EdTech
Connection October 2012
ANTHONY SABA:
Managing cultural training at Hyundai 13 GLORI HINCK:
National award winner 5 AT EdTech:
New captain at the helm DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
Welcome
In this edition
to fall semester 2012 It is my sincere pleasure to serve as interim chair of Educational Technology for the 2012-2013 academic year. Although EdTech is not my academic discipline (I am a biomechanist), I Ross Vaughn have worked with the past three chairs in my role as associate dean for the College of Education for the past nine years, and have a strong appreciation and understanding of the department’s mission. This is an exciting time for EdTech, as we deal with a number of challenges: implementing two new programs—the Ed.D. in Educational Technology, and the K-12 online teaching endorsement for Idaho teachers; a 27% increase in enrollment from fall 2011 to fall 2012; and conducting searches to fill three faculty lines—one a new line to support the new doctoral program, and the other two to replace faculty members who served the department with distinction for many years—Connie Wyzard and Lisa Dawley. Thankfully, we have a dedicated, hard working, competent faculty and staff to meet these challenges and move us forward.
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EdTech inaugurates its fourth chair in 24 years. EdTech student wins national Award.
Boise State launches pioneering doc program. EdTech research points to interesting correlations. New jobs and new opportunities
EdTech Connection Published three times a year by the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University.
Jerry Foster,
editor & academic adviser
208-426-4008 jfoster@boisestate.edu
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Farewell to a pair of favorite professors. EdTech professor wins NSF grant to study the freshman fizzle. Introducing (drum-roll, please) new faculty members! Hsu presents at app inventor summit.
COVER STORY
EdTech grad Anthony Saba is a training manager for Hyundai in Korea. Follow his journey from academic to corporate teaching.
Hail, to the chief Dr. Ross Vaughn named interim chair of EdTech Ross Vaughn tried to retire two or three years ago, but the rocking chair continues to elude him as College of Education Dean Diane Boothe keeps coming up with offers he can’t refuse. For Vaughn, an associate dean since 2003, the latest offer was interim chairmanship of the university’s largest graduate department— Ross was also a EdTech. He fills, he assumes dynamic baseball temporarily, the seat vacated coach who never by EdTech Chair Kerry Rice. stopped coaching, Rice’s bids for a sabbatical and a Fulbright scholarship but challenges were both approved. She is off each of us to to Nicolaus Copernicus Uniexcel every day. versity in Poland, where this winter she will help education Education Dean faculty to incorporate emerDiane Boothe gent technologies into teacher education courses, including how to teach effectively online. She plans to be back in Boise next school year as a faculty member. Running a big department is noth-
ing new for Vaughn, who’s worked at Boise State for 39 years. He coached baseball for years and taught in the Kinesiology Department and chaired that department between 1994 and 2003, when he became associate dean of the College of Education. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Chico State and his master’s and doctorate at Washington State University. In his time at Boise State, he earned College of Education honors for outstanding service and distinguished teaching. Vaughn is an expert in university budgeting and has previous experience in managing self-support programs. EdTech Associate Chair Chareen Snelson will continue to manage admission and curricular affairs in the department. From the dean’s perspective, the choice for interim chair was an easy call because Vaughn’s “expert leadership, professionalism, integrity, competency, and knowledge of the College of Education are unsurpassed.”
Farewells Two high profile professors resign from university life. Dawley led EdTech through critical period
EdTech co-developer Connie Wyzard retires
Dr. Lisa Dawley, EdTech chair from 2006 to 2011, resigned her university position this summer to assume leadership of GoGo Labs, a private research and development think tank for exploring and advocating innovative new technology tools and applications in education. When founding chair Carolyn Thorsen retired in 2005, Dawley assumed temporary department leadership until the following Lisa Dawley August, when she was named chair. Under her guidance, the department continued to grow at substantial rates, becoming the largest graduate program at Boise State. She encouraged EdTech professors to engage in new technologies, such as teaching and learning in virtual worlds, social network learning, and educational games. She co-created quest-based learning with instructor Chris Haskell. Dawley served as a director of iNACOL, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, and in the Dawley era EdTech became one of the nation’s largest trainers of K-12 online teachers . She was a prolific presenter and writer, and her 2007 textbook, The Tools for Successful Online Teaching, became a topseller for publisher IGI Global. Before coming to Boise State, Dawley taught in southern California elementary schools and later at the University of Memphis and at Sonoma State University.
