Amanda Kraemer (MED ’09, Mathematics Ed.) is an AP Calculus teacher at Freedom High School in Orlando, FL. She is part of a new program that expands Advanced Placement course offerings to enroll more students into college. The program creates study review classes sponsored by a nonprofit group, Advancement Via Individual Determination, that works to help prepare disadvantaged students for higher education. Kraemer’s approach seems to be working, because last spring, more than 90 percent of her students received passing grades on their math exams.

Click here to read the entire article in the New York Times.

Amanda Kraemer and a few of her students

Deborah Douma (EDD ’12, Higher Ed Admin) received the Campus Impact Award as the 2013 Grants Professional of the Year at the National Council for Resource Development Conference. The event was held in Washington, DC, last month. Dr. Douma is currently the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Grants at Pensacola State College.

James May, a “double EduGator” with two advanced degrees from UF’s College of Education, was named one of this year’s Top 40 Innovators in Education by the national Center for Digital Education.  The center is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy and funding.  May earned his bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature in 1993, his Master of Education in ESOL curriculum and instruction in 1999, and his doctorate in teaching and learning in 2007, all from the University of Florida.  He currently is a professor of English as a second language at Valencia College in Orlando, where he has pioneered the use of cell phones and computer-assisted learning in his classes. He is also the faculty fellow for innovation and technology at the college.

“We live in a world where just about everything that is known can be found by way of a quick Google or YouTube search,” May said. “Teachers who aren’t willing to embrace this digital reality are robbing future generations of what we could know tomorrow. Learning has become on-demand or just-in-time and our teaching methods should to adapt to this truth.”

For May, there is no one technology that serves as “the solution.” Instead, technologies like smart phones, Google Goggles, QR codes and Evernote (a note-taking and archiving app) provide him and his students with more efficient and engaging strategies that can be used to identify solutions to authentic problems.

“This technology allows me to model life-long learning strategies that students can use long after they have forgotten about me,” May said.  For example, May teaches his students how to use Google Chrome to perform voice, image and text searches and how Google Drive could be used for collaborating learning and writing.

“Professor May’s success stems from pushing boundaries and engaging both faculty and students through various technologies and innovative digital and communications strategies,” a Center for Digital Education spokesperson said.  To watch May in action, follow this link for a video by Valencia College.

May has been recognized in the past for his “eclectic” teaching strategies and use of technology in the classroom. In 2010, he was named the Association of Florida College’s Professor of the Year, and in 2011 he was selected as the CASE/Carnegie Foundation’s Florida Professor of the Year. In 2012, he won the Sloan Consortium Effective Practice Award for his presentation, “Cellphones in the Classroom: Collaborative or Calamitous?”

UF College of Education alumnus and professor James May, second from left, uses classroom technology to teach his ESOL students at Valencia College. (Photo by Don Burlinson, Valencia College)

Hongwei Yu (PHD ’13, Higher Ed Admin) has accepted a post doctoral research position with the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois College of Education.  Dr. Yu will begin working on his research with the college next month.

Hongwei Yu began his doctoral fellowship in the Fall of 2009 with the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies.  His primary research included: student retention and degree completion in community colleges, part-time faculty, community college baccalaureate degrees, high school and community college partnership.

Dr. Russ Rothamer (MEd ’93, Social Studies Ed.; EDS ’97, Curriculum & Instruction; PHD ’03, Higher Ed. Admin), Vice President of Academic Affairs at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff, AZ, has been selected  by a national review panel as one of only 31 community college leaders to attend the prestigious Executive Leadership Institute.  The Executive Leadership Institute is sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College.  The 32 participants hold senior-level leadership positions in community colleges throughout the United States.

The institute provides an opportunity for potential community college presidents or those in transition to review their abilities and interests, to refine their skills, and to participate in discussion on leadership with an outstanding array of faculty drawn from among nationally and internationally recognized community college leaders.

Previous alumni update about Dr. Rothamer is here.