ESU IDT Team Awarded Top Honor at International Competition

Two students in the Instructional Design and Technology graduate program were named the winning team at a recent international conference.

Milton Knopp and Julie La Combe, both masters students, presented their instructional design and development solution at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2016 International Convention. Knopp lives in Topeka; La Combe lives in Abilene.

To win the top award, they faced competition in the finals against two teams of doctoral students - one team from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) the other from the University of South Florida (Tampa).

The aim of the competition is to promote promising instructional design research done by graduate students. The students worked together and received mentoring by faculty and professionals in the field.

The competition is open to all national and international AECT affiliates. From April through early September, there were three rounds of teams submitting proposals – the field started with 22 teams’ proposals and narrowed to the final three before the convention.

Knopp and La Combe found out in early September they had made the final round.

"The opportunity was a thrill, but extremely challenging," La Combe said.

At the convention, held October 17-21 in Las Vegas, each of the final three teams gave presentations and went through question and answer sessions. Judges then determined the winning team.

"(Knopp and La Combe) had strong competition," said Patricia J. Slagter van Tryon, the AECT design and development competition committee chair and organizer. "We are very proud of Julie and Milton's work!"

"I am certain we were successful because of the incredible instruction we received from ESU IDT professors,” La Combe said. “We simply applied what we were taught, and it all fell into place."

"The other schools represented in the finals were several times larger than ESU,” said Knopp. “(We) were the only masters students; the other four finalist were doctoral students. We were representing 'the little university that could'... and often has."

"Milton and Julie’s win reflects the quality of our program and our faculty and staff. This is a tremendous accomplishment and we are so proud of them for continuing this legacy," said Zeni Colorado-Resa, chair of Emporia State's IDT department. "ESU IDT teams have achieved finalist status seven of the last nine years, starting in 2007. Out of those seven times, our students were awarded the overall win three times."

AECT was founded in 1923 and is the most recognized association representing professionals who have an interest in improving learning through the use of media and technology.

Emporia State's recent history in the competition:

2007 – Sandy Valenti and Steve Harmon – finalists
2009 – Liz Ermis and Jennifer Gibson – winners
2010 – Michael Schwind and Rob Ervin – winners
2011 – Jason Baker and Michael Stewart - finalists
2012 – Qing Zhang and Daniel Baldwin; Seung Gutsch and Daphne Tseng – finalists
2013 – Ziang Wang and Yun Lauren Liu – finalists

IDT Students will Compete in Final Round of AECT Design and Development Competition

Emporia State University will once again have a student team in the FINAL Round of the AECT Design and Development Competition!  Milton Knopp and Julie La Combe, Instructional Design and Technology graduate students, will be representing ESU at the 2016 Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Convention (AECT) in Las Vegas, NV to compete in the final round.  Only three teams are selected to go forward to the final round.  The convention will take place Oct. 17-21, 2016.

Including this year, ESU IDT students have been finalists in the AECT Design Competition for 7 out of the last 9 years, starting in 2007.  The last time an ESU IDT team went to the final round was in 2013.  

Historical information on IDT students in final round of AECT Design Competition:

2016: Milton Knopp and Julie La Combe to compete in 2016 AECT Design Competition

2013: http://idtesu.blogspot.com/2014/02/esu-idt-team-presents-winning.html

2012: https://www.emporia.edu/dotAsset/a4ff7fba-ff16-404c-bbdb-c58a29576c18.pdf

2011:https://www.emporia.edu/news/11/29/2011/emporia-state-s-idt-dynasty-continues/?

2010: http://www.emporia.edu/alumni/spotlight/spring/2011/another-prize-winning-instructional-design

2009: https://www.emporia.edu/dotAsset/5cfb40d4-fd0b-4576-b005-53cfea809185.pdf (page 9)

2007: http://www.emporia.edu/dotAsset/3f4a4912-d8bc-4c03-a1af-b1e14986d72a

Two New Members Join the Instructional Design and Technology Faculty at Emporia State University

After an extensive faculty search, we are excited to announce two new additions to the Emporia State University Instructional Design and Technology Family. Yeol Huh and Sungwoong Lee will be joining the department as assistant professors this August.  They will be teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Yeol Huh, Ph.D.

Please join us in welcoming them to Emporia State University and Emporia, KS.