Dr. Connie Wyzard (Pollard) resigned this summer because of lingering health issues. She and Dr. Carolyn Thorsen worked side -by-side to establish the department—just the two of them at first—carrying full teaching loads and serving on all of the major college and department committees. She also designed and managed the undergraduate program, which serves about 700 pre-service teachers every year. In addition to Connie Wyzard teaching graduate courses, Wyzard until recently managed the department’s adjunct instructors. She won national awards in 1996 for service to adjudicated youth with disabilities and for work in alternative school networking. In 2005, Boise State students recognized Wyzard for her inspirational and impactful teaching. Despite a full load of teaching and researching, Wyzard was also a prolific writer. She co-wrote three text books, plus five editions of an introductory technology text book for pre-service teachers. In addition, she wrote several book chapters and numerous journal articles. Wyzard was a reviewer for an international technology journal and also served on the editorial board for a national college text book publisher. She was also an indefatigable researcher and conference presenter. She taught reading in Wyoming and Canada before earning her doctorate at the University of Nebraska in 1990.
National organization gives Student Recognition Award to EdTech’s own
Glori Hinck EdTech doctoral student Glori Hinck was honored on September 19 with the Student Recognition Award by the National University Technology Network (NUTN) at its annual conference in Kansas City. Hinck, a 2010 graduate of Boise State’s Master of Educational Technology program, was already a qualified chiropractic doctor when she started the M.E.T. program, but she recognized that she was not nearly as effective as a chiropractic educator. The M.E.T. program gave her the skills she needed, and her employer recognized and rewarded her developing expertise with new professional opportunities by: Tasking her with educating and helping other faculty members, in one-on-one and group sessions, to integrate technology into their teaching, Tasking her with leading (1) the development of all online and hybrid components of Northwestern Health Sciences University’s new master’s program in health sciences and (2) the transition of undergraduate courses from placebased to hybrid delivery systems, Adopting her recommendation for e-portfolios in the new Master of Health
Sciences program, which helped satisfy the regional accreditation agency’s assessment requirements, resulting in accreditation for the program, Allowing her to develop and teach chiropractic courses online, which is remarkable because chiropractic is a hands-on practice. Her primary course, Cervical and Thoracic Adjusting Techniques, is a hybrid course, with the instructional component delivered online and the hands-on labs on campus. The course is delivered via Moodle, but also uses SoftChalk and Camtasia for short lectures and a YouTube channel to make demonstrations conveniently available day or night from anywhere with internet service, and Allowing her to create and coinstruct a hybrid pharmacology course at NHSU. The National University Technology Network is celebrating its 30th year as an organization for college and university distance education program directors.
