Chairperson’s Message

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.” — Thomas Edison

Edison's first laboratory was in Menlo Park, NJ and later he established his lab in West Orange, NJ. He was one of the most prolific inventors in US history. We know Edison for his invention of the lightbulb, phonograph, and a few others. Yet, he had 1093 US patents in his name, more than 1000 ideas we know nothing about. Imagine the number of times he "failed" or was rejected. Without his spirit of determination, we would never be where we are today. The faculty, alumni, and students of NJCU know this spirit. We are courageous, smart, and resilient, no matter the obstacle. It's one thing to get an education, it's another to make the world better because of it. Please read below how our community is thriving. During these difficult times, we continue to shine.

Sincerely,

Laura Zieger, Ed.D.

Professor and Chairperson

Innovative Leadership in Newark

Dr. Courtney Johnson (Ed.D. Alum) was recently appointed as school principal of Quitman Street School in Newark.
Dr. Johnson held a variety of positions since joining the Newark Board of Education: Substitute Teacher, Teacher Coach, School Operations Manager, Supervisor, and most recently, Special Assistant of the High School Leadership Team. We know the children of Newark are in great hands under Dr. Johnson’s leadership.

Best Selling Book on Autism

Congratulations to Dr. Kerry Magro (Ed.D. Alum) on his new book -- Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams. It is currently the #1 Best Seller on Amazon in Autism & Asperger's Syndrome. Dr. Magro is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and thought-leader on autism. He has appeared on national and international broadcasts from CBS, NBC, and CNN. This is an amazing book about the triumph of the human spirit. Whether you know someone with autism or not, it is filled with amazing stories of people breaking barriers.

Leading Ed Tech in Franklin Township

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Arsiwala (Ed.D. Alum)-- the new Instruction Technology Supervisor of Franklin Township Public Schools.

She will be leading the instructional technology of approximately 1,000 staff members, 8,000 plus students, and 10 schools. Check out the full story here.

Fullbright Award

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Bermudez (MA and Ed.D. Alum). He recently earned a 2022-23 Fulbright Award to Uganda.

The purpose of the Fullbright Award is to increase mutual understanding between people of the US and people of other nations. As a Fullbrighter Dr. Bermudez joins the ranks of ambassadors, heads of state, college presidents, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.

Dr. Bermudez is an Assistant Professor at the University of Scranton. His work focuses on occupational therapy, technology, and education.

“Teacher of the Year”

Congratulations to Dr. Dana Mason (Ed.D. Alum). She earned the Teacher of the Year for Harris Community School in Bayonne. Way to go Dana!!!

Virtual Reality and Social Emotional Learning

Dr. Katie Kirby's (Ed.D. Alum) work with Virtual Reality and Social Emotional Learning was profiled on the LBX Virtual Reality web site. This was the topic of her recent dissertation. Katie is an assistant principal at Union City High School. Congrats on leading the way to new frontiers of SEL. Check out the full story here.

JISU Students Defend Dissertation Proposals

The 13 students from our doctoral cohort at JISU University in Changchun China defended their dissertation proposals via Zoom in June. It is an exciting collection of topics, and we know these are going to be thoughtful and exciting dissertations.

Technology, Writing, and Community Colleges

Congratulations to Dr. John Findura (Ed.D. Alum). He published the results from his dissertation in The Learning Assistant Review. The article is "Best Practices in Education Technology in Two-Year Community College Writing Centers." John investigated the successful practices of community college writing labs across the United States.

Civil Rights Award

Congratulations to Dr. October Hudley (MA and Ed.D Alum). Dr. Hudley is a Councilwoman-at-Large in Irvington NJ and the President of the Irvington National Action Network Chapter. She just earned Chapter of the Year!

NJCU Ed Tech Team Leading Research on Adult Learning

Ed.D. Alum Dr. Remberto Jimenez, Dr. Ronnie O’Neill, doctoral students Juan Rodriguez and Kristina Harb, and faculty member Dr. Christopher Shamburg shared their research on informal adult learning and podcasting at the 2022 Edmedia Conference.