Yeol Huh, Ph.D.

Yeol Huh received his M.S. and Ph.D. in the Department of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. He worked for the Samsung C&T Corporation in the international trading division as a business associate, and also worked for a Fortune 500 company as an instructional designer. 

His research interests include promoting learners’ self-regulated learning, self-efficacy, and motivation in technology-enhanced learning environments by integrating technology and facilitating technology integration for learner-centered instruction especially in teacher education. 

Sungwoong Lee, Ph.D.

Sungwoong Lee, Ph.D.

Sungwoong Lee graduated from the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University in 2016. His dissertation, The Effects of Representation Format in Problem Representation on Qualitative Understanding and Quantitative Proficiency in a Learning Game Context, addresses how educational games, by providing various types of learning support, promote the acquisition and application of conceptual understanding in order to enhance mathematical problem solving in the formal educational context. While at Florida State University, he have accumulated teaching experience in both in-classroom and online courses in the College of Education at FSU. He earned his master’s degree in 2009 and bachelor’s degree in 2006 from Korea University.  

His research interests include problem solving in game-based learning, immersive virtual learning environments, design of virtual learning environments for students with autism, and technology integration in classroom. 

IDT Program at Emporia State Recognized Among the Best

The Instructional Design and Technology program at Emporia State University has been recognized as one of the best online programs of its kind in the nation.

The university recently was notified by OnlineColleges.net that the program, housed within The Teachers College, had been ranked 13th of the top 24 universities and colleges offering similar programs.

Emporia State was the only Kansas institution included in the rankings.

“As most courses include computer-based subject matter, this degree can be perfectly tailored to an online format,” according to information from OnlineColleges.net. “Students will learn from distance education experts about distance education in a distance format.”

“I think it’s a recognition of the quality program we’ve had over the last 20 years,” said Dr. Zeni Colorado, associate professor and chair of the department.

Emporia State’s program is unique in the state, she said. Others offer some components of the program, but none are as comprehensive.

“For example, a lot of our students are learning how to create web-based instruction or online courses. Some are multimedia development and so they become learning developers, things like that.”

Many students in the program already had bachelor’s degrees and were teaching in the K-12 system, so distance learning provided a route to an advanced degree without interrupting their employment. Now, instructional design and technology is becoming a job of the future, as government, healthcare, corporations and non-profit organizations realize the opportunities for widespread training and continuing education for their employees.

“More and more of our students are people that are in the private sector,” Colorado said. “It’s amazing. ... One of our students just got a job at Ford Motor Company.”

The OnlineColleges.net 2016 rankings are based on a refined formula that utilizes academic quality, online offerings, cost and student aid to determine a final score, according to information from OnlineColleges.net.

Academic quality accounts for 50 percent of the score, with admissions and graduation rates each accounting for 50 percent of that category; online offerings make up 30 percent, with half of the score keyed to the number of online programs and half to the percentage of undergraduates taking online courses; cost and student aid constitute 20 percent, with average net price and loan default rate each carrying equal weight in that category.

The totals of those scores determine the final scores and rankings.

Emporia State has long been an innovator in distance education. The university’s IDT students also have excelled in the Pacificorp Instructional Design and Technology competition, since Emporia State began competing in 2007.

“We’ve won it six times,” Colorado said. “... What’s interesting about that competition is that organization tends to have a lot of doctoral level students who enter. Our master’s students for those years were able to compete against the doctoral level students.”

Within the last several weeks, Emporia State also recently was ranked No. 1 for Best Online College in Kansas for 2015-2016 by Affordable Colleges Online.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked Emporia State the highest in Kansas for both online graduate education and online non-MBA programs, as well as No. 3 of Kansas schools for online MBA programs.

The OnlineColleges.net Top 24 rankings were: 1. Michigan State University, Lansing, 2. North Carolina State, Raleigh, 3. New Jersey City University, 4.  Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., 5. East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C., 6. Duquesne University, Pittsburg, 7. Georgia State University, Atlanta, 8. Indiana University, Bloomington.

Also, 9. Concordia University, Chicago, 10. California State University, Fullerton; 11. University of Central Florida, Orlando, 12. Webster University, St. Louis; 13. Emporia State University; 14. University of North Iowa, Cedar Falls; 15. Texas A&M University, College Station, 16. University of Arizona, Tucson.