Saving engineering students from the freshman fizzle catching it in the freshman year of college, before it’s too late.” “A lot of research has been done on how to reBy the time undergraduate engineering stupair misconceptions after students have already dents reach core engineering courses, it may be developed them, and that approach has proven too late to fix deficits in fundamental knowledge to be only somewhat effective in helping stuof science and engineering, according to redents,” Yang says. “We want to turn the research conducted by EdTech professor Dazhi search around—instead of repairing misconcepYang and Engitions, we want to neering profesprevent them.” sor Inanc SenoReviewers were keen cak. on Yang’s and SenoYang and cak’s proposal beSenocak have cause the results been awarded a could have broad $300,000 Naimpacts on math tional Science and physics educaFoundation tion. grant to identify Work in the which concepts three-year grant beEdTech professor Dazhi Yang (right) with Engineering profesare most likely to sor and co-researcher Inanc Senocak. gins this fall with a cause engineering collaborative apstudents to stumble early on and to develop inproach to identify which concepts most often novative instructional strategies to help to help trip up students and to develop online tutorials them learn. “Our goal is to help students have a that frame and describe those concepts in difbetter mindset and clearer understanding of ferent ways. Beginning next year, a test group math and science of students will concepts going into engage the tutoriThe work exemplifies the modernization the engineering als as Yang moniof education in a digital age. courses, particularly tors their progress. those related to In the third year, Martin Schimpf thermo-fluid sciprovost & vice president for academic affairs the research team ences,” Yang said. will analyze out“It would be ideal to comes and track student success. They also will start doing that at the elementary or middle organize a workshop with middle school and school level, but our efforts are focused on high school science teachers. By Sherry Squires Condensed from Update
Lisa Berry Idaho
Carol Askin California
Jillian Wojcik Florida
Anthony Saba South Korea
Dwayne Ockel Colorado
Tanya Windham Nebraska
Meet EdTech’s first doctoral cohort The nation’s first online doctoral program in educational technology offered by a public university began at Boise State this semester with 18 students. Seven students hail from western states, four from the Midwest, four from eastern states, and includes two U.S. edu-
cators working in international locations. The application process for EdTech’s doctor of education (Ed.D.) program is very competitive. Six of the new doc students studied in one of Boise State’s master’s programs in educational technology.
Molly Large California
Dennis Large California
Carl Lund Kansas
Kristin Oostra Idaho
Donna Ledford Georgia
Glori Hinck Minnesota
Rebeca Befus Michigan
Steve Isaacs New Jersey
Sarah Rich Indonesia
Patty McGinnis Pennsylvania
Kellie Taylor Idaho
Mark Suter Ohio
Jeon now teaching 506: Graphic Arts for Learning Tae Keun “John” Jeon is teaching EDTECH 506—Graphic Design for Learning—this semester. In his full-time job, he trains University of Wisconsin faculty in the effective use of web 2.0 tools. He has quite a lot of experience in that arena, as well as instructional design, because he has worked at those tasks for five years while completing his master’s and doctorate at Utah State University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Utah State.
Boise State noted for being a militaryfriendly university Condensed from UPDATE
John Jeon
Kemp teaches Intro to EdTech Jeremy Kemp is one of four Intro to EdTech instructors this fall. In his fulltime job at San Jose State University, he teaches technology-related courses in the School of Library and Information Science. Kemp earned his doctorate at California’s Fielding Graduate University, where his dissertation focused on immersive learning in virtual worlds. Prior to that, he did an impressive instructional design and courseware development project in his Learning Design and Technology master’s program at Stanford.
Jeremy Kemp
Saba earned M.E.T. in Korea; now teaches 501 from Korea Anthony Saba earned his M.E.T. while teaching at Hongik University in South Korea, and now, as an EdTech doctoral student, is teaching a section of Intro to EdTech this fall. He joined Hyundai Motor Group earlier this year as project manager for developing and managing culture and diversity training. Teaching at Boise State is a “fantastic experience” because he now sees a level of student dedication and persistence that he hadn’t noticed as a student.
Boise State University has been named a “military friend school”—again—by Victory Media, which honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans, and families. Boise State is also a partner with the Wyakin Warrior Foundation that provides scholarship, mentoring, training and networking for severely wounded or injured veterans who return to school, and offers VetSuccess on Campus, a collaborative program between the Veterans Administration and the university to provide student veterans with a direct link to the VA as they transition from their military experience. Boise State is one of only 22 campus sites nationally to offer VetSuccess. Look for Boise State EdTech at Virtual School Symposium
Anthony Saba
EdTech adviser Jerry Foster will attend iNACOL’s Virtual School Symposium in New Orleans Oct. 21-24. Boise State EdTech was the first university to support VSS, which is the world’s premier K-12 online and blended-learning conference. The Boise State EdTech booth number is 709.