The team interviewed 31 adults from across the US on their experiences learning from podcasts. Check out the paper here.

Alum Quoted in The Washington Post

Author, researcher, and leading games scholar Dr. Mathew Farber (MA and Ed.D. Alum) was quoted in The Washington Post story about games and SEL: “We are now starting to realize the power that games can have at evoking certain competencies such as empathy and compassion,” said Matthew Farber, a professor of educational technology at the University of Northern Colorado and author of Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning.

Dr. Farber also recently earned the University of Norther Colorado’s Scholar Award.

Check out the full article here.

Celebration of Excellence

On June 1st NJCU Ed Tech had the honor of hooding our doctoral graduates and cording our MA graduates. We are proud of the 34 learners and leaders in the class of 2022. Check here for more pictures.

Featured Speaker on Learning and Work

Kudos to Dr. Dowayne Davis (Ed.D. Alum) who was the featured speaker at this year's Arizona ASU+GSV Global Summit. The annual ASU+ GSV Summit connects leading minds focused on transforming society and business around learning and work.

Dr. Davis is the Chief Operating Officer for the Newark Opportunity Youth Network and LEAD Charter School in Newark NJ.

Go here for more information.

Blazing the Trail on the Rural Digital Divide

Cari Marks (MA Alum) recently co-presented “Remote Living: Voices from across the Digital Divide” at the 2022 AERA Conference with Ed Tech faculty member Dr. Christopher Shamburg. The research examined the effects of the pandemic on education in Appalachia. Cari currently teaches incarcerated youth at the New River Valley Juvenile Detention Center and is an advisor for the Virginia Department of Education.

Virtual Labs at ISTE

Kudos to doctoral students Kristina Harb and Giancarlo Perez-Flores for their work exploring virtual science labs in blended environments. They recently shared their work at the 2022 International Society for Technology in Education Conference

Librarian Scholarship

Congratulations to Dr. Gigi Mohamad (Ed.D. Alum), an Assistant Professor at William Patterson University. Her recent research “First Years' Information Literacy Backpacks: What's Already Packed or Not Packed?” was published in The Journal of Academic Librarianship. See more here.

Leading the School Counseling Field

Congrats to Dr. Christine Enrico (Ed.D. Alum) who was accepted to the 2022 Inaugural National School Counsel Fellows Program at San Diego State University. During this two-year program she will study and develop innovative ideas that support college and career readiness in postsecondary planning with a focus on access, attainment, and re-imagining systems for success.

Her doctoral dissertation was a national study on technology use for college admissions during COVID.

Dr. Enrico was also just appointed to lead the Paramus School District as the Supervisor of School Counseling K-12.

Way to go Christine!

Innovation at Hispanic Serving Institutions

Congratulations to Juan Rodriguez, a current doctoral student in Cohort 8. Juan earned the Innovative Program Award at the High Impact Conference in Salt Lake City Utah. He is the principal investigator of the HSI ATE Initiative, a program at Westchester Community College to connect students with advanced technologies.

Epilogue

You made it to the end of the newsletter. Congratulations. We do have a lot of good news to share ;). Your reward — more priceless information.

If you are looking to continue your education, we have a variety of programs. Check out our Ed.D. in Educational Technology Leadership, MA in Educational Technology, MA in Educational Technology with School Library Certification, Associate School Library Certification, STEM Certificate, and our Assistive Technology Certificate. You can contact us and request information and a meeting with an advisor.

If you are an alum of any of our programs — PLEASE update your information in our Alumni Database. If you’re not sure if you did it, please do it now (or again).

If you are a current student and need help with your schedule, have a question about your program, or are interested in one of our other programs, please contact your advisor (assigned by last name):

A-G = Dr. Carnahan
H-O = Dr. Shamburg
P-Z = Dr. Amerman

If you have good news to share, now or in the future—fill out the alum form or email Dr. Shamburg.

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