Jingwei Viola Liu 

I came to Duquesne University’s doctoral program in Instructional Technology and Leadership seeking to develop my teaching skills and knowledge. I came with a master’s in communication from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, because I love communication, especially online. I was very interested in how social media gave us the ability to take ideas that are short, simple, and easy to digest, and spread them around so quickly. Everyone can tell a story, so social media took off. I wondered – is there a way to incorporate this in education?

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First, I thought I would be a communications professor, and I applied for programs for a doctoral degree in communication. But then, I realized that I already had so much knowledge of communication, but I did not really know much about teaching. I had not learned about how to develop a curriculum, or any specific teaching skills, and I really wanted to learn how to combine technology – especially social media – in learning. My thought was that since social media is so digestible, and everyone is so happy to spread it, could this be a new platform for education? And everyone is using social media – the young and the old. So could social media be a new key to lifelong learning?

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Within my first year of my program at Duquesne University, my vision became more clear. I am from China, and was educated myself in their public school system. I recognized that their approaches were essentially the opposite of social media – long lectures, long homeworks, and little technology or communication. I also observed that rural students were receiving less education due to their circumstances, and were easily falling behind. I wanted to develop an online educational platform that would support these rural students, or actually – any student in this system.

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In this reflection, I will first reflect upon how my experience at Duquesne has prepared me to chase this dream of developing this online platform for public school children in China. Then, I will reflect upon the next steps in my career.

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My Experience at Duquesne

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Duquesne gave me an opportunity to not only learn the teaching and administration skills I did not know, but also gave me a chance to be able to practice these new skills with the assignments we had. First, I was able to practice designing curricula. For example, I worked on a group project where we developed a curriculum for a school district to improve staff knowledge of using educational technology, and this curriculum is included in my artifacts. Next, I also got experience designing online course platforms and making prototypes. I designed online courses on ancient China, digital storytelling, and my new worldwide educational platform, and deployed them online using various course management system tools. These prototypes are also included in my artifacts. Third, I was able to learn about educational administration. Among my artifacts is a District Entry Plan, which was a group project where we developed a plan to improve the teaching and learning at a school district. Fourth, I was able to develop a more sophisticated philosophy about teaching and learning; one of my artifacts is my essay on deeper learning. Finally, I was able to learn how to apply social justice principles to my work. My artifact on the human flesh search, a social problem happening in China, reflects this learning.

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My Next Steps

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My experience at Duquesne has prepared me for my next steps in developing my worldwide educational platform. As part of my dissertation, I will develop a module for my platform. As a result of my experience in my classes, I am able to propose an optimal design for the module, document the design, develop the prototype, and test it. I also have the knowledge to develop an implementation plan, partner with others to prepare educators and students for this supplemental curriculum, and launch it. As I proceed through developing my dissertation, I will keep in mind the lessons I learned throughout my courses, and prepare myself for my next steps in my career.