Successful students work twice as hard? New research reveals some interesting implications Recently published research by three Edteaching because students were highly enTech faculty members—Andy Hung, Yugaged and achieved expected outcomes. Chang Hsu, and Kerry Rice—reveals some Those categorized as high-engaged and findings of interest to administrators of online low-performance might represent courses schools. with less effective course design because stuThe dents were unteam, led by able to achieve Associate expected outProfessor comes despite Andy Hung, what appears used data to be effective mining to implementadiscover pattion. terns in the Most highrecords of engaged, high Andy Hung Yu-Chang Hsu Kerry Rice 7,539 stuperformance dents. courses were Here are some of their findings: advanced level courses. Students with higher engagement levels Entry level courses tended to have lower usually had higher performance. performance, whether students were cate On average, highly engaged students were gorized as low-engaged or high-engaged. twice as active in class as low-engaged stuThis may speak more to course structure, dents. design, and support than to quality of in Younger students who lived in larger cities struction. were more successful than those in smaller The reasons students enrolled in a course cities and than older students. may influence their engagement level and Female students were more active than performance. Student survey responses male students in online discussions. indicated that students who retook courses Female students had higher pass rates they had previously failed, tended to demthan male students. onstrate lower engagement and lower per Overall, females significantly performed formance. When students took courses unbetter than male students, especially in the available in their schools, they were usufollowing subject areas—English, social ally high-engaged and high performing. studies, and electives in general. Courses categorized as high-engaged and Hung, J.-L., Hsu, Y.-C., Rice, K.L. Integrating data high-performance might represent courses mining in program evaluation of K-12 online education. with both effective design and effective Educational Technology & Society, 15(3), 27-41.
EdTech’s Hsu presents at App Inventor Summit Boise State EdTech professor Yu-Chang Hsu presented preliminary findings on the use of App Inventor for graduate instruction this summer at MIT’s App Inventor Summit hosted by the MIT Mobile Learning Center. Hsu shared learning activities that he used in last year’s Mobile App Design course, particularly the design tool, App Inventor. Students in the course followed tutorials and incorporated their own customizations into practice apps. As
the semester progressed, most students increased the complexity of customizations without being prompted. Students also created design proposals for developing their own apps, which served as beta ideas for future projects. Students also kept a design journal to reflect on their own design thinking, inspiration received from peers, and their own experiences with apps. Students were positive about their experiences in the learning community and with
Yu-Chang Hsu
the design tool itself. They noted that App Inventor fostered critical thinking and problem solving—and they would have developed more apps , if they’d had more time.
Lowenthal explains how to be known as a thought leader EdTech instructional designer Patrick Lowenthal and Joni Dunlap of the University of Colorado published an article this summer that advised faculty members how to be known as thought leaders. Lowenthal and Posner built on an earlier article by Miriam Posner in The Chronicle of Higher Education, suggesting that: Academics wishing to be seen as thought leaders in their discipline need to be intentional about how, when, and what shows up when someone uses a search engine like Google to search on their name or area(s) of research. If Google cannot find a faculty scholar’s work or the work of the scholar’s colleagues, department, or institution, then it is essentially irrelevant — even nonexistent — because people will not find, read, apply, or build on the work if they cannot locate it via a quick Google search. Building a web presence is more than simply having a website and can make the difference in an academic’s visibility to the desired audience, including opportunities for new projects and collaborations. Lowenthal, P. R., & Dunlap, J. C. (2012, July/August). Intentional web presence: 10 SEO strategies every academic needs to know. EDUCAUSE Review Online. Find it at http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/intentional-web-presence-10-seo-strategies-everyacademic-needs-know >.
New jobs . . . (and other cool happenings) Hale earns 1st online teacher endorsement EdTech graduate Jodie Hale (2011) of Pocatello, Idaho, is believed to be the first teacher to earn the state’s new online teacher enJodie Hale dorsement. EdTech faculty member Kerry Rice was instrumental in developing the new endorsement and getting it approved.
Why you won’t see EdTech’s newest instructor EdTech graduate Kris Mesler (2011) has been hired to teach the department’s only undergraduate course, EDTECH 202, which is not available to grad students. More than 700 pre-service teachers study in about 25 sections of the course Kris Mesler each year in both campus and online classrooms. Mesler taught in faith-based junior high schools for a dozen years before and during the time that she studied in the M.E.T. program. She is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, which is about 20 miles west of Boise.
