An App a Day: Informing Instructional Technology
By John Wall 43
2014 Spring-Summer
“In the last few years many sports teams have started hiring analysts and I thought I’d like to try for an entry-level position with a team,” Ejups says. The would-be stathead met with business professor Randy Rosenberger, who is overseeing Ejup’s POE in sport management, to formulate a capstone research project, to propose analyzing the results of the NBA draft from 1978 to 2012 using a recognizably accepted basketball statistic called a win share. A win share is calculated by averaging the offensive and defensive statistics (as well as points produced per 100 possessions and a couple of other metrics) and is listed for every player on a website called basketball-reference.com. “I wanted to see if there were any draft pick positions that were statistically better based on the performance of the players selected from that slot in the draft,” Ejups explains. He found some interesting trends. Interesting enough that he sent his research along with job applications to several NBA teams. Not all his research, though. It seems there’s no way to print it out. “The Excel spreadsheet is 60 cells deep and has more than 300 cells long, I can’t afford to print it out,” he says. Does he have a gut instinct he’ll get a job doing this? Who knows, but the numbers seem to say yes.
Like many Juniatians, Tessa Thomas ’14 has changed her Program of Emphasis several times. Initially interested in teaching, Tessa found that she didn’t want to spend every hour in front of a classroom full of students. But, she wasn’t thrilled to sit behind a desk, either, as she found out some marketing and IT professionals do. “After trying different options, Several road trips, surveys, and I realized I still want to work in the phone calls later, Thomas concluded education field,” Thomas says. that Juniata lags behind Lock Haven University and Saint Francis University in So, she decided to interview Justine Black ’08, assistant director creating online courses but is ahead of of instructional technology at Juniata, the pack on integrating iPads and other who spends her days both researching software applications into the physical and learning about applications that classroom. can help Juniata faculty integrate “I immediately brought my research technology into their teaching and to my job and implemented trainings the classroom. that Juniata was missing,” Thomas says. “I was able to present to my peers and to Tessa learned a lot about professors and administrators about how instructional technology—a career field where professionals with an Juniata can lead in online learning and interest in technology and education instructional technology.” can help facilitate technology use in Thomas also presented at Liberal the classroom by training educators. Arts Symposium. And, she’ll undoubtedly In addition to finding her calling, take her experience with her in her next Thomas also found a student job. phase—when she’ll be working for Aflac, Shortly after their conversation began, providing new employee technology Black hired Thomas to work as her training—after picking up her Juniata student training manager, a role in diploma in May in Instructional which Tessa has taught her professors Technology. how to use software like GarageBand, “I was ecstatic to find out I could iMovie, Prezi, Evernote, and Pinterest. train people with technology,” Thomas says. “I am a very social person and have When it came time for Thomas to complete a senior research project always enjoyed being around people and for an independent study course, helping them discover new things, so this she decided to visit and review was a perfect field for me to get into.” technology solutions centers at By Genna Welsh Kasun ’06 nearby colleges to find out how Juniata’s competitors use technology in the classroom.