s in Sociology and has been

involved in the field of education for seven years working with diverse student populations in

Cecily, Germany, and the USA. She considers it a personal passion of her to be working with

children with exceptionalities.

She is specialized in developing personalized and differentiated instruction for individual

learners addressing their specific individual learning needs. She also has experience in

integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for lesson design and development. Nature of

responsibilities at her current position include development of Individual Education Plans (IEPs),

personalized assessments, implementing personalized lessons which are modified to unique

learning needs of students, implementation of goal work according to IEP goals, determination

of personalized educational technology needs of students in consultation with resource

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personnel, differentiation of instruction based on individual learners needs, and initiation of

communicate with parents, resource personnel, educational specialists, general education

teachers, and administration.

Ms. Yearwood is a credible source as an expert educator in the field of education with

respect to educational design and technology, since she has experience in designing personalized

instruction for diverse learners, integrating educational technology and assistive technology into

the educational process to overcome potential limitations and barriers to learning, and advocating

for and utilizing universal design for learning to create purposeful learning opportunities for all

learners.

The Transcript of Interview

1. What is your view on the role of educational technology in education (special

education, general education) in general?

Technology, I believe, has become a very powerful force playing an increasingly

influential role affecting all aspects of the teaching leaning process in education.

Technology in special education enhances the learning and instructional experiences for

learners with exceptionalities. It empowers them with the capabilities to overcome

limitations and barriers to education. Educational technology in special education act as a

catalyst in fostering twenty first century learning skills - communication, creativity,

collaboration, and critical thinking - among students with exceptionalities through

facilitating them with assistive technology, accommodations, modifications,

differentiation, and universal design for learning. Some key functions of educational

technology in special education, in my view include optimizing functional capabilities,

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improving social and emotional expression, facilitate visualization, scheduling and

educational stimulation.

2. What is the nature of the current teaching/learning environment and what are its

educational technology requirements?

My current teaching environment is a middle school self-contained special

education classroom with students with diverse learning needs. Technology the school

has converted to a one-one computing school starting this academic year, so every

student in the classroom has his/her own Chrome book provided by the county. Other

means of educational technology used in the current setting include laptops, iPads, iPad

Mini, Assistive technology devices, braille machine, hearing aids, Go Talk devices,

switches, Chrome books etc.

3. What do you think of the process of instructional design and technology in special

education in general?

Instructional designing and technology in special education, I believe, empowers

both educator and the learner. It provides educators with the ability to deliver

systematically designed and developed educational products and experiences to learners

and multiple options for differentiating and personalizing learning and instruction. It also

provides educators with quick and easy access to quality, research-based educational

tools. Technology also helps kids with special needs to overcome their limitations and

minimize or eliminate barriers to learning.

4. What is your opinion regarding UDL?

Universal design for learning facilitates accommodation, modification, and

personalization all in one design platform. I like it, because it is intended to cover all
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learners. It ensures that every learner gets an opportunity at education irrespective of

one’s ability or disability. My firsthand experience with UDL include implementation of

UDL principles, developing UDL incorporated lesson plans, and facilitation of multi-

modal learning and instruction.

5. What do you think of the role of curriculum in education? What is the nature and

capacity of your involvement/ contribution/ responsibilities, if any, when it comes to

curriculum design and development at your current job?

Curriculum in general provides an orderly and organized plan for learning and

instruction. It provides you with set goals for learning experiences and their respective

outcomes. I currently do not bear any responsibilities or make any contribution towards

curriculum design and development. However, as an educator I am involved with

curriculum implementation by means of instruction delivery through lessons. The

curriculum that is already in place at my school is called the Unique Learning System. It

provides the educators with general guideline and requirements for technology

integration into the instructional process.

6. What is the nature and capacity of your involvement/ contribution/ responsibilities

towards instructional design at your current job?

As a case manager in special education, I am responsible for the planning and

development of lessons and instruction to facilitate personalized learning based on unique

needs of individual learners. The first step is to analyze the learners on individual basis to

determine their strengths, weaknesses, preferred learning styles, needs, and specific

barriers to learning involving the individual learner. The curriculum provides guidelines

for integration of technology in learning and instruction and the county facilitates 1:1
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computing, which is a critical tool for special education. The goal of learning design and

technology integration in special education, I believe, is more concerned with the

development of skills for independent living. Technology provide means of learner

engagement in communication through interactive learning and socializing. It provides

opportunities for collaboration through interactive games on the web and listening to

music during break time. It encourages creativity through providing the students with

special needs with the ability to create simple computer graphics with tough technology

and to engage in critical thinking through puzzles and games that stimulate skills such as

problem-solving, sorting etc.

7. What factors do you take into consideration when determining the technology needs

for your students and how do the students get accustomed to using technology in the

classroom?

A key factor to consider when determining technology prescriptions for learners

with exceptionalities is the ability of the individual learner to use and manipulate the

technology device. The individual needs and recommendations on accommodations,

modifications and technology are included in the individualized education plan (IEP).

The most common accommodation when it come to using devices in special education

classroom is to do with dexterity, where students are provided with hand over hand

assistance/ instruction/ prompting. Technology assistance in the school setting is

provided by the technology specialists and assistants. The guidance and training

regarding the functionality and use of the devices and software are provided by IT

specialists in the special education of the county.