EdTech grad aces Illinois exam for tech coordinators Susan Ferdon (2012) has a new job—and new respect in her school district. Just before flying to Boise for spring graduation, she learned about a technology coordinator position at a neighboring school district. But first things first. She wanted to graduate from the EdTech master’s program with the Graduate Certificate in School Technology Coordination. When she got home, she applied for the job and got it. Then she took the exam for the state technology specialist endorsement and aced it, be coming the only person—ever— in her new district to earn the endorsement. While still in her previous job, she was named Illinois music teacher of the year. Her sister, Linda Deneher (2012) of 29 Palms, California, went through the M.E.T. program with Susan. Linda is volunteering as an instructional designer and faculty trainer at a local community college and continues to substitute in her local school district. She also tutors students privately, both face-to-face and online.
Bob Thompson joins UNLV TV Bob Thompson had a goal when he joined the EdTech program—he wanted to work in higher education. He got a new job over the summer at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas as manager of post production and animation. He had been working at ESPN.
Ted needs a few, good, part-time instructional designers “We are looking for instructional designers interested in working on a contractual basis, on special projects, for Anne Arundel Community College.” That’s the good news from EdTech student Ted Finch, elearning project manager for Anne Arundel Community College’s virtual campus in Maryland. He says he has a strong instructional design team, but anticipates that several new training projects for corporate clients will leave his staff stretched too thin. So, he’s asking instructional designers around the country to join a pool of talent that he can call on when the projects start rolling in. EdTech students and graduates interested in being considered for Finch’s contractor pool should send their resume and examples of work. Include files or links to online examples in your response, and be sure to indicate your role and responsibilities for each example that you share. Finch also mentioned that interested individuals should include an hourly rate requirement. Contact Finch as soon as possible at dtfinch@aacc.edu or at 410-777-7137.
New Opportunities Distance Learning Program Specialist—Northeastern University, Boston. Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree required. Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel. Proven skill managing and reporting data, familiarity with online or hybrid education highly desirable. This person must be comfortable working with all levels within an institution and have keen attention to detail. https://neu.peopleadmin.com/postings/21316 Online Student Services Director—Odessa College, Odessa, Texas. This position will lead the development of online student services. https://jobs.odessa.edu/ applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp? time=1348149826703 Activity Director/Online Learning Specialist—Odessa College, Odessa, Texas. https://jobs.odessa.edu/ applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp? time=1348150189937 Instructional Designer—Frederick Community College, Frederick, MD. $48,891 to $53,780 per year . Minimum Requirements: Master's degree in Instructional Design, Distance Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Technology, or a related academic discipline. And two years of experience designing distance learning instructional materials in higher education. Preferred qualifications: Familiarity with the community college environment, ability to generate basic text/graphic materials in HTML format, and experience with professional development of faculty. https://jobs.frederick.edu/applicants/ jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp? postingId=141803
Distance Learning Specialist—Community Colleges of Spokane, Spokane, Washington. $43,468 The incumbent develops and delivers a multi-faceted training program to CCS faculty, students, and administrators to promote the effective use of educational technology, including the use of the LMS—Angel and Canvas. http:// agency.governmentjobs.com/ccspokane/default.cfm Educational Technologist / Instructional Designer National Department of eLearning—Hebrew Union College, New York. Duties: 1. Faculty Development, Training and Support, 2. eLearning Courses (Cross-campus, Hybrid/Blended, Enhanced and Online), 3. Managing, Supporting and Training for Learning Environments, 4. Project and Technical Support for Local Campus Users, 5. Department Support, Supervision and Professional Development. Instructional Designer—Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah. $50,500+ https://jobs.suu.edu/applicants/ jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1348151808847 Instructional Designer—Black Hills State University, Spearfish, S.D. $45,000 to $50,000 https:// yourfuture.sdbor.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/ Frameset.jsp?time=1348152111195 Educational Technologist—University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. $55,000 - $65,000 Minimum qualifications include a Master's degree in educational technology, instructional design, or directly related field. https:// www.jobsatcu.com/applicants/jsp/shared/position/ JobDetails_css.jsp
Anthony Saba’s office is in the left wing of Hyundai’s Mabuk training center in Yong-in City, about 45 minutes south Seoul. The Mabuk campus is the flagship of Hyundai's global training network. Courtesy of Hyundai.
