Meet Me Briefly

Welcome to my blog! To learn a little bit about me, please check out the following interview done virtually by interviewers Scott McDonald and Cole Camplese represented as (Q:). My responses will be distinguished by (A:).

Q: What is your name?
A: Rebecca Burns, but I am most commonly known as Becci.

Q: Where are you from?
A: My family is from the Huntingdon Area. Growing up, I lived in a variety of places: Huntingdon, PA; Carlisle, PA; Vorhees, NJ; Havertown, PA; Sinking Spring/Wyomissing, PA; Birdsboro, PA; and State College, PA.

Q: What are your interests?
A: I have many interests. I love sports. Playing table tennis, soccer, and volleyball is a part of my pastime. During the fall, I enjoy watching football - the Nittany Lions in particular. In my prior life, I enjoyed playing the flute and singing, especially in musicals.

Q: Why you are taking this class?
A: This course was recommended to me. As a doctoral student and Professional Development Associate for Penn State University's Professional Development School, my interns have access to and use multiple mediums of technology. I want to not only understand what these "creatures" are but also how they work and how they impact teaching and learning in the classroom, particularly the elementary classroom.

Q: Is there anything interesting about you?
A: Maybe...I'll let you decide. As an undergraduate, I played table tennis for PSU. After graduation, I taught sixth grade in an elementary school for five years.

Q: How would you describe your overall comfort level with the use of technology?
A: I am not very comfortable at all. In fact, I feel like the understanding of technology can be a sign of age, and according to this age scale, I am not very youthful. However, I am seeking ways to become more "hip."

Q: Does technology interest you?
A: Somewhat but it also scares me. It opens the door to an entirely different community. Because of a past poor prior experience, I have severe reservations about information and the ease with which it is transported across the internet highway. I recognize both positive and negative aspects of technology, and I am interested in engaging in discussions to toy with such ideas among peers.

Q: Talk a little about how you see technology influencing teaching and learning.
A: Well...that depends on the definition of technology. For me, technology is a construct of an era. It is something new to that generation or civilization, as some will refer to it, used to supposedly manipulate processes in life whether it be for work or play. The question for me has always been that technology is a relative term. Technology is only new to those that were not born with it. Therefore as technology changes, so will society, which in turn will impact the pressures society places on educational curriculum in order to meet the needs of the current population – thereby driving the curricular change and impacting teaching and learning.