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8. What are the benefits and challenges involved with the use of educational

technology in special education?

The benefits of using educational technology in the classroom include ability to

differentiate and personalize instruction via multiple instructional options, multiple

modalities, different devices, and flexible learning and instructional options. Technology

provide diverse instructional options for educators and learning options for learners.

The main challenges of technology in special education and education in general

in my opinion is the over dependency and over use of technology for learning purposes.

Personally, I would like to see students work more on fine motor skills without so much

dependency on technology. Students these days have too much access to all kinds of

devices in and outside of school. I believe it wise to adopt a more balanced approach to

the use of technology in education where students could still thrive in acquiring

technology skills as well as fine motor skills.

9. What current trends and issues in the field of educational technology do you identify

as having a major impact on special education?

When it comes to current trends in technology, I would say, touch technology,

learning analytics, and mobile learning as three technology trends that are having a major

impact on special education. Touch technology empowers learners with exceptionalities

with the ability to manipulate technology devices more effectively and efficiently,

without relying so much on the key board. Learning analytics provide educators with

important data and information that are critical for designing individualized learning.

Mobile devices for learning and apps empower learners with exceptionalities with

ubiquitous access to learning technology.

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Major issues when it comes to educational devices and mobile platforms are legal

and ethical issues to do with confidentiality, privacy and security of student data and

information. All educators and designers, I believe, should abide by state, county and

school rules and regulations on technology usage in schools. There also issues to do with

logistics such as delay in receiving devices for accommodation for learning needs due to

high demand.

10. What are your opinions and perspectives on the relevance of the research-based

project - An online quick reference guide on educational design and technology? Do

you have any suggestions and recommendations for further enhancement?

The quick reference guide on educational design and technology, is a valuable

resource that is very well designed. It provides educators with easy access to a wealth of

research-based references in educational technology that are up-to-date and very much

relevant. Technology keeps evolving rapidly and constantly. Thus, it is important for

everyone including educators to keep up with latest trends and issues and discoveries in

educational design and technology. So, it is better to have to quick and at-a-glance access

to a web resource that is rich with current research-based information on topics in

educational design and technology, that are referenced on a frequent basis in a matter of a

few seconds. I think it is very well put together and educational technologists and

teachers and everyone in between will be able to use it and benefit from it. The reference

guide seems to provide a great deal of information on a variety of topics in the field of

educational design and technology.

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Personal Analysis

As a mother of a middle schooler with multiple exceptionalities, educational technology

especially as it applies to the education of diverse learners is an educational issue that so dear

and near to my heart. This interview on educational technology with an expert educator in the

field of special education provided me with a wealth of knowledge on the role, impact,

technology trends and issues, and benefits and challenges of educational design and technology

for learner with diverse learning needs. This expert educator interview resembles the process of

interviewing a subject matter expert for instructional design and development in real world

settings, and thus, I consider this experience to be an immensely valuable academic and

professional experience.

The main take away of the interview to me is the role and impact of personalized learning

and one-to-one computing in the education of learners with exceptionalities. Personalized

learning is a key element in special education as all learning is customized based on the strengths

and needs of the learner as prescribed in the individualized education plan. Thus, the

instructional planning and design, too should be customized and supported with resources for

individualized learning accordingly. One-to-one computing in special education is a critical tool

as it empowers both the educator and learner with the ability for engagement in meaningful and

purposeful personalized educational experiences. It also provides equity in access to technology

and devices and aid in differentiated and personalized instruction.

The most imperative technology current trend in educational design and technology is

universal design for learning (UDL), which facilitates all learners with opportunities for

meaningful engagement in education. Another trend that is having an impact on special

education is mobile learning. It enables the learners with the freedom of mobility and empowers
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them with ubiquitous access to devices and apps. Learning analytics is another important

technology trend that is impacting the field of special education and education in general.

Analysis of the learner needs, preferences, and capabilities is critical in designing and developing

purposeful learning and instruction. Thus, it is vital for the educational designers and

technologists to provide avenues for learner analysis, empowering the educators with the

capabilities to cater to learner needs driven by data and information in a more targeted fashion.

It is also important to take into consideration the legal and ethical issues as well as state,

county, and school standards and regulations for using technology in the planning of

instructional design and technology. Educational designers and technologists should take privacy

and security of student data and the laws regulating these issues into serious consideration when

designing interactive and web-based learning and instructional modules.

This learning experience interviewing an expert educator on the subject matter of the

research-based project, which in my case is educational design technology provided me with a

wealth of knowledge on the role, impact, benefits and challenges of technology in the field of

education, especially with respect to learners with diverse learning needs. I consider this

experience to be an immensely valuable academic and professional experience resembling real-

world learning. In conclusion, I believe, interviewing a subject matter expert, in the case of this

assignment an expert educator, is imperative for integrating state of the art technological tools

and services to provide critical learning and instructional solutions based on systematic analysis

of learning and instructional environments and learners for instructional systems design and

developing to optimize the learning and instruction processes in any educational setting.