Transformative technology Saba changes the nature of teaching and learning in university & corporate classrooms By Jerry Foster
T
echnology transformed EdTech grad Anthony Saba’s teaching, and then his career. Now he hopes technology—and he—can transform the way the world’s fifth-largest automaker trains its employees. Saba, originally from Staten Island, New York, is a 2011 EdTech grad, who has taught university English in Korea since 1998. Last spring, he was recruited by Hyundai to create and manage cultural and diversity training
for 80,000 employees worldwide. Like a small rudder on a big ship, Saba knows it will take time to turn the corporate training practice from traditional didactic instructional methods, such as PowerPoint presentations, videos, and quizzes, to more interactive teaching strategies because they are more engaging, and the more educators and trainers get learners engaged and involved in their studies, the more they learn. He’d like to leverage technology more effectively—webquests, for example, for workers
from various countries. The collaborative naGoogle apps—it is just too easy to upload and ture of webquests would give multi-national possibly expose proprietary information to groups of employees opportunities to work prying eyes. together and compare cultural differences in National regulations regarding personal their working styles. This would be especially privacy, particularly in Europe, prevent Saba useful for employees who will be sent over from creating a global learning network beseas to work on international assignments cause he cannot access employee personnel with diverse groups of people. data across national boundaries. Head winds Innovators, like athletes, are not recogHe’d like to use more technologynized unless they overcome great odds. Saba supported problem-based learning, but that may be a little rudder on a big ship, but his process generally takes time and many of the training sessions are scheduled only for a couple of days. Corporate and national regulatory issues are also challenging. Educators are innately sharers. Researchers publish to share their findings. Teachers share lesson plans. Universities share administrative Saba works with a student in a one-on-one oral description activity in an intensive practices and their English class at Hongik University. He taught there 7 years before joining Hyundai. sports teams even share game films. But just as sharing is part of Boise State master’s degree in educational the culture of education, it is most definitely technology fortunately focused on technology not the culture of business. The two cultures -supported problem solving, rather than just are diametrically opposite to the point that computer skills or educational theory. He is sharing—even inadvertently—is anathema in now in the EdTech doctoral program, so if business. Innovations of design, production, anyone can develop the leadership to create or distribution can create a competitive edge effective training solutions within these conby increasing sales or reducing expenses. Eistraints, he will. ther way, loss of proprietary information can And Hyundai’s system for training emaffect a company’s bottom line, which is why ployees worldwide will be a competitive innoHyundai does not allow employees to use vation in itself.
Anthony, Hyun-Jung, and kids on Jeju Do (Island), a popular tourist destination in Korea. The stone statues are called Hallu-bang, as the style is particular to Jeju Do. They can be found throughout Korea in various styles, including totem-like wooden versions. They are placed at the entrances to villages and homes to protect against evil spirits. They predate Buddhism, but were continued after Buddhism came to the peninsula.
Technology in the Korean academy It was that very opportunity—more challenge, more responsibility and a chance for advancement—that convinced Saba to leave a comfortable assistant professorship at Hongik University, Korea’s preeminent art school whose “eclectic bohemian” students create a Greenwich Village atmosphere in northwest neighborhoods of Seoul. Most instructors at Hongik used technology in basic ways, and so did Saba before joining Boise State’s M.E.T. program. Then, he says, “My focus changed from content presentation to interactive uses of technology for student-centered collaborative learning.”
