Hi there, I'm Anne!
I am a graduate student at the University of Northern Iowa in Instructional Technology. My background is a BA in Family Services from the University of Northern Iowa, and I also have a Graduate Certificate in Infant Mental Health from Iowa State University. My interests are primarily focused on home visitation as a method of delivering necessary child and maternal health, social-emotional, and child development information to parents of young children.
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Currently, I am the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Professional Development and Technology Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Public Health. I joined the Instructional Technology cohort at UNI because I believe the future of family support and home visitation is changing as we provide support to a new generation of moms. I joined this cohort in order to strengthen my own skills and generate new ideas for using technology for professional development purposes. Scroll down to read more about my portfolio and personal philosophy.
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My Portfolio and Personal Philosophy
This portfolio is intended to showcase the work I have competed as a part of the Instructional Technology cohort and the alightnment of my skills to the ISTE Standards for Coaches. You will also find my professional resume, an overivew of the ISTE Standards for Coaches, my final project for this program, a comprehensive reflection of my experiences, and links to contact me through email or social media. Through my artifacts, you will see that most of my work in this cohort has been focused on integrating technology into family support professional development opportunities.
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I believe the future of family support is changing. Our moms are younger, more tech savvy, and not as interested in face-to-face home visits. Traditionally, our services are provided weekly or bi-monthly in the home of parents with very young children. In 2016 the Iowa Department of Public Health, in partnership with Quality Assist created a "virtual home visitor system" called Parentivity. You will learn more about Parentivity through my final research project, but it's important to note here as it lead to my personal philosophy and interest in this cohort. The development of this project in my professional role ultimately lead to my understanding of the changing family landscape, and set the stage for my research interests. In the last two years, this project has been picked up by ZERO TO THREE, a national leader in early childhood and family support. This underscores my personal philosophy that family support is changing, and national organizations are starting to place interest in reaching families in new ways.
When joining this program, I had a specific goal of improving the training and learning opportunities I provide for family support professionals accross the state. This goal supports my personal philosophy that technology can allow family support professionals to connect with new parents in engaging and meaningful ways. However, the family support workforce must first embrace technology to support their own learning and professional growth. More specifically, I had to be able to understand the role of technology, as well as valuable techniques and resources to support integration on a large, statewide scale. This website is intended to show how Instructional Technology has supported my personal teaching and learning goals, as well as an opportunity to showcase my skills.
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After graduation I am looking forward to continued learning and growth in promoting and utilizing technology in professional development.