Virginia Tech School of Education Newsletter March 2021
Monday, March 1, 2021
Pride and hope for rural schoolchildren:
Virginia Tech researcher on a mission to flip narratives
Negative depictions of life in rural America can shake the confidence of promising young people. From criticisms about how they talk to how they think, the perpetuation of stereotypes can lead children to doubt their own potential. Dr. Amy Azano believes these children deserve to see the value in their hometowns — and themselves. To achieve her vision, the associate professor of adolescent literacy and rural education is leading extraordinary initiatives centered on rural education.
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SOE NEWS DIGEST
Virginia Tech researcher strives to lower suicide risk among homebound older adults through $1.3 million project
February 21, 2021
Dr. Matthew Fullen, an assistant professor of Counselor Education in the School of Education, co-launched a research project to develop and evaluate an innovative training program. Suicide prevention among older adults represents the top goal of the phone-based training.
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In memoriam: William ‘Bill’ Glenn
February 23, 2021
Dr. William “Bill” Glenn, an associate professor of educational leadership in the Virginia Tech School of Education, died on January 30, 2021, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 55.
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Team tackles the untold stories of the Civil War through augmented reality
February 22, 2021
To help reveal a more in-depth picture of the Civil War, the National Endowment for the Humanities is funding a planning grant for “Experiencing Civil War History through Augmented Reality: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Environment at Pamplin Historical Park.”
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Reading specialist Karen Mumaw has created a storybook to teach children about the pandemic
How do you tell a second grader she can’t hug her friends at school?
Karen Mumaw, a graduate of the Virginia Tech School of Education, has found a way to do so, in story form. A Title I reading specialist in the King and Queen Elementary School in Mattaponi, Virginia, Mumaw created a storybook to help prepare her students for the protocols they need to follow during the coronavirus pandemic.
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RESEARCH & PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS- Dr. Carol Mullen, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and alumna Cindy C. Klimaitis (2020) published Defining Mentoring: A Literature Review of Issues, Types, and Applications, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1483.1 (January 2021): 19–35.
- Dr. Rachelle Kuehl, Postdoctoral Associate, published A Place for Reading: Leveraging Mentor Texts with Middle Grade Rural Writers, Journal of Literacy Innovation 5.2 (2020): 5–23. The article was named 2020 Journal of Literacy Innovation Article of the Year.
- Dr. Barbara Lockee, Professor of Instructional Design and Technology, published Online Education in the Post-COVID Era, Nature Electronics 4 (January 2021): 5–6; and An Instructional Design Process for Emergency Remote Teaching, Radical Solutions for Education in a Crisis Context: COVID-19 as an Opportunity for Global Learning, ed. Daniel Burgos, Ahmed Tlili, and Anita Tabacco (Singapore: Springer Nature, 2021), pp. 37–51, with alumnus Dr. Charles B. Hodges et al.
AWARDS & OUTREACH
Dr. Trevor Stewart, Associate Professor of the English Education program, received the 2020-2021 Certificate of Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
Dr. Alicia Johnson, Visiting Assistant Professor of the Instructional Design and Technology program, and a team of IDT graduate students are partnering with alumnus, Dr. Matthew Ames, Instructional Technologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda, in building Open Educational Resources for those in need of instructions and guidelines for transitioning from face-to-face to remote teaching.
PROGRAMS & EVENTS‘Free at Last - Martin Luther King, Jr.‘: A Virtual Film Discussion and a Celebration
The Virginia Tech School of Education's Diversity & Inclusion Committee invites all to a virtual celebration of the educational legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Friday, March 12th, from 6:30 to 8 PM, we will gather on Zoom to discuss the film Free at Last—Martin Luther King, Jr., an Emmy Award-winning behind-the-scenes documentary of the last months of Dr. King’s life, during the planning of and training for the Poor People’s March. Visit this page for more information and to register for the event.
VirTual Safe Zone Training
Offered to all members of the Virginia Tech community, VirTual SafeZone is a complete/incomplete personal course that addresses LGBTQ+ identities and issues. Instead of one keystone event, the program has been reimagined as a five-week online experience designed to fit into work schedules. You can learn more about the program here. Upcoming Training Sessions Dates: Spring 3: April 5th - May 7th | Summer 1: May 17th - June 18th | Summer 2: June 28th - July 30th.
Virginia Tech's Civil War Weekend
March 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Virginia Tech's Civil War Weekend. The sheer scale of the Civil War is astonishing. Approximately three million men served—a far cry from the pre-war army of 16,000, representing a significant chunk of the total U.S. population of 31 million. A war of this magnitude demanded unprecedented resources; hence this year's theme, "Resources for War." This year's events are free to all attendees. Nine speakers will explore what Americans required to wage war. You can learn more about the Civil War Weekend and register for the events here.
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