Forward
While the artifacts selected for this Electronic portfolio(E-portfolio) details my learning journey in pursuing a Ph.D., further explanation may be needed and desired by the audience.
As an international student at Iowa State University, I have been granted the opportunity to think “cross the line”, to step out my own cultural boundary, and to explore new possibilities of “East meets West”. I am fortunate enough to be engaged in a learning community, which accommodates diversity and allows individuals to grow in their own pace. My home country,
Taiwan, provides me with fundamental education training and Iowa State University offers an advanced source of inspiration and knowledge. In between these two places lies my memories of growth and a learning journey. Therefore, for me, a portfolio represents an authentic assessment of my knowledge and comprehension of the filed of study. It demonstrates many skills of what I have developed throughout the years in Curriculum and Instructional
Technology doctoral program at ISU in teaching, research projects, papers, and conference presentations. The reflective process while working on this Prelim E-portfolio can also serve as a means of self-revaluation. In addition, it allows the committee members a broader view of my knowledge, skills, ability, and growth. Most importantly, it offers me many opportunities for feedback from my committee members and other readers as well.
A tall building arises from a mound of earth.
The journey of my portfolio starts with my returning to graduate schools in pursuit of a PhD in
Curriculum and Instructional Technology in Fall 2000, 5 years after I earned my M.S. in the same filed. In computer technology, 5 years are enough for a new wave of revolution. I had witnessed the advancement of computer technology especially in CMC (computer mediated communication) such as email, synchronous and asynchronous chatting. I know that it means new possibilities. I have new expectations as well, which would be different from my previous
CBI (Computer Based Instruction) and CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) experiences with a focus on drill and practice and tutorials, those “teacher-proof” or “ teacher-centered” instructions.
My involvement with the one-on-one faculty technology mentoring program is the highlight of my doctoral study at ISU. This particular experience has an impact on me in terms of educational paradigm. I have shifted from my previous "teacher-proof" authoritarian approach to a more collaborative approach. It also lays the foundation of my research interest in the area faculty development, which will be the main theme of my dissertation. Coming out of this experience with the mentoring program, I have developed a web site to archive and document this mentoring program and include related resources for people who want to implement similar programs. I have also been heavily involved with the editing work of the book,
“ Faculty Mentoring Program: The Power of Students in Developing Technology Expertise”.
One of the artifacts selected,” Making connections: An international student's perspective”, is from Chapter Four of the book.

Embedded in this section is a video clip of a presentation of research interest in CI610,
“ Technology and Teacher Education”.
In my portfolio, you will see the section “ Technology, Leadership, and Visions” which consists of another E-portfolio from CI511X, “Technology, Leadership and Change Diffusion”. In this particular piece of my portfolio, I address the issues and strategies of effective technology diffusion and how change could be brought about by use of technology in educational settings.
Another piece of artifacts included in this section is the article,” A Historical Review on
Educational Technology and Its Visions in Education”. I took on a historical perspective to illustrate the relationships between different educational technologies and its visions in education.
I have made three conference presentations. The two full papers presented at SITE 2002 and
2003 were later developed into journal quality papers ready for submission. The paper,
“ Faculty Technology Mentoring Programs: Major Trends in the Literature”, was submitted to
JCTE and accepted. Another full paper, “ This Is So Powerful: Reflecting with One-exemplary technology-using teacher educator”, will be submitted to Journal of Research on Technology in Education . The short paper presented at SITE 2003 is a pilot study of a national online survey on identifying issues and barriers to faculty’s continued use and integration of technology in their teacher preparation courses.
Finally, in my scholarship focus, I have made clear my scholarly and research interest and have outlined the research projects and work that I have conducted before and will continue on. Therefore, this learning journey will stretch and expand as I continue to advance in my career in research in academia.