For example, he: Required his conversational English students to create narrated videos of the best places to go in Seoul, edited them in iMovie or Windows Media Maker, uploaded their video to a YouTube channel, and then discussed—in English, of course—each other’s videos. Assigned them to use ISSUU to create magazines, which they discussed in class. Experimented with text-messaging for collaboration and communication outside of class. Set up Moodle discussion boards so students would interact more outside of class
because one of the issues with EFL learning is that students don’t use English outside of the classroom. So, they held discussions in forums online between classes around various topics. Created a mobile app to provide class information, including an RSS feed from discussion boards in Moodle, which they could view through the web-app. Used webquests to make instruction more interactive and collaborative and blurred, in fact, the lines between class time and free time. His students enjoyed using technology in their learning but, like students everywhere, complained that the class required too much time and effort, particularly outside of class. His colleagues, on the other hand, expressed interest in learning more about effective integration. Most of them are still using things like paper handouts, textbooks, chalkboards, and such. “Ironically,” he says, “Korea in general and young college students in particular are very fond of technology and use it heavily outside of class (or in class) to talk with their friends, but instructors barely use it at all.” In the beginning In 1998, Saba’s twin sister Mary Ellen convinced him to put work on an earlier master’s program on hold and go with her to Korea. So, he committed and on the night before their departure, she canceled. Saba went to Korea and three years later, a friend introduced him to a girl at a party. Her name was Hyun-Jung Jo (Jo is her family name) and, after dating awhile, they got married—twice, once at home in New York and once in Korea. Their daughter Rylee is almost four now and Anthony Jr. is 18 months. He is just learning to talk, but Rylee is bilingual because her mother speaks to her primarily in
Anthony and Hyun-Jung at their traditional Korean wedding. They also were married in New York, so American family and friends could attend. A few family members attended both ceremonies. Korean and her father speaks to her in English. “When we are all together, we pretty much just mix-it-up. It can be quite humorous at times!”
Q&A What do you like to do when you’re not teaching and being a doc student? Hmmm. Being a dad! That’s pretty much all there is time for these days, since I work for 11 hours, study for four and play with the
kids for two or three hours in the evenings. Weekends, I try to reserve time strictly for my family. We go to parks and playgrounds, and hike in the many mountains of Korea. What do you eat at home, mostly American or mostly Korean? We mix it up—a lot of Korean food at home these days since the kids were born. We are a pretty traditional family now that I’m working full days with the wife doing the traditional household chores. She does make things like pasta, but often it is some kind of Korean-American fusion dish. If you eat much American food there, what do you eat most often? Well, if we eat American food, whatever that is these days, we often go to family restaurants like TGIF or Pizza Hut. Of Korean food, what do you like the most? Korean barbeque is my favorite, especially the beef ribs. I also like many of the rice dishes and things like kimchi stew. I’m not so fond of the Korean style seafood, but there are tons of Japanese restaurants everywhere these days, so I enjoy eating sushi as well. Who cooks in your family, you or your wife? Wife these days. Pretty traditional family structure, even though we are not traditionally minded. I cook breakfast on weekends —pancakes, French toast, eggs, that sort of thing. I think students would like to know about salaries and costs there. Salaries are a bit lower than in the United States, but the taxes are lower and the cost of living can be lower, depending on lifestyle
choices. Housing can be a bit expensive if you want something on the scale of what you might expect in the United States. If you go native and live in the more typical smaller apartments, then the cost is not bad. A young starting teacher at a private institute can make about $2000 a month with free housing and plane tickets to Korea and back home, two weeks of vacation, national holidays, medical insurance and a one month salary severance pay at the end of a year contract—all that for 20 hours of instruction per week. University instructors make around $3200 a month, sometimes housing is included or subsidized, medical insurance, and 22 weeks (Yes, 22 weeks) of paid vacation per year with opportunities for extra work during winter and summer vacations for about 12 hours of instruction per week. Full professors in a specific domain area can expect to make more money, approximately $6,000 to $8,000 per month. In a company, the pay can range greatly depending on the industry, position and whether or not you are working as a domestic employee or as an overseas employee. Did you have to learn Korean when you went there? No, I didn’t have to learn it. In fact, many westerners don’t learn Korean beyond a superficial level because it is too easy not to learn, and many Koreans want to speak with them in English to practice their English ability. In my first year, I was living alone in a small country town with nothing to do, so I spent my evenings studying Korean at home with textbooks and tapes, and I became quite good by the end of my first year. Jerry Foster is an academic adviser in Boise State’s Department of Educational Technology, and is editor of EdTech Connection.