Also, 17. University of West Georgia, Carrollton; 18. University of Dayton, Ohio; 19. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 20. Texas A&M, Texarkana; 21. Wayne State University, Detroit; 22. Brandman University, Irvine, Calif., 23. Boise State University, Idaho; 24. West Texas A&M, Canyon.

- See more at: http://www.emporia.edu/news/02/22/2016/idt-program-at-emporia-state-recognized-among-the-best/?#sthash.Q6dbk1Cr.dpuf

IDT Scholarship Fund Closes in on Endowment Level

It was less than a month ago when we first posted that we were getting close to endowment level on our scholarship fund.  As of today, we are less than $400 away from reaching our endowment level of $10,000. 

If you would like to help us reach our goal balance, please go to http://www.emporia.edu/give.  Designate the amount you would like to give and under Designation, select Other.  Type “IDT Scholarship Fund (120935)” in the text input field.  (You can also give to our IDT Enhancement Fund which goes toward building and maintaining relationships with our students and alumni.  Insert IDT Enhancement Fund (520998).")  Select “Add Gift” and follow the remaining directions to complete your transaction.

 A sincere THANK YOU in advance.

New Certificate in eLearning and Online Teaching

The Instructional Design and Technology Department is offering a new, 12 hour graduate certificate in eLearning and online teaching. The worldwide market for eLearning reached $35.6 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $51.5 billion by 2016. The Kansas Occupational Outlook Handbook forecasts 24.7 percent growth through 2020 for instructional designers and coordinators. The certificate provides online learning designers and teachers with research-based, best practices in online teaching and learning.

Students can begin this certificate during the spring, summer or fall semester depending on course availability. The certificate can be completed in addition to the Master’s Degree in IDT.  The 4 classes required for the certificate also count towards the Master’s degree.  Current students wanting to add the certificate, can do so by paying a $20 application fee.  All current and prospective students are eligible to complete the certificate. Unfortunately, IDT alumni are not eligible.

For more information, please contact Dr. Zeni Colorado at jcolorad@emporia.edu or go to http://www.emporia.edu/idt.

IDT Student Scholarship Fund Close to Endowment Level

In July 2011, a scholarship fund was established to benefit Emporia State University students currently enrolled in the Instructional Design & Technology program.  Before we can begin awarding scholarships, the fund has to reach an endowment level with a balance of $10,000.  After three years, WE ARE CLOSE!  We would appreciate your help!  Every little bit will bring us closer to our goal balance.

If you would like to help us get to our goal balance, please go to http://www.emporia.edu/give.  Designate the amount you would like to give and under Designation, select Other.  Type “IDT Scholarship Fund (120935)” in the text input field.  (You can also give to our IDT Enhancement Fund which goes toward building and maintaining relationships with our students and alumni.  Insert IDT Enhancement Fund (520998).")  Select “Add Gift” and follow the remaining directions to complete your transaction.  A sincere THANK YOU in advance.  At the moment we do not receive reports on who gives to this fund, so if you end up donating, please let us know!

Transitions in the Emporia State IDT Program

It is hard to believe an entire summer has gone and we are over a month into the Fall Semester!  First
let me take a moment to express what a privilege and honor it is to serve the Emporia State University (ESU) Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) Program students, faculty, staff, and alumni as Department Chair.  During the month of June, I worked closely with Dr. Childress and our administrative assistant, Janet Schneider on transitioning into the new position.  In July, we said farewell to Dr. Childress as a faculty member, but I can assure you, he remains an advocate for the ESU IDT program and a continued member of the IDT family.  We will continue to see him at various gatherings and professional events in the IDT field. I look forward to building upon the solid foundation Dr. Childress laid in his 11 years as department chair and advance the ESU IDT program to the next level.  Thank you, Dr. Childress!

We have been working on quite a few things over the last few months! Soon after this post, I will post these updates.  If you prefer to receive these via email, please subscribe to our email list at http://eepurl.com/ZB2v1.

I hope to send/post similar updates on a more regular basis throughout the year.  If you have news to share, or perhaps would like to author a guest post on our IDT blog, please contact me!

Sincerely,
Zeni Colorado
jcolorad@emporia.edu
Associate Professor and Chair
Instructional Design and Technology

Fall 2009 Master's Project Presentations