2010 Educational Technology Graduate Award

Congratulations Dallas McPheeters!

Every year, COE faculty select students who have shown outstanding achievement in the area of their study. The outstanding student selected by the Educational Technology faculty and his peers for 2010 is Dallas McPheeters from Arizona. Congratulations! Your hard work and dedication are an inspiration for all Ed Tech students and faculty.

With five of their six children in college, Dallas and his wife decided to return to school as well. Dallas completed a B.A. in Sociology at NAU and continued on to pursue a M.Ed. in Educational Technology.

During his two year journey to a Master's degree, Dallas enjoyed a year working as a technology liaison in a Tucson elementary school. After budget shortfalls eliminated his position, Dallas developed programs to help teachers increase their proficiency with technology integration in the classroom.

Research convinced him the missing link to the technology integration gap demanded professional development efforts for which teachers had little time. Therefore, Dallas designed a capstone project targeting such professional development gaps using the 3D virtual platform Second Life as a time- and cost-saving tool.

The course was designed to be accessible in any number of ways to ensure ease of participation by busy teachers. Possibilities included synchronous, asynchronous, guided, self-paced, 2D web-based, and 3D virtual. As a result of this blended instruction delivery, Dallas' virtual classes were attended by more than 40 professors and instructional designers from North and Central America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

One participant commented: "I teach Caribbean studies at a NYC university. It is not possible for students to go back in time in RL [Real Life] and going to the Caribbean is cost prohibitive. Virtual learning environments open up the possibility of exploring these places as though we were there."  - O.W.

Dallas plans to continue researching alternatives to traditional education including virtual, augmented, and mobile delivery platforms. He enjoys teaching in blended environments that combine face-to-face with web-based, virtual, and mobile possibilities.

You can see Dallas' capstone project at http://uniques.com/nau and enjoy the link to his brief yet entertaining video explaining virtual worlds as a cost-effective platform for time-sensitive teachers: http://vimeo.com/10481153

For more information about Dallas or to contact him for ideas, visit http://dallasmcpheeters.com

Past Outstanding Technology Graduate Awards:

2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009

Questions? Feel free to contact an Educational Technology Program Adviser.